Do we ship to you?.
More wines available from Dal Forno Romano
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$492.23
Polished and expressive, this shows a smoky baseline of graphite-laced minerality, with fine-grained tannins and...
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$242.95
Production was skipped over in 2007 due to extreme hail damage. The fruit that would normally be destined to Amarone...
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$339.95
This was an excellent vintage in much of Italy, but unfortunately the weather was not as pleasant in this specific...
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$263.70
This is a real bruiser of a wine, and it marks the first of three excellent back-to-back vintages (2011, 2012 and...
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$267.95
The 2013 Amarone della Valpolicella Monte Lodoletta is my favorite wine in the retrospective, along with the amazing...
More Details
Winery
Dal Forno Romano
Vintage: 2009
Despite less than ideal climatic conditions, featuring storms which threatened an otherwise perfect year, most parts of California had an excellent year for viticulture. Chardonnays and Sauvignon Blancs were picked at optimum ripeness, and Californian white wine was just about as good as it could be. Surprises and overcoming difficulties summed up much of the United States' wine industry in 2009, and many of the results from Oregon, Washington State and all over California speak for themselves, with the flagship Cabernet Sauvignon grapes having developed healthy, thick skins and thus plenty of character and distinction. Elsewhere in the New World, South Africa had a very good year in 2009, and wineries across the cape of the African continent are proclaiming it a truly great vintage.
In most of Europe, fine weather and punctual ripening periods produced some excellent wines, with many of the best coming out of France's Bordeaux and the surrounding regions. Merlot had an exceptionally good year in France, and wineries are proclaiming that the 2009 Merlot harvest was one of the best in living memory. Indeed, across most of France, ripening was relatively even, and red wine grapes such as Cabernet Franc, Syrah and others were reportedly highly characterful, with plenty of the required tannin levels with which to make high quality wines. Italy, too, had a very good 2009. Piedmont reported extremely favorable conditions throughout 2009, and their signature Nebbiolo grapes were more or less perfect when harvested, having benefited from the slight drop in temperature at the end of their ripening period. Veneto, too, had an enviable year, producing superb Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay wines in 2009.
Varietal: Corvina Blend
Corvina varietal grapes have been grown in Italy for well over a thousand years, and are most closely associated with the coastal region of Veneto, where they are used to fantastic effect in the finest wines of the region. Most notably, Corvina grapes are used as a primary varietal in the blended Amarone and Valpolicella wines – two aged wines which make the most of the potential Corvina has for maturation. The rather high acidity levels in Corvina grapes make them an excellent candidate for aging, as the acids mellow over time and reveal their wonderfully complex and deep flavors of sour cherries and almonds. The thick skins of the Corvina grapes result in a bright crimson wine, and the skins themselves have relatively low tannin levels, making these wines very drinkable and delightfully light in body.
Region: Veneto
The wine region of Veneto in north-eastern Italy has long been associated with fine wines, but also with the spirit of innovation which is typical of the region and which made it an important area of Europe throughout history. Indeed, today Veneto's wine-makers are recognized as the most modernized in all of Italy, using contemporary techniques to make the best of the high quality grape varietals which flourish in the region. These include the wonderful Garganega varietal, which is the grape used for the production of Veneto's widely loved Soave white wine, and Glera and Verduzzo, which are both used in more traditional wines of the region. The region benefits from a cooler climate, but one which is sheltered by the Alps, producing balanced and consistent climatic conditions ideal for viticulture.
Country: Italy
Italy is recognised as being one of the finest wine producing countries in the world, and it isn't difficult to see why. With a vast amount of land across the country used primarily for vineyard cultivation and wine production, each region of Italy manages to produce a wide range of excellent quality wines, each representative of the region it is produced in. Any lover of Italian wines will be able to tell you of the variety the country produces, from the deliciously astringent and alpine-fresh wines of the northern borders, to the deliciously jammy and fruit-forward wines of the south and the Italian islands. Regions such as Barolo are frequently compared with Bordeaux and Burgundy in France, as their oak aged red wines have all the complexity and earthy, spicy excellence of some of the finest wines in the world, and the sparkling wines of Asti and elsewhere in Italy can easily challenge and often exceed the high standards put forward by Champagne. Thanks to excellent terrain and climatic conditions, Italy has long since proven itself a major player in the world of wines, and long may this dedication to quality and excellence continue.