Tasting Notes: Il Sasso is an organic take on Amarone from Valpolicella. Ripe, condensed berries and sweet pipe tobacco jump from the glass. Some bell pepper notes then come through to add balance to the fruit. The palate has some well-integrated tannins and a vibrant deep, rich fruit that lifts beautifully on the finish thanks to some balanced acidity.
Estate History: Stefano Bellamoli works on 10 hectares of rocky hillsides in Montricco di Negrar, north-west of Verona in Valpolicella's Classico region. At 300 meters above sea level, Stefano and his team farm Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella varietals on beds of calcarenite gialla, a soft, yellow limestone just centimeters below the surface. Stefano has re-planted wild native species amid the vines and uses green manure treatments to restore and enhance soil fertility and vine vigor. The grapes are hand-picked, de-stemmed, and fermented with indigenous yeast in stainless steel, and in the case of the Classico Superiore, aged for a year in stainless before bottling with a small amount of sulfur.
