Yes, Wine Lovers Actually Can Pair Amarone With Food

A very full-bodied, dry, powerful and often quite tannic red, Amarone can be high in alcohol too—sometimes as much as 17%, close to the alcohol level of a fortified wine like Port. It is made in the Valpolicella subregion of Italy’s Veneto in a unique way. Various grapes (chiefly Corvina) are first dried, in a process called appassimento, which concentrates flavor, color and tannins. The dried grapes are then fermented to the point where enough sugar is converted to alcohol to produce a dry wine. In commercial production only since the 1950s, Amarone della Valpolicella, as the wine is officially known, was granted DOCG status in 2010.

Most Amarone producers make other wines too, including the light, simple Valpolicella Classico and the more concentrated Valpolicella Superiore, aged at least one year and slightly higher in alcohol than Classico is. A step further up the quality ladder are Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore wines, traditionally made by “repassing” a Valpolicella wine over a pomace of grape skins and seeds left over from making Amarone. A Ripasso will typically be bigger and more complex than the other types of Valpolicella but not quite as complex as Amarone; some wine drinkers call this wine “baby Amarone.” The dry Amarone della Valpolicella also has a sweet cousin, Amarone della Valpolicella Recioto. This sweet wine is made by the same appassimento process, but the fermentation is stopped sooner so that some residual sugar remains in the wine.

Although Amarone della Valpolicella is, as noted, traditionally vinified dry, some Amarones at the cheaper end of the price scale can be a bit sweet. (Sweetness can help to mask a wine’s flaws.) The sweet, cheap examples are nothing like great Amarone, said chef Mario. It’s a demanding method of winemaking, and that shows in the wines. A sports car enthusiast as well as an aficionado of Amarone, Mario offered the following analogy: “If you drive 150 miles an hour in a Ferrari you’re fine but if you go 150 in a stupid car, you’ll crash.”

When Mario offered this observation, he and I were sitting in Divina a couple hours before the start of dinner service. He’d offered to prepare several dishes that would demonstrate just how well Amarone pairs with food. I’d brought along 10 bottles for us to taste, all current-vintage, ranging from 2007 to 2013. (Different wineries have different release-date policies.) They were priced from $35 to $90. The priciest was a 2007 Bertani Amarone ($90) that my husband and I had received as a gift. Mario regarded this last bottle with delight. “That’s a great wine,” he said.

Most of the wines I brought were too young to drink that day, Mario explained. He’s currently drinking Amarones from the 1997, 2000 and 2001 vintages. “I try to avoid young Amarone because I feel the alcohol a lot,” he said. Mario usually has plenty of well aged examples to choose from: Amarone accounts for a full half of his personal wine cellar. If the Amarone is a great one, he said, “you can drink the whole bottle yourself” (i.e., in one sitting), while a merely drinkable bottle is one “to share with two or three friends.” In other words, a less-than-great Amarone isn’t interesting enough to hold his attention, and a wine very high in alcohol must be apportioned moderately.

Before bringing food to the table, we tasted the wines to determine which were worthy of pairing. A few we tasted would require more than two or three people sharing the bottle—such as the massive and massively high-alcohol (17%) 2011 Tommaso Bussola Amarone della Valpolicella Classico ($45). “You don’t want to drink a half bottle of this. You’d crash your car,” said Mario (who is prone to automotive references). Some of the wines he deemed unworthy of drinking at all, including the bitter, astringent and faintly herbaceous 2013 Allegrini della Valpolicella Classico ($56) and the thin 2013 Bolla Amarone della Valpolicella Classico ($40), which tasted mostly of alcohol and oak.

Fortunately, our group also included some standouts. The 2013 Zenato Amarone della Valpolicella Classico ($40) was marked by bright red fruit and lively acidity. Mario and I both found the lithe, textured 2013 Tommasi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico ($58) remarkably drinkable despite its youth. Yet while we admired the bright fruit of the 2013 Tedeschi Amarone della Valpolicella ($55), we also found it overwhelmed by oak. The 2012 Masi Costasera Amarone della Valpolicella ($45) was a well made, very traditional wine; though still quite tannic and tight, it showed promise. The 2010 La Formica Amarone della Valpolicella ($50), meanwhile, was very well balanced and approachable—surprisingly ready to drink for an Amarone its age. “Very solid,” declared Mario, adding that it was a wine he’d purchased himself in the past.

Mario’s favorite of the wines I’d brought was that 2007 Bertani Amarone. Its tannins had softened; fruit and oak melded nicely together. It had texture, richness and complexity. “This is a bottle I will drink myself,” Mario said.

Later that evening, my husband, his daughter Leah and her fiancé, Lou—who had given us the 2007 Bertani—sat down with me at Divina to taste the five Amarones Mario and I liked best, along with five dishes the chef made to pair with them. We started with pastas: pappardelle with wild boar ragù, and a creamy fettuccine with Gorgonzola and walnuts. “Gorgonzola is perfect with Amarone,” Mario said, and he was right. The richness of the dishes countered the wines’ tannins, making even younger Amarones seem supple and approachable.

The next three dishes were filet mignon with porcini mushrooms, pork chops with potatoes and hot peppers, and roast quail. Every one of them was substantial enough to stand up to the bold flavors of the Amarones and, like the rich pastas, helped to soften the tannins.

By the time Mario pulled up a chair, there wasn’t a lot of Bertani left in the bottle. He’d been right about one thing: Amarone pairs very well with the right food. But after drinking the Bertani, we decided Mario was wrong about the way Amarone should be enjoyed. A great bottle is even better shared.

OENOFILE // Amarones That Pair Particularly Well With Food

1. 2013 Zenato Amarone della Valpolicella Classico $40

Made from select dried grapes and aged for 36 months in the barrel, this Amarone is fairly high in alcohol (16.5%). It’s a rich and powerful wine best paired with equally rich and powerful food.

2. 2012 Masi Costasera Amarone della Valpolicella Classico $45

The Boscaini family of Masi has made wine in the Veneto for almost 250 years; their Amarone is considered an archetype. Still tight and tannic, this wine will unwind over time. Decant or cellar several years.

3. 2010 La Formica Amarone della Valpolicella $50

This is a very well balanced Amarone, aged one year in barrels, another in stainless steel tanks and yet another in bottle before release. Its ample fruit offsets its relatively high alcohol content (16.5%).

4. 2013 Tommasi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico $58

Marked by aromas of dark cherry and spice, this is a lithe wine (15.5% alcohol) with lively acidity, aged in barrel a minimum of three years before release. It’s particularly versatile with food.

5. 2007 Bertani Amarone della Valpolicella Classico $90

The 2007 vintage was a great one for Amarone, and this supple wine, aged six and a half years in barrel, is an elegant exemplar of the year. It’s drinking beautifully right now but can also be cellared for many years.

Email Lettie at wine@wsj.com.