When a $20 Stefania Haut Taube is preferred to a $300 bottle of Amarone

Last night I went to a wonderful party to watch the Boca Raton Boat Parade. I was asked to help supply some wines for mostly a non-wine drinking population at this party.

I recommended easy drinkers and provided some young Muscadet and a few bottles of Stefania’s 2008 Haut Taube, a$20 easy drinking red that I have always enjoyed as did some of my non-wino friends. So figured I wouldn’t break the budget for the organizer of the party and provide some fun wines that can be enjoyed by casual wine drinkers.

The wines were a hit and at one point a wealthy friend and his wife of the party organizer showed up and had a bottle of wine in hand. (See link below)

1998 giuseppe quintarelli amarone della valpolicella classico

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The gift giver told the organizer that she should only share this with those that can appreciate fine wine. Not sure how the bottle got opened, but I was poured a glass…

I took a sip, took another and felt like a baseball bat just hit me over the head (now I know what the burg lovers mean when they describe a Napa Cab hitting them over the head)…and said to myself, this wine really sucks. An alcoholic mess (16.2%) and a wine that seemed to be disjointed. I saw no redeeming qualities of this supposed holy grail of Amarone (if there is such a thing). It was almost as enjoyable as a shot of Wild Turkey. I felt like I needed either a mixer or a chaser with that wine.

I promptly gave my glass away to someone else and went back to the Haut Taube. Maybe the Amarone needed a long decant time, but to me and to another attendee, the wine was not enjoyable in the slightest. I have never had this Amarone before , maybe a bad bottle? Nevertheless it reminded me yet again, that price of the bottle of wine not a direct connection to the quality inside…

Does anyone actually enjoy this wine? If so, what is the proper serving temp, what is the recommended decant time. Was this wine consumed way too young? It seemed to need another 10 years just to demonstrate any hint of integration of it’s components?

I’m excited to be getting my first case of Stefania. Too bad the Amarone was not up to its reputation. I have only had quintarelli once at a retailer tasting. I thought it was delicious (I cannot remember the vintage). I’m sure there are some Amarone freaks here that will chime in.

Alan, to me, amarone is not an easy drinking wine. The ripasso thing makes them unique. I myself have sampled this one.

“Haut Taube, a$20 easy drinking red that I have always enjoyed a…”

Could it be a stylistic thing? You should have seen my face sampling Sauternes at Lenny’s home on Monday! Some did well with people who like that type of thing. I got all burnt rubber. Good (more) for them!

Do you live in Boca Raton? The optimal environment for enjoying Amarone would be during a frigid Northern-state winter, in a drafty old house that never gets much over 65 degrees, eating a beef stew and watching a blizzard roar outside your window.

Marcus,

I didn’t realize that a particular wine was made for a specific geographic location and also had weather requirements.

A good Amarone can pair very nicely with a hearty Italian meal or short ribs regardless of the geographic location or outside weather conditions.

I can usually taste a wine and identify some of it’s positive attributes regardless of where I am. I could not find any redeeming qualities in this particular wine. It should be served by the shot, instead of in a wine glass.

Mike, I hear what you are saying, but my palette is pretty flexible and I enjoy wines from all over. I also happen to love a good Sauternes. I had a 90 d’Yquem last month that was out of this world.

I can refer to my previous statement in the last post , that I can usually taste a wine and identify it’s positive attributes. I really tried with this wine. The only thing I could say about it, is that it most probably should have been decanted for hours, but then again, that could be the totally wrong thing for Amarone.

Nice visual!

Well, you went from driving a Ford Fiesta around town to driving a Ferrari Testarossa at 200 mph down the Autobahn. Yea, it can be a little disconcerting at first, and disorienting. Give it another try, and if you feel the same way, no biggie. Amarone is not for everybody. dc.

“Quintarelli is King of Amarone”.

Dave,

While I debate the Testarossa comparison. I understand what you are saying, but I have, what I consider a rather extensive wine background and have had wines from all over the world. I can easily go from a light red to a heavy red without a bat of an eyelash and pick up the qualities of each wine. Our wine dinners sometimes have in the neighborhood 14-18 wines and cover the gamut of old world and new world wines.

I have also had Amarone on other occasions introduced by others and found it pleasant. This particular bottle either wasn’t decanted enough or the bottle could have been off. It was very port like, not something I would associate with Amarone in my humble opinion. All that I tasted was alcohol. I love big wines, I love Napa Cab’s and I am a big Bordeaux fan. I don’t think I shy away from big wines.

I would enjoy hearing from those who have more experience with Amarone to let me know what the appropriate decanting and temp should be for these wines. Should they be aged longer? Was this wine too young? It is possible I had an off bottle? It really was port like to me.

