Amarone or Barolo?

[Skipper Tim]

Repetitive trivia is all very well but it is time for a more serious thread on this forum.

 

Which is better and why, the Barolo or the Amarone della Valpolicella aboard MSC?

 

Any information on current vintners and vintages would be much appreciated. Tasting notes, especially comparative especially so.

 

Tim.

[papcx]

Repetitive trivia is all very well but it is time for a more serious thread on this forum.

 

Which is better and why, the Barolo or the Amarone della Valpolicella aboard MSC?

 

Any information on current vintners and vintages would be much appreciated. Tasting notes, especially comparative especially so.

 

Tim.

 

Hi Tim.

 

I see your wineing again ;)

Edited November 14, 2013 by papcx

[Capricruiser]

Amarone and Barolo are prestige wines - very, very good, but prepare to pay around 40 or 50 euros for a bottle. Valpolicella is easier to find in cheaper versions. Not as good as the first two but around 10 euros less.

[AmoMondo]

In my pre -Allegrissimo days I regularly drunk both. I think the Amarone has the edge over the Barolo, it's also a bit pricier but both are very, very good. I still occasionally treat myself to the Amarone when I can't stand any more of the weak Allegrissimo merlot.

 

Off of MSC, I would generally consider the Barolo's Nebbiolo to be superior to the Amarone' you can source here in the UK. I've tried a few too trying to get one that matches MSc's but failed. They can vary depending on the percentage of the 3 constituent grape varieties, so I guess MSc's one just must have the best balance to suit my tastes or be of a generally higher quality.

 

We've got 11 nights, try one of each, or I'll buy one and you buy the other and we can have our own little wine tasting!

 

Mind you there is not much that comes out of Piedmont that I don't like! I'm sure MSc also has a decent Barbaresco (also Nebbiolo grape) and some decent mid priced Barberas. With 42 DOCs and 16 DOCGs, Piedmont is doing something right.

 

Whatever you do, do not have either early on in the cruise and then revert to the Allegrissimo, start with the cheaper and work up to the great stuff!

 

Mairi aka Jancis Robinson!

[Skipper Tim]

In my pre -Allegrissimo days I regularly drunk both. I think the Amarone has the edge over the Barolo, it's also a bit pricier but both are very, very good. I still occasionally treat myself to the Amarone when I can't stand any more of the weak Allegrissimo merlot.

 

I found the Merlot very thin indeed. The Montepulciano had a bit of something to it but we kept drinking bars dry of it on the Musica.

 

Off of MSC, I would generally consider the Barolo's Nebbiolo to be superior to the Amarone' you can source here in the UK. I've tried a few too trying to get one that matches MSc's but failed. They can vary depending on the percentage of the 3 constituent grape varieties, so I guess MSc's one just must have the best balance to suit my tastes or be of a generally higher quality.

 

I have wasted so much money buying terrible Barolos in the UK that I am embarrassed. Italy or even Piedmont obviously does not export the best. Discovering Barolo in Turin, aged 19, changed my life. It was all downhill after then until I found Amarone, 26 years later :).

 

We've got 11 nights, try one of each, or I'll buy one and you buy the other and we can have our own little wine tasting!

 

Now you are talking....

 

Mind you there is not much that comes out of Piedmont that I don't like! I'm sure MSc also has a decent Barbaresco (also Nebbiolo grape) and some decent mid priced Barberas. With 42 DOCs and 16 DOCGs, Piedmont is doing something right.

 

When, frustrated with the Barolos I kept buying in the UK, and I thought I must be going mad imagining this superb wine I had lived on in Turn, I followed the advice in one of the Sunday papers about 2nd wines of a vintner. One was a 2nd wine of a particular Barolo available then at Threshers. One sip and, although thinner, I knew I was not mad, at least in that regard.

 

Whatever you do, do not have either early on in the cruise and then revert to the Allegrissimo, start with the cheaper and work up to the great stuff!

 

Mairi aka Jancis Robinson!

 

Agreed. Although conventional advice is to start with the good stuff as you can't taste as well after the first glass, that only applies to one 'drinking session'. Tastebuds are reset overnight. I would be inconsolable for the majority of the cruise if I started on Amarone and had to revert to Allegrissimo.

 

This reminds me of a previous conversation we must have had .....

 

Tim.