"What a dream of a wine," I said to my wife. Poking my nose into the glass was like slipping into a hothouse full of violets, and if you can imagine something as soft as a cloud but lovely to chew on then you understand what I meant when I mumbled something about how this heavenly modern style Amarone had fine tannins and luscious mouthfeel. To pick a nit, the mid-palate and long, strong finish were not exactly complex, but who can argue with liquid violets. I loved it.
Or so I thought. As things turned out we didn't love it with the food. My wife had bought a rack of venison just to keep the Amarone company but the venison, although tender and tamed by a few hours' bath in red wine, turned out to be the Amarone's enemy, turning it into just another overextracted sweetie. Next night we tried the remaining half bottle -- which on first sip was even more delicious than the first half -- but with calf's liver, and again the Amarone fell flat, and so we resorted to another wine to save the meal, this time a dirt cheap bottle of 2006 Renato Ratti Colombe Dolcetto D'Alba, which did the trick nicely. Now desparate to find anything that would go with the Amarone we raided the cheese box for the standard Amarone-and-regiano parmagiano cliche, but even that spoiled the wine.
And if an Amarone won't go with parmagiano regiano what in the world will it go with?