Giuseppe Quintarelli Alzero 2008

2008 saw an excellent vintage for the Veneto, and the ’08 Alzero reflects its stellar year in its breathtaking structure, exquisite balance, and terrific complexity. Layers of succulent berries, juicy plums, and tart cherries dance upon a framework of spicy herbs, warm loam, cigar ash, and brambly underbrush in this riveting Alzero bottling.

Port-like intensity weds with acidic verve, while chewy tannins find their match in a sweet inner perfume in this gorgeously complex wine. While you’re going to have a hard time keeping your hands off this wine, a few years in the cellar will help to show its true beauty. As with the estate’s Amarone, Quintarelli treats Alzero’s grapes (a blend of about 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 40% Cabernet Franc and 20% Merlot) with the appassimento technique, drying the grapes in single layers upon straw or plastic mats for 60 to 100 days to concentrate and intensify the flavor; it’s also the sole Quintarelli wine that matures in barriques, where it ages first for two or three years in French oak, followed by four years in Slavonian oak.