Best Amarone 2026: Top Rated Bottles You Can Order Today
Start here: our pick in each price band
Zenato, Amarone Classico 2020
James Suckling 96, Wine Enthusiast 95. The highest average score under €80.
All six under €80
Bertani, Amarone Classico 2015
James Suckling 100 and Wine of the Year 2024. Four critics, none below 93.
All four from €80 to €200
Romano Dal Forno, Amarone “Monte Lodoletta” 2009
Wine Advocate 99, James Suckling 98. The highest average on this list.
All three collector bottles
Thirteen Amarone della Valpolicella that the critics scored highest, for the exact vintage on our shelves in Venice. Every bottle below is in stock today, from under €40 to collector bottles.
Chosen by Johann Depietri, sommelier at All’Amarone in Venice. A score counts only if it was given to the vintage we sell, and at least two critics or guides agree on every wine. Last updated September 2026.
Delivered from Venice. Every parcel leaves our cellar in insulated packaging and travels under temperature control. Shipping is free in Italy over €99, to Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Denmark over €300, and to the rest of the European Union over €400. For the United States we pay the customs duty ourselves, and twelve bottles cost around €11 a bottle to ship against €85 for a single one. Costs, days and duties by country
Why a great Amarone is worth what it costs
Amarone is expensive to make at every step. Most of the price goes into the grapes and the years, not into the name.
- Twice the grapes in every bottle. After the harvest the bunches dry for three to four months in lofts called fruttai, until each grape has lost around 40% of its weight. A rack of 90 to 100 kg of fresh grapes makes about 30 to 40 bottles. How appassimento works
- Only the better sites, picked by hand. In 2019 grapes fit for Amarone sold for €162 per 100 kg, against €90.70 for the grapes of Dolcetto d’Alba in Piedmont. Why Amarone costs what it does
- Years in wood before release. The rules ask for at least two years of ageing and four for a Riserva, and the best producers wait longer: Bertani kept its 2015 in large Slavonian casks for eight years. How Amarone is made
- Priced on the work, not on the fame. Next to Bordeaux, Burgundy or Champagne of the same standing, the best Amarone still costs what it takes to make rather than what the name could ask.
Grapes drying in a fruttaio for three to four months
Barrels resting under the vaults of a Valpolicella cellar
From harvest to bottle, step by step
Three questions, six bottles
Tell us what the wine is for. We pick six from the shelves in San Polo and say why each one made the list.
Answer the three questions and your six bottles appear here.
Best Amarone under €80
Six bottles under €80, each with at least two critics or guides behind it. Serious Amarone does not have to cost a fortune.
1. Zenato, Amarone Classico 2020
The highest average score under €80
- James Suckling 96
- Wine Enthusiast 95
Two critics at 95 or more. The grapes come from Zenato’s Costalunga estate and dry for about four months, then the wine spends 36 months in large Slavonian oak. A full, classic Amarone at 16.5% alcohol.
2. Brigaldara, Amarone “Case Vecie” 2018
Tre Bicchieri, and three critics at 94 or more
From the Case Vecie vineyard in Grezzana, high in the Valpantena valley, where the grapes ripen slowly and dry through the cold months. Four years in wood: two in small barrels, then two in large casks.Why we like it
From a high vineyard up in the Valpantena, where the altitude keeps everything lively. One of Brigaldara's loveliest wines.
3. Pietro Zardini, Amarone Riserva “Leone Zardini” 2019
Tre Bicchieri and 5 Grappoli for the same vintage
- Decanter World Wine Awards 95
- Bibenda 5 Grappoli
- Gambero Rosso Tre Bicchieri
A Riserva of Corvina (70%), Rondinella and Molinara from hillside vineyards on limestone, marl and basalt. Four years in amphora, oak barrels and tonneaux, then more time in bottle.
