With 6,000 bottles released, the Montecariano 2013 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico shows depth and intensity with round, ripe fruit, cherry, plum and dried blackberry. This 16% alcohol blend of Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Molinara Croatina and Pelara boasts lots of power and fruit-forward momentum that comes from the appassimento process, in which the grapes lose one-third of their water volume and the fruit concentration and alcohol are intensified by air-drying the clusters. Those dried fruit aromas are followed by warm notes of earth and spice.

Here's a full-bodied red wine with the power and density to pair with wintery foods. The 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico is a steady and layered wine that peels back to reveal generous tones of black fruit, spice, leather and dried coriander or cardamom seed. This vintage was very hot, and the fruit feels extra dried out here as a result. The grapes, 65% Corvina and Corvinone, 20% Rondinella and 15% Molinara, Croatina and Pelara, are air dried for 90 days. You feel that 16% alcohol on the close. Some 9,500 bottles were made.

The delicious 2009 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico shows integrated fruit and a beautiful sense of balance. This is a big wine, no doubt, with thick extraction and jammy dark fruit flavors. But it contrasts those large-scale qualities with minute details that include dark cola, grilled herb, pressed violets and crushed mineral. The mouthfeel shows a similar level of harmony with bold density followed by silky tannins.

The 2008 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico is a beautiful wine that is laced with delicate mineral notes of crushed granite and polished river stone. Behind those aromas are more substantial tones of ripe fruit, prune, dried cherry and concentrated dark spice. This is a reasonably dry and mineral-driven Amarone that shows a good level of austerity and tightness. Drin: 2015-2022. Importer: Ribevi Wines International, www.ribevi.com