Dal Forno Romano: wines and prices

About Dal Forno Romano

Dal Forno Romano is one of Italy's most celebrated names and an absolute benchmark for Valpolicella. The family's story is tied to the Lodoletta locality in Cellore d'Illasi, in the Val d'Illasi, an area that was then little regarded and far from the Valpolicella Classica heartland. From the 1980s, inspired by his encounter with Giuseppe Quintarelli, Romano Dal Forno transformed the family farm with a radical vision: very high planting densities, tiny yields, drying of the grapes in ventilated, controlled rooms to keep them healthy, long ageing in new barriques and release only after many years. The grapes are the area's traditional varieties, Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella, together with Croatina and Oseleta. Today Romano works alongside his sons Marco, Luca and Michele. The wines, led by the Amarone and Valpolicella Superiore, are monumental in concentration and depth yet surprisingly precise: very long-lived reds made in limited quantities and only in vintages deemed worthy.