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Vivaldi
Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG from Vivaldi, a Verona label owned by Cantina Valpolicella Negrar. Appassimento-dried Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella at 15.5%, with dried cherry, plum and dark chocolate. Vivino: 4.1 from 3,358 drinkers.
The Vivino taste summary, built from 495 reviews, leads with dark chocolate and vanilla oak, then plum and blackberry, with the prune and raisin notes that come from drying the grapes. Vivaldi's own cellar notes name sour cherries in spirit, dried flowers and sweet spice over well-polished tannins. It is bold, dry and tannic at 15.5%.
Vivaldi's cellar notes describe sour cherries preserved in spirit, dried flowers and sweet spice, and the Vivino aggregate backs that up with plum, blackberry and a clear dark-chocolate-and-vanilla oak lift. The appassimento drying shows as prune and raisin. There is a leather-and-earth note that 89 Vivino reviewers picked out.
Black cherry
Plum
Prune
Raisin
Leather
Liquorice
Vanilla
ChocolateBold and dry despite the raisined concentration, carried by 15.5% alcohol and the structure-with-softness Vivaldi records for the wine. Well-polished tannins frame plum and dried cherry rather than fresh fruit. One UK buyer called the 2021 full of classic Amarone flavour and scored it 18 out of 20.
The close is warm and savoury, with dark chocolate, liquorice and a dried-fig sweetness that lingers without turning heavy in this more balanced 2021.
An affordable, widely enjoyed take on Amarone della Valpolicella from the Negrar co-op's Vivaldi label: dried-fruit richness, oak-spice depth and a 4.1-star, 3,358-drinker Vivino record, best decanted alongside braised meat.
One UK retailer currently lists the 2021 at £29.22, which places it among the more affordable wines in the DOCG. Amarone is expensive to make because the grapes are dried for months and lose up to 40% of their weight before pressing, so a sub-£30 example leans on the scale of the Cantina Valpolicella Negrar co-op behind the Vivaldi label.
A full-bodied, 15.5% Amarone is a special-occasion red before it is an everyday pour. It scores well for food and for the price it asks within the DOCG, and it suits a beginner curious about appassimento, but its weight and warmth make it a poor match for a casual weeknight glass.
Its 15.5% weight and firm tannins are built for braised beef, lamb ragù and aged cheese.
Rich, warming and recognisably Amarone, it suits a celebratory dinner or a cold-weather feast.
At about £29 it is one of the more affordable ways into Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG, backed by a 4.1 Vivino average.
A clear, fruit-forward introduction to appassimento, though its alcohol and richness ask for food alongside.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.
A compact view of what the Amarone della Valpolicella denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
Compare tracked offers from verified retailers at a glance. Stock is shown only where the retailer exposes it. Logos, sale pricing, and the strongest offer are surfaced first.
Growers call 2021 in Valpolicella poca ma buona, low in yield after an April frost but high in quality. A moderate summer that rarely pushed past 33°C and a wide day-to-night temperature swing through September let Corvina ripen evenly, giving balanced, fruit-defined Amarone that trade critics place at the level of the excellent 2019. This bottle is built to drink through about 2035.
The 2021 Valpolicella season was low-yielding after an April frost but high in quality, with a moderate summer and a wide September day-to-night swing that ripened Corvina cleanly. Expect a balanced, fruit-defined Amarone at 15.5%, built to drink through about 2035.
The 2021 Valpolicella season was low-yielding after an April frost but high in quality, with a moderate summer and a wide September day-to-night swing that ripened Corvina cleanly. Expect a balanced, fruit-defined Amarone at 15.5%, built to drink through about 2035.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
Amarone sits at the top of the Valpolicella hierarchy: only fully dried grapes, months of appassimento and a long, dry fermentation qualify for the DOCG. Vivaldi draws on the Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella of the Verona hills that the disciplinare requires. The appellation still defines the wine as dry, despite its raisined concentration and 15.5% alcohol.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Amarone della Valpolicella is in the DOCG tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Amarone della Valpolicella falls within Veneto , covering Verona. The denomination is further divided into 2 sub-zones.
