2016 Tedeschi - Maternigo - Amarone Classico Riserva DOCG

Decanter.com – 97 pts – JB: *A hailstorm devastated production in 2015, so 2016 becomes the first vintage of Maternigo Amarone Classico Riserva – and there won't be a 2017 or 2018. From the low-vigour Barila vineyard on the Maternigo estate to the east of the denomination, the grapes were picked just before perfect ripeness to retain freshness. The wine is the result of 100 days of grape drying, followed by a long 40-day fermentation and 90-day maceration, then 48 months in Slavonian oak and 12 months in bottle. Spicy, woody black cherry, blueberry jam and coffee scents are joined by deep, rich, earthy and almost-jammy flavours, with cocoa and damson. Round and extremely fresh with a persistent finish, this is by no means a shrinking violet yet has the balance to match its considerable concentration and heft. 6,600 bottles produced.* - 09/2023

Falstaff Magazin – 96 pts – OK, SS: *Dunkelleuchtendes, sattes Rubinrot. In der Nase edel und klar, nach reifen, satten Kirschen, Pfirsich, Hagebutten und Waldbeermousse, feine Würze. Am Gaumen stoffig und dicht, öffnet sich satt und mit dunkelbeerigen Fruchtkomponenten, saftiges Tannin, feiner Schmelz, endet lange im Finale auf Holunderbeersirup.* - 10/2022

JancisRobinson.com – 17+/20pts – TC: *Full bottle 1,405 g. Certified 3E Equitas sustainable winery. Organically farmed vineyards but not certified. The Maternigo vineyard is surrounded by forests (lots of biodiversity, Sabrina Tedeschi tells me). The name means 'land of the mother' because there is a little house in the forest, very isolated, and, legend goes, a young single mother went there to have her baby in secret. This is the first release of this wine; the next vintage will be 2019 – it won't be made every year. The soil is darker here: grey marl subsoil. 40% Corvina, 40% Corvinone, 20% Rondinella. They give this longer bottle ageing because it needs it. The only one of their cru wines to be more about cooked fruit than fresh. Coffee and chocolate richness. Tobacco and chewy cloves and a flare of Sichuan pepper. Despite the darker tones and more power and weight and structure, the wine still has this wonderful core of freshness. If Monte Olmi is tenor, this is baritone. Notes of late autumn: sous bois, truffles, damsons poached in vermouth. The tannins stand astride the wine, strong and dry and tea-leaf astringent, but don't dominate. This could possibly do with more cellaring time..* - 07/2022

Vinous.com – 94 pts – EG: *The 2016 Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva Maternigo is dusty and darkly floral in the glass, with sugar-dusted black cherries complemented by grilled herbs and ginger hints. It's silky and energetic in feel, with racy acidity propelling its sweet red fruits and spices. The 2016 leaves the palate saturated in primary concentration, along with fine tannin that puckers the cheeks, as sour wild berries and inner rose tones slowly fade. This has a bit more sweetness than the other Amarone in the Tedeschi portfolio, but the balance is on point.* - 12/2022