Tommasi
Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Ca’ Florian 2012
Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva DOCG
Ca’ Florian is where the Tommasi story begins. These are the family’s oldest vineyards, settled by grandfather Giacomo in 1902, and the site chosen to carry the name of Tommasi’s top Amarone Riserva. The vineyard is farmed exactly as it has always been: dry-stone wall terraces built from “marogne,” pergola veronese trellising, and grapes dried on “arele,” the traditional handmade bamboo racks. Nothing here has been modernized for convenience, and production is intentionally small (fewer than 9,000 bottles per vintage). Ca’ Florian is a wine of timeless simplicity and elegance, built for the cellar and worth every year of patience. Forget it for a decade or two. The moment it delivers will be unforgettable.
VINEYARD
The Ca’ Florian vineyard is a 12 acre parcel that lies on the Pedemonte hills surrouding the winery in San Pietro in Cariano, and has a south-western exposure. It is a terraced vineyard whose vines are trained using the traditional pergola veronese system. The soils are mostly cretaceous and calcareous.
WINEMAKING
Harvest and manual selection of the grapes in 5-6 kg crates. After further selection, the grapes are left to dry in a well-ventilated loft for 100 days on the traditional racks known as “arele.” The grapes are pressed in January and a slow fermentation then takes place for 30 days in oak vats, using exclusively indigenous yeasts. Maturation lasts 4 years, for the first year in barriques and for the subsequent 3 years in 35 hl Slavonian oak casks. Amarone Ca’ Florian then ages in bottle for at least a year.
VINTAGE
2012 began with a mild, dry winter that pushed budding slightly ahead of the historical average. A return of cool temperatures in April and May slowed the growing cycle and delayed flowering by about a week. Summer brought high heat and very little rain, falling only in scattered thunderstorms, placing the vines under stress. Relief came at the end of August, when temperatures dropped and rain restored balance to the vines. Steady diurnal shifts through the final weeks of ripening allowed the fruit to finish with precision. Rigorous selection in the vineyard was followed by equally careful sorting of the grapes destined for drying.
TASTING NOTE
Deep ruby with garnet highlights. Elegant and complex on the nose, with ripe cherry, blackberry, plum, licorice, and bitter cocoa. Full-bodied and austere on the palate, with rich tannins and a long, fresh finish.
FOOD PAIRING
Braised short rib, venison, wild boar, aged hard cheeses, truffle dishes
Color
Red
Blend %
75% Corvina, 15% Corvinone, 10% Rondinella
Appellation
Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva DOCG
Alcohol
15.5%
Suggested Retail Price
$135.00
Reviews
"Chewy and gorgeous"
James Suckling - December 8, 2020 "This is really showing lots of dried fruit with sultana, white-pepper and fig flavors. It's full and very tight with a long, intense finish. Chewy and gorgeous now. Very classic with a light touch of bitterness at the finish."
"Amazing concentration and persistence"
Vinous - February 25, 2021 "The 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Ca' Florian holds nothing back, exploding from the glass with a massive wave of medicinal blackberries and cherries dipped in dark chocolate, complemented by autumnal and balsamic spices. It’s weighty and dense in the mouth, showing amazing concentration and persistence, as a more savory display of tart wild berries mixes with sour citrus. Throughout this heady display, a core of zesty acids maintains balance. You don’t feel it until the very end, but there’s a coating of fine wood tannin that is only revealed as the Ca' Florian’s glycerol-textured fruits slowly fade. Open the 2012 now for all of its upfront appeal, or cellar it to explore its unseen depths – either way, it’s quite a wine."
"Dried plum, prune, campfire ember"
Wine Advocate - January 19, 2022 "The Tommasi 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Ca' Florian offers an interesting perspective tasted now just shy of the 10-year mark since the harvest. This special late-release blend of 75% Corvina, 20% Corvinone and 5% Rondinella shows the sweetness of the hot vintage and the appassimento process on the one hand and the spiciness of bottle age on the other. The bouquet is rooted in tertiary aromas of dried plum, prune, campfire ember and powdered licorice. In other words, the wine is sweet and savory at the same time, and that is really something only Amarone can pull off. Ca' Florian draws its fruit from a five-hectare site planted in the traditional overhead pergola training system that helps to shade the fruit during ripening."- M.L
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