The oldest part of Guerrieri Rizzardi exists in Bardolino where the Rambaldi family (ancestors of the Guerrieri) developed an estate in the 15th century. Close by and a century later in Negrar di Valpolicella the Rizzardi family bought the estate of Pojega. These two families were later joined by marriage almost three centuries later.

Today, Guerrieri Rizzardi has reached the next generation with Giuseppe, Olimpia and Agostino Rizzardi. Inheriting a great passion for wine and love for the territory, with them the new eco winery was completed on the hills of Bardolino in 2011; it is the company’s headquarters, a perfect fusion between ancient and modern. In 2014 the Amarone Calcarole became the first wine from the region ever to be awarded Red Wine of the Year by Gambero Rosso.

The 2011 Guerrieri Rizzardi Calcarole is one of the greatest modern Amarones ever produced. 

Single vineyard CALCAROLE Amarone Riserva is only produced in the best vintages and in limited quantities.

Calcarole is a terraced vineyard (marogne) up to 230 m above sea level, in the heart of Negrar in the Valpolicella Classico area. It is a location with a particularly warm micro climate, calcareous soil and beneficial south west exposure.

Sourced from mature vines, with a natural low production, the grapes are harvested by hand when they are at the ideal ripeness to undergo the drying process in the nearby Pojega cellar. The hand selected grapes are naturally dried for a few months in boxes and then fermented before the wine undergoes a long maturation in oak barrels.

Ageing potential: over 10 years.

Viscous with opaque ruby color and subtle bricking at the rim. The nose is full of cherry, blackberry, and dried fruit notes with overtones of dried sage, tobacco, and smoke, with complex floral and mineral hints. The palate is intense and savory, with chewy fruit-leather tannins gracefully balanced by freshness of acidity, with a warming finish. It is already an approachable wine, showing good
drinkability but certainly has the potential to age well.
Food: Red meat, roast venison, curry based dishes. Beef stroganoff. Braised
beef. Cheese: aged grana padano or monte veronese or pienza’s pecorino.  Drink now-2032.

Amarone is a singular wine, made from a unique process that results in intense, concentrated reds with incredible longevity and an inimitable potpourri of flavors. Unlike most red wines, the grapes behind Amarone don’t go instantly from the fields to the cellar. Instead, they’re painstakingly dried—bunch by bunch—over the course of three months. As the grapes’ water content evaporates, their flavors intensify, transforming simple red berry fruits into flavors and aromatics redolent of cured Amarena cherries, raspberry jam, blueberry compote, espresso, sage, and more. Fermentation takes an entire month, allowing an incredible depth of flavor to develop alongside an abundantly rich texture. The aging that follows is likewise slow, lending Amarone spicy, oak-driven complexity across the palate.

With every sip of Rizzardi’s Calcarole, you’ll find another inexplicable (but delicious) aroma or flavor, all resulting from the terroir of the three vineyards behind this blend, coupled with this incredible process. Dried cherry, blueberry compote, sage, fennel, and leather are only a handful of the nuances that emerge from the glass after a lengthy decant.

If you’re new to Amarone, take it from us: There is no better introduction to this Italian classic. If you’re a seasoned veteran, well, you’ve likely placed your order. Enjoy!

16% ABV

ECO-FRIENDLY

GREEN WINERY
In 2011 the new winery just outside the town of Bardolino was completed. The winery was designed to be energy self-sufficient with its solar panels (2000 m²) providing more energy than is actually used. Other choices: outdoor fermentation tanks for red wines (using the sun’s energy to reach fermentation temperature), a gravity system to bring the juice (must) from the receiver to the fermentation tanks, the water used in production in from our own well, all have their green benefits.

IN THE VINEYARDS
We are committed to limiting the amount of artificial pest and weed control products used in the vineyards, for this purpose we intentionally planted on the edges of the vineyards shrubs and trees deliberately chosen to attract beneficial insects (able to keep pests under control).
The latest project was to seed in between the rows of vines, plants such as pea, vetch and clovers which when mowed in the summer act as natural fertilizers. In addition, in some vineyards, we opt for mechanical weeding, as shown here in the vineyard to the right. In 2016 we purchased a 4 hectare, organically certified vineyard on the hillside of Rocca del Garda.

PACKAGING/RECYCLED
We opt to use light weight glass bottles for almost all of our wines and everything that is used daily in the winery for production purposes is recycled. Recycling ranges from the glass and corks of the bottles used for tasting to the paper in the office to the cardboard/plastic wrapping of all dry goods.

Critic Reviews
94+ pts
Vinous
Deep ruby-red with a hint of an amber rim. Red cherry, dark plums, botanical herbs and minerals on the enticing nose. Dense and very suave, with ripe red cherry, tobacco and sweet spice flavors that are precise, focused and multilayered. Finishes long and vibrant, offering lingering savory nuances and hints of faded rose petals. Just a whiff of excess alcohol here lowers my score, but at 16% alcohol, this olfactory sensation is practically unavoidable. A knockout Amarone; unless memory fails me, this may well be the best young Calcarole I have tasted. A blend of Corvina, Rondinella and Barbera, aged three years in barriques and barrels.