Freddy R. Troya

9.5

Sant’Urbano, Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2020, Veneto, Italy 🇮🇹

Overview
Produced by Speri in the historic hills of Valpolicella Classico, the Sant’Urbano Amarone is one of the estate’s flagship wines and a benchmark expression of the style. Crafted from the traditional Amarone blend, primarily Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella, the grapes undergo the classic appassimento drying process for several months before fermentation, concentrating flavors and structure. The 2020 vintage shows remarkable balance between richness and freshness, delivering depth while maintaining precision and lift.

Aromas & Flavors
Subtle yet expressive layers of dried raisin, marmalade, and dark fruit compote emerge alongside notes of ripe cherry, fig, and delicate spice. The aromatic profile reveals the classic Amarone character without becoming overly heavy, allowing fruit purity and complexity to remain in focus.

Mouthfeel
Full-bodied yet remarkably lively, the wine moves across the palate with impressive energy. Structured tannins and vibrant acidity provide a firm backbone, giving the wine lift and elegance. The texture is rich but polished, and the finish is long, layered, and persistent, suggesting a wine that will continue to evolve and climb with further aging.

Food Pairings
This Amarone pairs beautifully with slow-braised meats, roasted lamb, venison, and rich game dishes where its concentration and acidity complement savory depth. It also shines alongside aged cheeses such as Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino, where the wine’s structure and lingering finish enhance the richness of the pairing.

Verdict
A beautifully balanced Amarone that combines power with finesse. Structured, energetic, and elegant, it delivers both immediate pleasure and strong aging potential.

Did You Know?
The Sant’Urbano vineyard from which this wine takes its name is one of Speri’s historic crus in Valpolicella Classico and is considered among the estate’s most important sites for producing Amarone with both structure and longevity.

🍷 Personal Pick
An Amarone that truly danced across the palate, rich yet vibrant, with subtle dried fruit, marmalade, and compote supported by strong structure and acidity. Delicious now, but clearly a wine that still has room to climb. — 6 months ago

Tom Kohli

9.0

Great Amarone! — 8 months ago

Brian Grech

9.4

At Flour + Water with Dani and the Ghafouri’s — 2 years ago

with Ashley

Nagib Nasr

8.9

First bottle was aged, second was good. It may have been the cork. — 5 years ago

Peter Wilczynski

9.0

Deep Italian red, very sweet and perfect with some red sauce pasta — 6 years ago

Rob Pendell

9.0

Wonderful soft palate with notes of plum and blackberry. Some cherry on the front end with a hint of asphalt. Full mouthful of peach and grapefruit with undertones of almond, tobacco, pine, licorice, cardamom, red velvet, turmeric, oatmeal, cayenne, newspaper, Oreos, bicycle chain, chitlins, camembert, burnt umber, huckleberry, Ripple, plain yogurt, lemongrass, kohlrabe, anise, eggplant, kohlrabi, everything bagel, paczki, aspartame, caramel, coconut, latte, beef carpaccio, pine nuts, Wonder Bread, calamari, watermelon radish Jolly Rancher, aglet, sawdust, gnocchi and red grape. Finish is definitely Bruno Kirby. Pretty complex. — 8 years ago

Josh Magness

9.5

Took a while for this wine to open up after decanting. Once it did, chocolate flavors, muted cherry, with slight taste of baking spices. The Acidity helps smooth the hefty 16.5% alcohol content, but this is still a powerful wine. Burnt red color along the rim faded into deep crimson towards the middle of the glass. — 8 years ago

Pooneet K

9.0

Great amarone, and actually not overpowering or overpowered. Had with steak at Chicago cut. — 11 years ago

Selim Tlili

9.4

Smooth with notes of raisins. Wonderful bottle! — 11 years ago

Andrew Keenan

9.7

Moores 2024. $25. Still the greatest. — 7 months ago

Ira Schwartz

9.3

Served blind . Arrogantly said after a quick smell & taste, Burgundy from 2018 , high quality village wine. WRONG! Beautiful flavors of cherry, earth and mineral. Pepper red fruits, herbs and mouthwatering acid attacked my palate. Still has structure to endure for years. — 7 months ago

Bill Obregon

9.0

Lovely Amarone — 10 months ago

Rex Campbell

9.2

Things that stood out: raisinated stone fruit and leather. 2017 vintage, very much enjoyed with a spaghetti bolognese. — 4 years ago

Matthew Schloss

9.5

Nice full body. Deep cherry undertones — 6 years ago

Arleen Hooks

9.0

Crisp green apples with a touch of white pepper. Smooth refreshing summer drink. — 6 years ago

Nash Hyder

9.3

Full body, rounded flavor full of heavy fruit — 8 years ago

Kenny Louks

9.5

Excellent!!! — 9 years ago

Patrick Don Vito

8.9

TJ's bargain at $20. — 10 years ago

Patrick Downes

9.0

Rich and perfumed low acid A nice change of pace — 11 years ago

Chris Baggetta

Sommelier/Wine Director Quince Restaurant

9.6

I am convinced Quintarelli was a God. All of his wines are heavenly. — 13 years ago

Jennifer

9.1

Yummy Amarone with colleagues in Singapore (Shangri La Italian restaurant). Yep, would quite happily have another bottle. 2020 — 7 months ago

Sipping Fine Wine

9.3

A blend of Corvina Veronese 45%, Corvinone 45%, Rondinella 5% & Oseleta 5%, deep Ruby with aromas of dried dark fruits, spice and herb, about 120 days of appassimento. On the palate flavors of ripe cherry and raspberry with notes of fig, cacao, flint and mineral tones. Soft smooth tannins well balanced with acidity on a long spicy finish. Will continued to get better with age. Sustainable. — 7 months ago

Irina Georgieva

9.8

Amazing amarone! Rich taste, well-rounded, well balanced, long and rich aftertaste! — 8 months ago

Somm David T

Independent Sommelier/Wine Educator

9.5

This was one of the treats of the festival. It was in perfect shape and somewhere around its precipice.

The comment made by the women representing it was, she stopped pouring it to many as they simply didn’t appreciate and or understood what they were just poured. If you understand how this is made and the extra process to make good examples, you develop #respect

Not a wine for everyone, but amazing with this kind of age and older.

@Pebble Beach Food and Wine, From The Cellar event. — a year ago

Erja Koistinen

9.0

Year 2017. Lovely fruity taste and beautiful bottle. Perfect gift to friends for Xmas. — 5 years ago

Ray Vanderhoff

9.0

Raisin and dried cherry aromas with vanilla, earth and baking spice accents. Same dried fruit flavors with hints of cloves, licorice and tobacco. Minerals and dried herbs on the long chewy finish. Lacking some boldness and a little tight, but still solid. — 6 years ago

Jgrilllo

9.2

Amazing simply amazing. Soft gent fruit forward with a very smooth sweetish finish. Lots of fruit and depth. Amazing with cheese and salumi. — 8 years ago

Ryan Vachon

9.0

Rich, sweet, over ripe cherries, jam, light amaretto, low in tannins, berry forward — 8 years ago

Scott Taddeo

9.1

From even north of Lessona. Cherry, raspberry, blackberry and fresh plum. White pepper, red liquorice, Dried fennel, almond paste and orange rind. Fine, gentle emery board like tannins with perky acidity. Really approachable now. 65% neb, 20% croatina and 15% vespolina. — 9 years ago

Lloyd Everard

9.2

Lucious, leather, smoke behind bold fruit with an earthy finish — 12 years ago