Have you ever heard the word “haunted” used in winespeak?

As in the sentence, the wine that continues to haunt me is….

Wine professionals occasionally seem to use that expression when they are talking about a wine that they can’t stop thinking about, that they can’t get off their mind…

For me personally, once such wine has been the Amarone by Torre D’Orti, a farm in Valpolicella Orientale (eastern Valpolicella).

The wine is actually made by a famous producer of Custoza, Cavalchina (fantastic white wines btw, really super and worth checking out if you don’t know them), about 30 minutes to the west by car.

The name, as I understand it, comes from a place name, a guard tower outside Montorio castle in the San Martino Buon Albergo commune. It’s the “tower of the gardens,” so to speak, probably known in another era for the high quality crops grown there.

The soils in eastern Valpolicella are a blend of the classic limestone (found farther to the west) and the volcanic soils that you find further east. It’s no surprise that the land there produces richly flavored crops.

The area is known for its leaner, more taut style of Amarone and Valpolicella.

In my view, this wine is the result of a top growing site combined with the aesthetic and viticultural approach of the Piona family whose legacy in Custoza gives them a “white wine” sensibility.

Their Amarone, which I retasted in June during a visit to Valpolicella, is extremely elegant and keeps its hefty alcohol in check with impressive balance and finesse.

Its flavors were a blend of delicately juicy fruit and minerality, with a lithe texture that danced on the palate.

I loved this wine and highly recommend it, especially for those curious to travel outside of Valpolicella Classico to the west where some of more famous wines are made.

It beguiled, it bewitched, it enchanted, it dazzled, it spellbound… It was that damn good.