Featured wine profile

Bertani Amarone della Valpolicella Valpantena 2020

A polished Amarone from Valpantena, showing Bertani's elegant side of rich Veneto red wine: dark fruit, spice, tobacco notes, and a balanced structure built for food or a slower evening.

External scores: 92 Wine Enthusiast, 91 Wine Spectator, 93 CellarTracker community, 90 Natalie MacLean.

This profile is designed to help readers recognize the bottle, understand the style, and decide where it fits at the table. It profiles the Valpantena 2020 bottling, not Bertani's older-release Amarone Classico.

Why this wine matters

Bertani is one of the historic names people often meet when they start looking seriously at Amarone. The Valpantena 2020 is useful because it gives readers a recognizable producer and a more approachable way into the Amarone category than some older, rarer, or more expensive library-style releases.

What to expect

Expect a rich but controlled Amarone profile: dark cherry, plum, dried fruit, warm spice, tobacco, and savory depth. The best description is not simply "big." The point of this kind of bottle is balance: concentration, alcohol, and texture should still feel organized around freshness and structure.

How to read the scores

The score range is strong, generally sitting around 90-93 points across critic and community notes. Wine Enthusiast lists it at 92 points, Wine Spectator at 91 points, CellarTracker community notes place it around 93 points, and Natalie MacLean lists it at 90/100 with a lush, savory red-blend impression.

Food pairings

Serve it with braised beef, roast meats, game, rich mushroom dishes, aged cheeses, short ribs, winter risotto, or a slow-cooked ragu. It can also work after dinner with aged cheese, but it is usually better with savory food than with sweet dessert.

Serving tip

Serve slightly cooler than a warm room, around 16-18 C. Open it ahead of serving. If the wine feels tight or the alcohol feels loud, give it air and keep the serving temperature under control.

Best for

Choose this bottle when you want a serious Amarone from a famous producer without jumping straight into the most collectible Bertani releases. It makes sense for a special dinner, a gift, or a first side-by-side comparison with Valpolicella Ripasso.

Similar Veneto wines

• Amarone della Valpolicella from another respected producer.
• Valpolicella Ripasso if you want a less intense dinner red.
• Le Salette Pergole Vece Amarone 2018 if you want a more concentrated Riserva profile.