The Bussola 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva TB (in a heavy glass bottle) is a determined wine with lots of extra power and brawn. The wine shows sweet, air-dried fruit with baked plum and cherry confit. The alcohol content clocks in at 17%, which is way too much on any scale. Despite the high alcohol reading, the wine is still tastes sweet. I tasted number 164 of 8,026 bottles made.

This is an oversized wine. The Bussola 2011 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva TB is showing some pretty evolution with dusty spicy notes, tarry smoke and licorice. The 2011 vintage will be remembered for the hot and dry winds that blew north from Africa throughout much of the summer. This blend of 45% Corvina, 30% Corvinone and 25% Rondinella (which is fermented for 50 days in steel and aged in oak for 66 months with new and neural oak) continues to show intact fruit despite the wine's advanced age. You get plenty of alcoholic punch, measuring 17%, which proves impossible to ignore and surely difficult to manage unless a robust food-pairing partner is found. I tasted bottle number 1,020 of 9,356 released.