12 Amarone families band together to ensure high price maintained

Amarone is one of Italy's iconic wines and a group of 12 family producers of this pricey, opulent red have banded together to ensure it stays that way. The Amarone families are dismayed that their fabled wine is becoming mass-produced, which they say has resulted in a drop in price and quality. Almost half the grapes grown in the Valpolicella region are now being used to produce Amarone and in 2008 15 million bottles of Amarone were made compared to 9 million in 2006. The 12 families has vowed to limit their total production to no more than 2 million bottles annually. They will also put a hologram badge on their bottles with the letter A so consumers will know they are getting authentic Amarone.

The traditional Amarone method used for centuries involves hand-picking only the finest bunches of Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara grapes and putting them on straw or bamboo mats in a loft to dry out for between 120 days and 130 days. It's this hard work and risk of the grapes rotting which the families insist justifies the high price. But some producers are using less than the best grapes, machine-harvesting, heated buildings, and even oak chips instead of oak barrels.