This is one of the most elegant and complete bottles in the Tommasi family portfolio. The 2013 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Ca' Florian shows lots of dark concentration, air-dried fruit, tar, sweet spice and hints of red cedar or barbecue smoke. There is a lot of power in the glass fueled by an evident 15.5% alcohol content. However, like the other wines in the portfolio, the overall approach is open-knit and immediate.

The Tommasi 2012 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Ca' Florian offers an interesting perspective tasted now just shy of the 10-year mark since the harvest. This special late-release blend of 75% Corvina, 20% Corvinone and 5% Rondinella (with only 9,000 bottles made) shows the sweetness of the hot vintage and the appassimento process on the one hand and the spiciness of bottle age on the other. The bouquet is rooted in tertiary aromas of dried plum, prune, campfire ember and powdered licorice. In other words, the wine is sweet and savory at the same time, and that is really something only Amarone can pull off. Ca' Florian draws its fruit from a five-hectare site planted in the traditional overhead pergola training system that helps to shade the fruit during ripening.

The 2011 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Ca' Florian was born in a very hot year. The overhead Pergola training system helps to shade the grapes from the heat, and this is becoming increasing important as the climate warms. Fruit comes from old vines with deep roots, and the resulting wine shows dark extraction and richness. Some 7,000 to 8,000 bottles are made, depending on the vintage.

The 2010 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Ca' Florian sees fruit sourced from right next to a quaint little church. The vines are 40 years old. This wine is aged for four years in large oak casks, and it reveals aged aromas of tar and licorice with distinctly sweet tones of candied cherry and blackberry jelly. The finish has a brief moment of dryness, and you even taste a touch of powdery earth with rusty nail and exotic spice.

Dark tar, smoky tobacco and savory spice rise from the bouquet of the 2009 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Ca' Florian. The wine shows little primary fruit at this point in its evolution and instead offers characteristics aromas of raisin, prune and blackberry confit. There is a touch of sweetness in terms of mouthfeel that folds deep within the wine's thicker consistency and layered texture. Like Tommasi's other top-shelf wines, the finish is shorter than expected.