After a short window of uncertainty, the Quintarelli wines have decidedly reached a new level. There was a magic to these wines under the late Giuseppe Quintarelli and his oenologist, Roberto Ferrarini, but over the past 14 years, the family has worked to create a new style centered on purity and elegance. For a period, the wines were very good and technically correct, but they were missing that old magic. My recent tastings—particularly my preview of the 2015 Amarone Riserva, 2017 Alzero and 2018 Amarone—fully assured me that the current winemaking team is operating at full tilt. To be clear, the “magic” of the past could be described as “pleasurable rusticity.” These wines no longer show that rustic edge, which has been supplanted by a mix of refinement, purity, finesse and depth that I associate with the greatest wines in the world. I will always love older vintages of Quintarelli, and while the modern-day wines may be different, they are equally captivating.
