The Somm Journal

94 { THE SOMM JOURNAL } DECEMBER/JANUARY 2018/2019 { milestone } WHEN WINEMAKER ANDREA LONARDI took the stage at September's Full Circle Beverage Conference in San Francisco to present a tasting of Bertani Amarone Classico, he had what amounted to a Sommelier Justice League by his side: Master Sommeliers Brian Cronin, Tim Gaiser, and Peter Granoff, all of whom provided perspective and humor as they tasted through 50 years' worth of Bertani winemaking prowess. Born and raised in a vine-growing Veronese family, Lonardi began his tenure at Bertani in 2012. Although he didn't person - ally make any of the wines tasted during the masterclass—though the 2008 Amarone was bottled in 2016—the pride he showed while presenting them was rather paternal. "The wines we are making today will be presented by another winemaker 50 years from now," he told attendees. The Birth of Bertani Amarone Being both modern and ancient, Amarone is a paradoxical style. Its rising popularity and commercialization in the 1950s gave the Valpolicella region a wine of true cult status: one that holds its own next to ageworthy Barolos and Brunellos. Despite the well-worn anecdotes about the "accidental" discovery of the style, Lonardi contests that it was made inten - tionally at Bertani and, as such, the winery is actually Amarone's birthplace. It was first produced by Bertani after the producer purchased the Tenuta Novare estate in the heart of Valpolicella Classica in 1957, and while the label has never changed, Lonardi said climate shifts drive the style's natural evolution. "Climate change is a positive for the Valpolicella region, but I'm missing some of the traditional 'greenness' in the wines," he explained. The Amarone wines made at Bertani in the early 1980s saw their first flush of success on the international market in the late 1980s and early 1990s as consumers gravitated toward bigger, richer wine styles. During its evolution in bottle, Lonardi sees Amarone progress through three stages of development: showing primary fruit like cherry, plum, and orange from seven to ten years; progressing toward sour cherry and secondary notes of chocolate between ten and 20 years; and, beyond 25 years, being dominated by secondary and ter tiary flavors. "A nervous profile is what we desire most," Lonardi said, adding that Ber tani has persisted in building that character despite the ebb and flow of various trends over its history. An Interpretation of Terroir By adhering to a house style, Bertani now finds itself in an opti- mal spot as consumer preferences turn to lighter, brighter wines that serve as an effective interpretation of Valpolicella's terroir. Lonardi credits a number of factors, including the region's higher altitudes among the Prealps mountain ranges, the temperate effect of nearby Lake Garda, and the limestone soil, but human factors have played a role as well. Since Bertani established its winery in Valpantena and its vine - yards in the old Roman site of Arbizzano di Negrar, it's ushered the estate into the contemporary era by transitioning from the traditional pergola trellising system to Guyot trellising and verti- cal-shoot positioning. The latter method allows the native Corvina Veronese and Rondinella grapes to yield expressions across a combination of volcanic basalt, chalky limestone, and clay soils. "Corvina planted to basalt gives us flinty, higher-alcohol wines," Lonardi explained. "Our limestone vigor is low and we taste tangy dark cherries, while iron- and manganese-rich clay soils are lower yielding and contribute welcome floral and strawberry notes." Here in the cooler area of Tenuta Novare Corvina offers up a pepperiness similar to Syrah from the Rhône Valley, and Lonardi particularly enjoys the zesty notes the compound rotundone brings to Bertani wines. At the masterclass, Cronin—who serves as National Manager of Wine Education for Bertani's importer, Taub Family Selec - CELEBRATING A MODERN WINE BORN FROM AN ANCIENT METHOD Master Sommelier Brian Cronin, National Manager of Wine Education for importer Taub Family Selections, with Bertani Operations Director Andrea Lonardi. Fifty Years of Secco Bertani Amarone by Deborah Parker Wong / photos by Becca Henry

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