Jesús Barquín: Serious and well-defined nose, smoky, concentrated, with a note of alcohol (perhaps due to the time spent in the glass). The palate is warm and powerful, notes of licorice, tough tannins, and a little sweetness. 14

Nicolas Belfrage: Medium depth; beginning to show age. Mature fruit of a certain noble decadence. Tends to back the case that Amarone is not a long-distance runner. This wine is right on the mark now, somewhat rustic in style but full of character, Christmas pudding and cheese: ideal. This wine is mature and ready to drink right now and will bring joy to the hearts of those who seek the real thing. 17.5

Andrew Jefford: Deep, saturated black-red. Sweet, warm, meaty-creamy, stock, and jus: a wine well into its mid-life resonances. (Amarone evolves relatively swiftly.) Deep, vivid, searching; a touch volatile, but here that simply adds to the excitement; this is a magnificently complete, exciting Amarone with lots of fruit thrust but also lots of extractive depth and power. Superb, resonant wine that you just long to sip and interrogate over an hour or two. 16.5