Alan,

I have not tasted the Q Amarone from 98 and cannot afford to do so anyway so I cannot say what it is like :~(

Certainly it is possible you had an off bottle - I had a cooked bottle of his 97 Valpolicella at Thanksgiving. :~(

Amarone is portlike, definitely, but without the added brandy, which is why I love it so much. From what I understand the Italians like to drink it like a port, after dinner, by itself.

As for decanting time, 3-24 hours for a Quintarelli Amarone is what I would suggest, served at room temperature. Although I can no longer even think about purchasing one, I have had many in the past, so this is my advice.

So, not a Testarossa, in this case you might say a Yugo? :~)


dc.

Ford Fiesta comparisons aside, the Haut Tubee is quite a nice wine I think. I am not really a Cali wine guy, though I do like some Napa Cabs. Even the zins much heralded on this board do nothing for me, with the exception of Ridge which is nice from time to time. But for me if I am in the mood for a fruity, ripe, California red wine with some complexity the HT really seems to deliver well. Which makes me wonder, when does the next Stefania release occur? Paul, anyone?

You won’t see the HT until next Sept. The 08’s came out then, sold out immediately. But in all honesty, it is NOT a big, ripe California wine. it is rather easy drinking and I am partial to having it with Chinese food (Peking Duck to be exact).

Back to a question on Amarone:

Is this served with the same level pour as say…a Bordeaux? or should it be a small pour such as a Sauternes? anybody? anybody? Bueller? anybody?

For my tastes the 2007 HT is indeed a big and ripe wine. It is balanced and has good complexity, but it is also I think fruit forward and ripe. Looking at CT I see the following words over and over: blueberry, blackberry, strawberry. To me these are the hallmarks of a big fruit forward wine. That this is also nuanced and doesn’t overwhelm is its strength, but I don’t think of it as a ballerina by any means.

I have had the 98 Quintarelli and it was fresh, layered and deep. Sounds very different than the bottle you had. By the way, the Ca’ del Merlo is also very nice from that vintage and perhaps a less intense Valpolicella.

I always take a double “Bordeaux pour” and give everyone else a half pour. :~)

dc.

Ithink another point not to be overlooked is that different people have different sensitivities to the molecules that taste like raisins or stewed fruit. I’m -ultra- sensitive to it, find, eg Carlisle, Bedrock, and Ridge Lytton to be, most of the time, unpleasantly raisined. I have friends whose palates I respect who taste the same exact bottles and have an entirely different impression.

This isn’t the same as saying you like high-acid/low-acid or less or more fruit, though there’s obviously some correlation. There are fruit bomb wines wth high alcohols but fruit that tastes entirely fresh and there are structured geek wines that taste raisined or stewed to me.

I’ve only had a couple of amarones but to someone with my palate, they all taste like raisin juice.

What? You have something against raisins? Are you a “raisinist”?

Seriously, you have a legitimate point. I just wish most people felt that way, I might then be able to afford a botle or two of Amarone. :~)

dc.

Yeah, I don’t think “$20 easy drinking red” is quite a fair characterization. It was for the inaugural '06, which was a small batch of odd lots. With the '07 it became a serious wine. Paul decided an experimental batch of Eaglepoint Syrah done in a Hermitage barrel shouldn’t make the Eaglepoint bottling, despite being superior, so it went in the Haut Tubee (comprising 25% of the blend). He then rounded out the blend with some Harvest Moon Cab. It’s a serious, well crafted wine that should improve with age, despite being enjoyable on release.

You really tried? Your original post says you took 2 quick sips and passed it on. I guarantee you 99% of the population would choose drinking Mollydooker over Lafite…you just have a pedestrian palate.

Great points. I also don’t like raisiny flavors in my wine. I tend to find that ripe, fruit driven wines often show this with as little as a few years age. I’m not sure whether the raisin/prune aromas were always there then were revealed by age, or if oxidation of the ripe fruit brings it on, but it is not something I like. For this reason a lot of the ‘auslese’ style CA Cabs, Zins and Syrahs as well as various dessert wines made by extended hang time or drying do not appeal to me. Fresh fruit is where it’s at for my taste.

Incidentally, Zin is widely known to have issues with grapes on a single cluster varying widely in ripeness. Some grapes will be raisins, while others will be barely ripe. The danger is a sweet & sour wine, and often that seems like what I find with Zin. As much as I want to like Zin due to the indigenous old vines, the varietal character is intrinsically displeasing in some ways.

I second the note about alcohol and acidity. There is obviously some correlation between fruit character, alcohol and acidity, but really the relationship depends on region, vintage, producer, etc., etc. “All things being equal” is something that rarely applies here.