Grapes are dried on racks for months and lose up to 40% of their weight before pressing, so each bottle needs far more fruit than a standard red, the single biggest reason Amarone costs more than Valpolicella.
Amarone della Valpolicella earned DOCG status in 2010 and requires a minimum two years of ageing, tying up capital and cellar space before the wine can be released and sold.
Vivaldi is owned by the large Cantina Valpolicella Negrar cooperative, whose volume and shared drying facilities keep this bottling near £29 rather than the £40 and up of estate Amarone.
UK excise duty adds about £2.67 per bottle in 2026 and 20% VAT applies on top, a fixed cost that weighs proportionally heavier on an affordable Amarone like this one.
Fruit is selected across the Valpolicella zone for the Vivaldi brand rather than from one estate or cru, trading vineyard prestige for a lower shelf price.
Vivaldi's 15.5% weight and firm, well-polished tannins want fat and protein to lean on. The producer points to noble red meats and beef braised with plums, while Vivino drinkers most often reach for beef, lamb, game and blue cheese. The dried-fruit sweetness in the aroma flatters slow-cooked, savoury dishes rather than anything delicate or fiery.
A char-grilled Fiorentina gives the 15.5% alcohol and well-polished tannins the fat and char they need, so the wine reads as smooth rather than hot. This is the red-meat match Vivaldi's notes call for.
Try with: Fiorentina steak · More pairings →
Slow-braising renders enough collagen and fat to round off Amarone's grip, while the wine's dried-plum sweetness echoes a braise finished with fruit, exactly the beef-with-plums pairing the producer suggests.
Try with: Brasato al Barolo · More pairings →
The gelatinous richness of veal shank and marrow stands up to the raisined weight of appassimento fruit, so neither the dish nor the 15.5% wine overpowers the other.
Try with: Ossobuco alla Milanese · More pairings →
Prune and dried-cherry aromatics from the dried grapes bridge to the sweet, long-cooked depth of a lamb ragù, among the lamb pairings Vivino drinkers cite most.
Try with: Agnello Ragu Lucano · More pairings →
A mature pecorino's salt and crystalline crunch balance the wine's dried-fruit sweetness and coax its tannin softer, the aged-cheese match both Vivino and the retailer flag.
Try with: Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · More pairings →
Skip chilli-hot arrabbiata: the 15.5% alcohol amplifies the capsaicin burn and the tannins turn coarse, flattening the wine's dried-fruit sweetness.
Skip with: Pasta arrabbiata · Pairing guide →
Amarone is a wine of structure rather than fragility, and this 2021 has the fruit and tannin to keep through roughly 2035. There is no need to wait: decant it into a carafe and serve at 16 to 18°C, as both the producer and retailer advise, and the raisined fruit and chocolate show at once. Cellaring is optional insurance, not a requirement, at this price.
Peak around 2029. Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Structured enough to hold through roughly 2035, but this entry-tier bottling is made to enjoy young rather than to lay down.
£29.22 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 28 Jul 2026, 16:56 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumVivaldi is a Verona wine label, Vini Valli di Verona, founded in 2004 by oenologist Daniele Acco and owned by the Cantina Valpolicella Negrar cooperative. The Amarone is made in Valpolicella from Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella dried by the traditional appassimento method.
It is a full-bodied, dry red at 15.5% alcohol. Across 495 Vivino reviews the most-cited notes are dark chocolate and vanilla oak, plum and blackberry, and the raisin and dried-cherry character that appassimento drying gives, with a leather edge and well-polished tannins.
Serve at 16 to 18°C and decant it into a carafe before drinking, as the retailer and producer both advise. The 2021 will drink well through about 2035, so there is no rush to open it.
Reach for braised and grilled red meat, lamb ragù and aged hard cheese. The producer suggests noble red meats and beef braised with plums, while Vivino drinkers most often pair it with beef, lamb, game and blue cheese. Avoid chilli-heavy dishes, where the 15.5% alcohol amplifies the heat.
At around £29 it sits at the affordable end of Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG, a wine whose price is driven up by drying the grapes into raisins and the yield loss that follows. Vivino's 3,358 drinkers give it 4.1 stars, and one UK reviewer scored the 2021 an 18 out of 20.
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