A unique collection from the master of Amarone!

From the cellar of a single collector, we’re thrilled to offer this spectacular selection of Dal Forno wines.  From the mighty Amarone to the concentrated and textured sweet Recioto, these are amongst the finest expressions of Valpolicella on the planet and exceptionally rare in these quantities and formats.

In his landmark book, Barolo to Valpolicella, the late Nicolas Belfrage wrote that Dal Forno “has climbed to the highest heights which Valpolicella, Classico or otherwise, is capable of attaining.”
 

Today there are those who consider Dal Forno the quality king of Valpolicella, combining as he does, in his Amarone Monte Lodoletta, a might structure with a concentration of flavours and perfume scarcely paralleled anywhere in Italy.  The Valpolicella Vigneto di Monte Lodoletta too can be quite stunning.
– Nicolas Belfrage MW, Barolo to Valpolicella

The wines of Romano Dal Forno, a bit like those of Chateau Rayas, transcend their categories and classifications: there is Amarone and then there is Dal Forno Amarone.

We rarely see these wines with age, so are delighted to have secured this cellar, particularly with the rare larger formats.  In addition to celebrated Valpolicella Superiore and flagship Amarone, we’re pleased to have a couple of mature cases of Passito 2003 (actually declassified Recioto!) and some big bottles of the 98/100 Recioto 1997.

The Offer:
Offered subject to remaining unsold.  Currently lying in our UK cellars, these will be available in SG in 6-8 weeks.

Vigna Sere Passito 2003 Veneto IGT

2 cases (1×6) half bottles OC available @ $1,250 per case (w/ GST $1,350)

The 2003 Rosso Passito Vino Dolce Vigna Serè is impossibly fresh. It opens like a dusty cedar spice box with a sweet mix of cloves, cocoa, cherry sauce and dusty rose, all lifted by a hint of fresh mint. This flows across the palate like pure silk, seamlessly smooth yet surprisingly lifted and delicate. Masses of ripe red fruit and inner spice are motivated by zesty acidity. It leaves a staining of raspberry preserves and cloves to linger while finishing with incredible length and freshness, making the 2003 a dessert in a glass but also too easy to drink. All of this is at just 140 grams of residual sugar per liter. The Rosso Passito Vino Dolce Vigna Serè was not permitted to be bottled as a Recioto because it did not meet the “specific characteristics” of the category. Marco believes this is the greatest Recioto his father ever created, even though it can’t be labeled as such.

98/100 – Eric Guido / Vinous

Amarone Monte Lodoletta 2003

4 cases (1×6) OC available @ $3,600 per case (w/ GST $3,888)

Dal Forno’s 2003 Amarone is a joy to taste. Today it is surprisingly much more accessible than the Valpolicella in this vintage. Inviting aromatics lead to a sumptuous expression of dark fruit, bitter chocolate, minerals, licorice, tar and smoke. The wine possesses stunning depth and a finish that lasts forever. A few years of bottle age will allow the wine to acquire additional complexity, but this remains one of the more accessible Amarones (in relative terms) that Dal Forno has made in the recent past. According to Dal Forno, the 2003 Amarone has a touch more residual sugar than is the norm here (owing to the hot vintage), which is the main reason the wine remains relatively accessible.

95/100 – Antonio Galloni / Vinous

Valpolicella Superiore Vigneto di Monte Lodoletta 2001

2 cases (1×6) OC available @ $1,300 per case (w/ GST $1,404)

2 double magnums (OC1) available @ $1,850 each (w/ GST $1,998)

Inky black-purple color. Deep, dark, roasted aromas of plum, bitter chocolate and coffee bean, with a hint of green bell pepper. Rich and suave but also highly concentrated, with smooth flavors of black plum, espresso, graphite and cedar. A very full-bodied, smoothly tannic expression of Valpolicella.

90/100 – Ian d’Agata / Vinous

Amarone Monte Lodoletta 2001

2 cases (1×6) OC available @ $4,000 per case (w/ GST $4,320)

3 magnums (OC1) available @ $1,400 each (w/ GST $1,512)

The 2001 Amarone is on another level entirely. It exudes notable warmth and ripeness, with profound layers of Venezuelan bitter chocolate, herbs, licorice, smoke, dark fruit and toasted oak. Made in an explosive style, this palate-staining Amarone possesses remarkable detail and nuance for such a big wine. It has been phenomenal on the two occasions I have tasted it so far.

97/100 – Antonio Galloni

Valpolicella Superiore Vigneto di Monte Lodoletta 2000

1 case (1×6) OC available @ $1,700 (w/ GST $1,836)

Nearly black color. Extremely youthful, unforthcoming nose hints at black cherry, plum, violet, bitter chocolate, quinine and bell pepper. This is almost too concentrated and tannic to describe. Palate- and toothstaining flavors of black plum, coffee liqueur, spices, tobacco, vanilla and herbs abound. Alcoholic, heady wine, with a much denser and more tannic finish than the Amarones of Giuseppe Quintarelli. Not for those who believe that less can be more. This cult producer’s 2000s are clearly superior to his 1999s, a lesser year for Amarone.

95/100 – Ian d’Agata

Amarone Monte Lodoletta 2000

8 cases (1×6) OC available @ $3,350 per case (w/ GST $3,618)

3 magnums (OC1) available @ $1,100 each (w/ GST $1,188)

No review available

Amarone Monte Lodoletta 1999

2 cases (1×6) OC available @ $3,250 per case (w/ GST $3,510)

No review available

Amarone Monte Lodoletta 1998

2 magnums (OC1) available @ $1,800 each (w/ GST $1,944)

The 1998 Amarone della Valpolicella Vigneto di Monte Lodoletta is a supreme example of this wine, almost overwhelming in its aromatic impact, luxuriously sweet, ripe, jammy, and chocolatey, mouthfilling and powerful in flavor, broad and caressing, solid and sustained from the attack to the lengthy, lingering finish, superbly shaped and balanced, pedal to the floor power and shapely elegance all in one package. The score is probably too conservative, but it can easily be checked over the next 25 years.

96/100 – Daniel Thomases / The Wine Advocate

Recioto delle Valpolicella Vigneto di Monte Lodoletta 1997

2 magnums (OC1) available @ $1,600 each (w/ GST $1,728)

2 double magnums (OC1) available @ $3,500 each (w/ GST $3,780)

The magnum 1997 Recioto della Valpolicella is a tremendous wine that catapults you to a whole new level of intensity and is, honestly, unlike anything you will ever taste. It pours out of the bottle with inky, impenetrable blackness and the thick consistency of olive oil. Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara grapes are harvested and air-dried for up to half a year, then aged carefully in 100% French oak. The bouquet opens in slow motion. Tones of chocolate, hickory smoke, prune, cinnamon cake, prune, black plum, root beer, crushed granite and licorice have the bright intensity of primary colors on a painters’ wheel. The mouthfeel is solid, thickly concentrated and delightfully sweet. The most magical aspect of the wine is how that sweetness hits your senses. It’s as if you don’t expect it: It creeps up on you suddenly. There is a tight tannic backbone that keeps the wine stitched firmly together. Almost indestructible, a wine like this will age longer than most. Drink 2015-2045.

98/100 – Monica Larner / The Wine Advocate

Terms & Conditions:

Offer ends on Friday 18th August 2023 l No further discount l Immediate payment required l Delivery fees ($32.40) waived for purchases above $500 before GST excluding airports | Cancellation of orders not allowed l Order/s to be collected/delivered within 1 month upon stock availability l Offered Ex-Singapore & subject to remaining unsold