4. Speri, Amarone Classico “Vigneto Monte Sant’Urbano” 2020
Four critics, with Wine Spectator at 96
- Wine Spectator 96
- Vinous 95
- James Suckling 94
- Wine Enthusiast 92
From Speri’s top vineyard, high pergola vines near Fumane. At 15% alcohol it is lighter than many Amarone, after two years in French tonneaux and 18 months in Slavonian casks. Speri is one of the estates we name for serious Amarone at a fair price in Five Amarone producers compared.
5. Villa Spinosa, Amarone Classico “Albasini” 2017
Falstaff 94 and 4 Viti from the Italian Sommelier Association
Only 3,200 bottles, from terraces above Marano di Valpolicella. One year in French tonneaux, four in large Slavonian casks and one more in bottle before release.
6. Brigaldara, Amarone “Cavolo” 2020
The lowest price on this list
- Wine Enthusiast 94
- Vinous 94
- Falstaff 93
Three critics at 93 and 94. The grapes dry for about 120 days, then the wine spends at least four years in wood, two in small barrels and two in large ones.
What makes a great Amarone vintage
A vintage is mostly a story of sunshine. The ideal year is hot but not extreme, stays warm into September and October and ends with a dry winter, so the drying grapes lose water evenly instead of going mouldy.
Corvina ripens late, so the last weeks before picking decide the year. And because the grapes then dry until December or January, the winter counts too: a wet December can spoil fruit that was picked perfectly.
On our chart, the vintages on this list rate as follows: 2015 exceptional; 2009, 2016 and 2019 five stars; 2017 four stars; 2006 and 2018 three stars. The 2020 vintage is still too recent to rate. A three star year from a serious producer can still make a great bottle, which is why each wine here is judged on its own scores, not on the year alone.
Best Amarone from €80 to €200
Four bottles for a special dinner or a gift. Bertani, founded in 1857, is still the best value among the great houses: its Classico 2015 was James Suckling’s Wine of the Year 2024.
Why the Bertani 2015 won Wine of the Year · Amarone as a gift
7. Bertani, Amarone Classico 2015
100 points and Wine of the Year 2024 from James Suckling
- James Suckling 100
- Falstaff 98
- Wine Enthusiast 97
- Wine Spectator 93
Four critics, none below 93. Corvina and Rondinella from the Tenuta Novare estate, dried for 99 days in rooms with no temperature control, then eight years in large Slavonian oak before release.Why we like it
From Bertani's Tenuta Novare in the Classico zone, a house that helped define this wine. Harmonious and generous, and drinking well right now.
8. Bertani, Amarone Classico 2016
The next vintage, with two critics at 96 or more
- James Suckling 97
- Wine Enthusiast 96
The same grapes and the same slow drying as the 2015, from a year with healthy fruit and even ripening. Order both and compare two Bertani vintages side by side.Why we like it
Balance and precision rather than sheer power, which has been Bertani's philosophy for generations. Young still, and it will age for decades.
9. Brunelli, Amarone Classico Riserva “Campo Inferi” 2019
James Suckling 97, under €100
A Riserva made only in the best years, from vines about 40 years old at 350 metres in San Pietro in Cariano. Four years in 18 hectolitre oak casks and a year in bottle.Why we like it
From the steep, difficult vineyards above San Pietro in Cariano, which is where all that concentration comes from. Rare, bold and genuinely memorable.
10. Zymé, Amarone Classico 2018
Three critics, from 92 to 96
- James Suckling 96
- Falstaff 94
- Vinous 92
- Doctor Wine 94
From winemaker Celestino Gaspari in the hills of Negrar. Five grapes, Oseleta and Croatina among them, and at least five years in large Slavonian casks plus a year in bottle.Why we like it
Celestino Gaspari's Amarone: old school in feeling, modern in precision. Developed and complex, and a wine that repays attention.
Collector bottles
Three bottles for the cellar, with the highest average scores on the list. Stock is very limited.
Romano Dal Forno and Quintarelli are the two names collectors chase. Dal Forno keeps yields very low, dries the grapes in temperature controlled lofts and ages the wine in new French barriques, for an Amarone of great density.
From a four or five star year, a good Amarone improves for ten to fifteen years and holds for twenty five. The top estates in the top years go well past that.
