15 years ago, Mark and Cassandra Beeson purchased a 7.5 acre vineyard in Marybrook with 40 rows of Cabernet Sauvignon vines. With an idea to bring a wine to the market with a point of difference. The pair travelled to Italy to the viticultural province of Valpolicella near Verona, to investigate the wine known as Amarone, a bold Italian red wine which they had loved since trying in Western Australia many years before. 

Returning home full of inspiration they identified that the Amarone techniques could be applied to the cabernet grapes on their own Forty Row’s Vineyard. Renowned Margaret River winemaker Mark Warren was engaged to further investigate this opportunity, the idea developed and Cassio Dorus was born. Cassio Dorus is a wine that pays homage to the Amarone style with a Western Australian flair.

Amarone della Valpolicella is a beautiful style of wine born mainly from corvina, corvine, molinera and rondinella grape varieties. Popular for its labour-intensive process unmistakable flavour profile, this wine was awarded DOC in 1990 and was upgraded to DOCG status in 2009. 

This wine is made from partially-dried grapes. The process involves cane cutting the cordon, or ‘arms’ of the vine, to begin the drying process. The grapes begin to shrivel and eventually lose 20% - 30% of their body weight due to the evaporation of water content which notably increases the sugars and metabolizes the acids within the grapes. This increase in sugar allows the Amarone wine to reach at least 15% alcohol, sometimes nearing 16%.

Once the grapes have reached the desired sugar content and weight they are hand-picked to taste, crushed and go through a low temperature fermentation process, and left on a combination of new and 1-2 year old French oak for 15-18 months. The final result is a very ripe, full-bodied wine known as Amarone. 

The above technique has been followed to create Cassio Dorus. Each bottle of the limited vintages have been given the same respect as an Italian Amarone and are individually numbered.