Restrained black cherries, elegant spices, incense and eucalyptus leaves. The attack is soft and refined with a full body, velvety tannins and zesty yet integrated acidity. Long and intense flavors of cherries and spices. Toasty finish. Drink or hold.

There will be no Amarone in 2016; instead, we’re treated to a new vintage of Rosso del Bepi. This is dark and brooding in the glass, youthfully coy, with a bouquet of dried roses and violets. Complicating whiffs of incense give way to cherry sauce and dark chocolate. It's rich and complex yet also remarkably energetic, with a tactile mineral core that enhances its tart red berry fruits while hints of sour orange add a cheek-puckering sourness toward the close. The 2016 finishes with medium length and a chalky sensation, tapering off with suggestions of licorice and tangerine. This sexy and energetic Rosso del Bepi will win a lot of hearts.

Because the Quintarelli family did not make a 2016 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico, fruit for that wine came to this wine instead. The 2016 Rosso del Bepi does have a hint of herbal greenness (which is why the top-tier wine was not produced) followed by pressed blackberry and cherry liqueur. I also get a pinch of bitter chocolate. However, this is a declassified Amarone, and you get a good sense of its depth and complexity. The fruit underwent up to four months of appassimento and went into oak botte for six to seven years. It was bottled in March 2023 with 15.5% alcohol (compared to the 16.5% you see in most vintages of Amarone). It offers intensity and generosity. The Rosso del Bepi was made in 2010, 2014 and 2016. - Monica Larner