Romano Dal Forno · Quintarelli, Dal Forno and three more compared
11. Romano Dal Forno, Amarone “Monte Lodoletta” 2009
The highest average on this list: 99 and 98
- Wine Advocate 99
- James Suckling 98
Romano Dal Forno’s Amarone from the Illasi valley, east of Verona. The grapes dry for about four months and the wine ages in barriques, then for years in bottle.
12. Romano Dal Forno, Amarone “Monte Lodoletta” 2015
100 points from James Suckling, 98 from Vinous
- James Suckling 100
- Vinous 98
- Wine Advocate 97
Three critics at 97 or more, from 2015, the only vintage of the 2010s rated exceptional on our chart. Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara from the Illasi valley, aged in barriques and then for years in bottle.
13. Zenato, Amarone Classico Riserva “Sergio Zenato” 2006
Three critics at 94 or more, from a mature vintage
- James Suckling 98
- Wine Enthusiast 97
- Wine Spectator 94
Zenato releases this Riserva only in its best years. Four months of drying, at least four years in large oak casks and a year in bottle, and the 2006 has now had two decades to develop.Why we like it
Zenato only put their founder's name on a Riserva in years they rate highly. Real heft, refreshing acidity, and the ageability that follows from both.
How to serve and keep these bottles
- Serve at 16 to 18 °C in a large glass. Italesse designed its T-Made 76 AV glass for Amarone together with Valpolicella producers, testing six prototypes over 24 months, and we pour our tastings in Venice in it. The glass made for Amarone
- Give older bottles air. Decanting opens up the aromas of a mature Amarone and leaves any deposit behind. Amarone ageing explained
- Store them lying down, below 16 °C, away from light and vibration. An upright bottle in a warm kitchen suffers far sooner than one kept this way.
How we chose these 13 wines
- In stock at All’Amarone, in the exact vintage that was scored. A score given to another vintage does not count.
- At least one score of 94 or more from the critics below, or the top award of an Italian guide.
- At least two critics or guides agree on the wine.
- Ranked by the average of the critics’ scores, so one high score alone cannot put a wine at the top. Ties go to the wine more critics scored.
- Two wines at most from the same producer.
- Every score was checked against a published source before it reached our shop. Where the source is the critic or the producer, the score above links to it.
The critics behind the scores
Scores out of 100 that decide the ranking: Wine Advocate, founded by Robert Parker; Vinous, founded by Antonio Galloni; Wine Spectator; James Suckling; Wine Enthusiast; Decanter, including the Decanter World Wine Awards; and Falstaff.
Italian guides, shown as awards: Tre Bicchieri, the top award of Gambero Rosso’s Vini d’Italia; 5 Grappoli, the top award of Bibenda, the guide of the Fondazione Italiana Sommelier; 4 Viti, the top award of Vitae, the guide of the Italian Sommelier Association. Scores from Doctor Wine, the guide of Daniele Cernilli, are shown next to the others.
Questions about Amarone scores
What does a score of 95 points mean?
Most international critics score wine out of 100. On most of their scales, 90 and above means an outstanding wine, and the top band starts at 95 or 96.
Why does the vintage matter?
A score belongs to one year of one wine. The same Amarone can score several points apart from one vintage to the next: Bertani’s Classico received 100 points from James Suckling for 2015 and 97 for 2016. That is why every score on this page is for the bottle we sell.
What are Tre Bicchieri and 5 Grappoli?
They are the highest awards of two of Italy’s main wine guides: Tre Bicchieri (three glasses) from Gambero Rosso and 5 Grappoli (five bunches) from Bibenda.
How long does Amarone keep?
A good Amarone from a four or five star year improves for ten to fifteen years and holds for twenty five, and the top estates in the best years last far longer. Our vintage chart
Do you ship Amarone to the United States?
Yes, in 12 to 20 working days, and we pay the customs duty ourselves. The shipping cost for your address shows in the cart before you pay. Shipping costs and duties
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