De Buris Amarone Della Valpolicella Classico Riserva 2011
Country
Italy
Region
Veneto
Grape Varieties
Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Oseleta
Wine Types
Still, Red
About De Buris
De Buris is a premium Valpolicella project from the Tommasi family, based in Veneto, Italy, and centred on Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva. The wine comes from La Groletta, a 1.9-hectare hilltop vineyard in Valpolicella Classico, and is closely linked to Villa De Buris, a historic property whose roots reach back to Roman times.
De Buris was created from the Tommasi family’s long relationship with Valpolicella and the technical vision of Giancarlo Tommasi. Rather than representing a broad portfolio, De Buris is deliberately focused. It is a project designed to reinterpret Amarone at its most refined, patient and site-specific.
Heritage
A Tommasi family project rooted in Valpolicella
The cultural heart of the project is Villa De Buris, a historic property in Valpolicella Classica. The villa contains layers of local history, with roots that stretch back to Roman times, and provides a symbolic connection between territory, architecture and wine. De Buris is therefore not simply a label, but a project built around place, time and the Tommasi family’s commitment to one of the great red wines of Veneto.
Region and Vineyards
La Groletta in Valpolicella Classica
The De Buris vineyard is located in the highest part of La Groletta, at around 250 metres above sea level. The site overlooks Lake Garda while remaining sheltered by the Lessini Mountains, creating a balanced microclimate that supports slow ripening, healthy fruit and aromatic complexity.
La Groletta covers only 1.9 hectares and is planted at high density on clayey, calcareous soils. The vineyard is low yielding, with vines that bring concentration and depth to the wine. This small scale is central to the identity of De Buris: it allows for detailed selection and makes each release highly limited, giving the wine a clear place within premium and collector-focused Amarone selections.
Viticulture and Winemaking
Selection, appassimento and patience
De Buris is made from traditional Valpolicella varieties including Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Oseleta. Grapes are selected from La Groletta and undergo the appassimento process, where carefully chosen bunches are dried to concentrate sugars, aromas and structure before fermentation. This technique is central to Amarone, but the De Buris approach aims for balance rather than excess.
In the cellar, patience is fundamental. Fermentation, maturation and bottle ageing are handled with the intention of producing a wine of depth, harmony and longevity. The result is not an Amarone defined only by richness or alcohol, but one that seeks precision, layered aromatics, fine tannins and a long, savoury finish. De Buris Valpolicella Classico Superiore provides a second expression of the project, while the Amarone Riserva remains its flagship.
Style of Wine
De Buris produces still red wines from Valpolicella Classica. The Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva is intense and complex, with dark cherry, dried fruit, spice, cocoa, tobacco and balsamic notes supported by structure and freshness. Its long ageing gives the wine polish and depth, while the La Groletta vineyard provides identity and restraint.
The style is powerful but controlled, designed for fine wine lists, mature cheese, game, slow-cooked meats and collector-led retail. Compared with more commercial Amarone styles, De Buris is positioned as a rare, terroir-specific interpretation of Valpolicella, with a stronger emphasis on provenance, age-worthiness and limited availability.
The project’s limited scale also gives De Buris a strong allocation story. With production centred on a small, defined vineyard and released across carefully selected vintages, it offers a more curated alternative to broader Amarone brands and supports conversations around provenance and rarity.
A premium Amarone reference in the UK wine trade
De Buris provides Amarone for fine dining, private client offers and premium Italian sections. It fills the top tier of a Valpolicella range, offering customers a limited, single-vineyard story with depth, ageing potential and strong gifting or collector appeal.
