Valpolicella Amarone: Top Wines and Investment Opportunities
Good Amarone, and not just for drinking. Alongside other great Italian reds, the wine from Valpolicella is recommended among those to keep in proper consideration for investments; in other words, to make some money.
And there are quite a few producers to focus on in Valpolicella. According to the weekly Il Mondo, the yields from this type of financial operation have been quite interesting. Just this year, in fact, the first fruits are seen from Meliorbanca bonds 1999-2003 at 2%, with warrants (that is, an option right within a certain date on a specific security) exercisable every year on a batch of six different bottles of wine.
This one-year post-issuance investment has earned 10%, more than double the old beloved Bot; a percentage calculated by Meliorbanca which, as Il Mondo explains, comes from adding the minimum guaranteed 2% to the value that the batches of bottles have gained on the market at the time the warrant is exercised. Also, results for the en primeur sales of Brunello di Montalcino have been more than positive.
En primeur sales and successful examples
En primeur is a French term indicating the sale of wine at a set price in the year following the harvest, but with delivery scheduled only after several years of aging. In short, an advance sale: payment is made, at an agreed price, before receiving the goods.
In the case of Villa Banfi’s Brunello, an investment in ’96 bottles yielded 100% in four years! A mechanism that someone had thought of a couple of years ago also in Valpolicella, but it never materialized. Leading producers are not lacking, and Il Mondo, based on the guidance of Italy’s top enologists and wine experts, has compiled a list of them.
List of top wines and new opportunities
Alongside Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello, and Sassicaia, in the list of super-rated wines (the champions with a well-established history of success), are the Poja by Allegrini and Amarone Castellani, Quintarelli, La Lodoletta by Romano Dal Forno.
Among the successful labels, already highly appreciated, are Amarone di Bertani, Stefano Accordini, Corte Sant’Alda, Mazzano by Masi, the one from the Speri brothers, and Vigneto Alto by Tommaso Bussola. Finally, in the third list, of emerging producers—young or already established producers making their mark with determination and having the numbers to break through—is the Amarone by Zenato.
Promotional initiatives and the Amarone market
A strong calling card, complemented by an interesting initiative promoted by the Consorzio di tutela: the en primeur presentation of Amarone 1997 at the Salone del Gusto in Turin, from October 25 to 29, and at the Merano Wine Festival, from November 11 to 13.
Basically, the ’97 vintage will be available for tasting before market release, considered one of the best of the decade for Amarone. Nearly 50 producers will bring their wines for tastings. An elite production on which to potentially focus for a good investment. Provided, of course, that one prefers to drink it.