Tommaso Bussola Amarone della Valpolicella Wine Tasting

“The only way of rendering life endurable is to drink as much wine as one can come by.”



- James Branch Cabell, Beyond Life

We are trying to keep the calendar of events full at the Wine Bar so we have at least Thursday, Friday and Saturday night filled with wine tasting events!  And we have a schedule of events that you can count on some of my favorite wines coming out in August and September with our focus these two months on Amarone and wines from Valpolicella.

And remember the Wine Cave is available Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights for a private dining experience!

We have a minimum of 6 people to reserve the table in the Cave but we will take up to 16 people for a curated dinner by Chef Toni.  We must know in advance what food items you want so you will have to coordinate the menu with Toni ahead of time, but she can put together any of your favorites from past Wine Bar menus or whatever you want if she has enough notice. The best thing about this table is the view of the wine, we have the largest selection of vintage wine in South Florida and everything is available at a retail price!!  You may want to bring a sweater it is 64 degrees in the wine cave.

Amarone is one of the most unique wines in the world because they use a style of production known as appassimento.  This style of winemaking is when they dry the grapes before they ferment them making the wines more concentrated and, in most cases, higher in alcohol than other wines that are made fermenting the grapes right after they are picked. 

The ripasso technique which is used here is also unique in the wine world and was also created in the Valpolicella region of Italy.  This is a method of production where they pass the juice of grapes that were crushed right after harvest aka already fermented juice (wine) over the must of the freshly crushed dried grapes used to make Amarone.  The must contains a little yeast and sugar so the wine now goes through a second fermentation giving the resulting wine more body, flavor and of course more alcohol!  This wine is known as Valpolicella Ripasso and if you want to learn more about these amazing wines come out and taste some of the best that the land of many cellars has to offer.

Join us as we experience one of the top producers Amarones going back to the 1997 vintage.  These are some of the best vintages of Bussola wines that we have ever shown at Wine Watch along with a special menu to accompany the wines.  The fee for this tasting which includes dinner is $325 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.

Tommaso Bussola Amarone della Valpolicella Wine Tasting

Friday, August 1st

7:30pm

2019 Tommaso Bussola Ca Del Laito Valpolicella Ripasso Superior

1997 Tommaso Bussola TB Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

1999 Tommaso Bussola TB Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

2000 Tommaso Bussola Amarone della Valpolicella Vigneto Alto

2003 Tommaso Bussola TB Vigneto Alto Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

2005 Tommaso Bussola Amarone Classico

2007 Tommaso Bussola TB Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

2007 Tommaso Bussola TB Vigneto Alto Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

Menu

Selection of Blue Cheese

Gorgonzola Arancini Served Over Pablano Puree

Coffee and Coco Dusted Tuna Seared Rare Served with Mole Sauce and Black Rice

Berkshire Porkchop wrapped in Prosciutto Served over Black Bean Puree

Chocolate Truffles

The fee for this tasting is $325 + tax, for reservations call 954-523-9463 or e-mail andy@winewatch.com.  Please let us know when you make your reservations if you have any dietary restrictions and chefs Toni and Dani will be happy to accommodate you.

Tommaso Bussola – One of the Rising Stars of the Veneto:

Our first experience with these wines was in the fall of 2000.  The importer brought several of these wines by the store to sample.  The concentration, depth of flavor, complexity and length on the palate of each and every wine sampled that afternoon was simply amazing.  From the Valpolicella to the Recioto, every wine spoke of the genius that defines this young winemaker’s wines.  Largely self-taught, Tommasso uses a diverse array of barrels, ranging in size from barrique to large foudre and mixing such exotic woods as acacia, mulberry, cherry and almond in with the unusual cask sizes.  Mr. Bussola does nothing by the book; he uses taste, smell, sight and instinct to make his wines and the results are compelling.

Since our first experience with these wines, we have quizzed every producer from this region that has crossed our path about Mr. Bussola’s wines.  Their eyes immediately light up and they all have similar praise for Mr. Bussola and his handy work – most say he is the rising star of Veneto, but all agree that his wines are the work of an unconventional wizard with incredible results.

We took a group to visit the winery a few years back as part of an excursion which was a Wine Watch Silver Seas cruise.  Mr. Bussola was a great host however he did not speak much English he seemed more interested in playing Fooseball than anything else that afternoon but he was a great host and tasted our group on their top wines which we have several vintages of the Vigneto Alto Amarone on the table for this event.

A brief history of Tommaso Bussola:

Tommaso Bussola doesn't come from a family with a tradition for viticulture and vinification. However in the early 1980s, his Uncle Giuseppe, who owns a few vineyards in San Peretto di Negrar, decided to involve him in the viticulture, which had always been utilized for production of wines for the family. With time, his curiosity turned to passion and Tommaso began to personally make wine from the grapes that were grown in Uncle Giuseppe's vineyards.      

Together with his wife Daniela they bought a new winery, Casalin, with great sacrifice. The fabrication has a total of 25 acres and the actual house/cellar in via Molino Turri was also completed during those years. "I think I've have gotten ahead by going back in time" says Tommaso when asked about the technology used for vinification. "I still work in the cold, without changing the temperature of the wine". Concerning methods used for withering grapes, modern techniques don't exist for Tommaso: he uses long periods that can take up to six months.         

This wine producer loves intense, full-bodied wines and likes to experiment with wood. The aging times are never the same and the type of casks is always different. Depending on the characteristics of each harvest, Tommaso decides what type of cask to use and how long to age the wine.  

There are two main lines of production: BG, dedicated to his Uncle, is more traditional, while the second, TB, comprises wines that are aged for longer periods in new casks.  Then, in great vintages they make a single vineyard Amarone known as “Vigneto Alto” which is a step above the rest and among the best wines produced in Valpolicella!