The Valpolicella area stretches along the hilly band to the north of Verona. The excellent pedoclimatic characteristics of Valpolicella have made it for centuries distinctively remarkable for its vine growing vocation: to the north the Lessini Mountains separate it from the Trentino region, whereas the river Adige to the south-west divides it from the morainic hills around Lake Garda; on the north-eastern side Monte Pastello defines the border with the area of Valdadige. The whole area benefits from the cool climate of the nearby Lake Garda and the fresh airflows from the Lessini Mountains. All of these pedoclimatic features contribute in making this stretch of land suitable for the cultivation of vines.
The peculiar geology of this stretch of land has resulted in the formation of soil layers of different nature. In particular, the land given over to the vineyards consists mainly of a red-brown soil rich in detrital, limestone-marly and basaltic sediments and is furrowed by 4 rivulets - almost always dry - (the so called progni) that flow through the 4 homonymous small valleys of Marano, Negrar, Fumane and Novare. Despite presenting slightly different stratifications, the 4 valleys are all characterized by a soil with good clay and limestone concentration. This feature is particularly important in summertime as it compensates for possible periods of drought, thus guaranteeing optimum climatic conditions during the whole grape ripening process. The Valpolicella Doc zone covers approximately 45 km. The Classico area, the classic and historical Valpolicella production zone and the most ancient portion of this vinegrowing area, is limited to five communes (Negrar, Marano, Fumane, Sant'Ambrogio, San Pietro in Cariano), whereas the DOC area includes the territory of 19 municipalities lying to the north of Verona.
The Valpolicella wines must be obtained from a blend of grape varieties vinified in the following proportions: Corvina veronese from 40 to 70%, Rondinella from 20 to 40%, Molinara from 5 to 25%. In particular, the Corvina grape is highly appreciated for its colouring capacity as well as for the concentration in its berries and their suitability for raisining. Corvina is indeed the most important grape variety among the ones used for the production of Amarone and Recioto della Valpolicella. The prerogatives of the Rondinella grape are its natural sugar potential and its distinctive aromatic taste which make it the ideal variety for the production of Recioto. Other red-grape varieties of the Veronese district can also be blended in small proportion.

Amarone and Recioto: the icon wines of Valpolicella

Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara are the autochthonous grapes used for producing two wines unique in the world: Amarone della Valpolicella and Recioto della Valpolicella.

Compared with the grapes generally used for producing the two versions of Valpolicella wines, namely Valpolicella Classico and Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso, the grapes selected for the production of Recioto and Amarone undergo a special treatment. These wines are, in fact, the outcome of a careful hand selection of the best and undamaged grape bunches. Once they have reached the perfect level of ripeness (usually a few days before the ripening stage required for Valpolicella wines) the grape bunches are handpicked and carefully collected in one layer in small wood/plastic crates in order both to allow for air circulation and to avoid (the) crushing of the grapes. The crates are then stored in wide, dry and well-ventilated attics, the so called fruttai, and left there for three to four months in order for the grapes to undergo the raisining process. By raisining, by means of natural grape drying, the grape berries lose about 30 to 40% of their weight and achieve a high concentration of sugars and other fundamental berry components such as glycerine, extracts and aromas.
Once the raisining phase is over the grapes are crushed, usually in January, and fermentation begins. Owing to the winter cold, which highly affects the fermentation temperature, fermentation happens slowly at low temperatures. Once the vinification stage is over the resulting wine is left ageing in small Slavonian and Allier old oak casks for at least 12 months. Ageing time varies depending on the characteristics of the single harvest and is usually relatively short for Recioto and longer for Amarone. Amarone DOC Classico, in particular, requires at least 2/3 years aging in Slavonian oak barrels. After barrel maturing the wine is bottled and benefits from a further bottle aging prior to release.

Recioto: a wine that has no equal

The worldwide reputation of Valpolicella wines can be ascribed largely to Recioto, a sweet red wine whose name derives from the word recia. This dialect term belonging to the vernacular of Veronese peasants indicates either the smallest and thinnest bunches or the upper part of a thick grape bunch that are selected to undergo a raisining process that lasts for 30 to 90 days.

Recioto and Amarone: a comparison
Although obtained by the same blend of grapes as the Amarone, the Recioto differentiates from it not only in terms of palate - significantly sweeter (amabile) than the former as a result of a high level of unfermented sugars - and consumption (Amarone pairs well with red meat, game and fermented cheese while Recioto is best enjoyed as dessert wine with cakes and pastry or as vino da meditazione) but also in terms of physical and chemical characteristics. The grapes selected for producing Recioto are usually picked later than those used to make Amarone and therefore present a higher sugar content. Furthermore, they undergo a longer raisining process, thus developing more intense and concentrated aromas along with a natural sweetness. Stuck fermentation of the grapes used for Recioto occurs naturally since the extremely high sugar level prevents the yeast from working properly as it normally does for the Amarone wine, the latter lacking or deficient in residual sugars. Furthermore, by anticipating or delaying the first-racking, it is possible to determine higher or lower sweetness of (the given) wine, this being the key element that differentiates Amarone from Recioto, the former being the result of the complete transformation of sugar into alcohol. These two wine typologies also differentiate in terms of longevity and aging potential: while Amarone is a wine that could benefit from further aging for a few decades, Recioto is best enjoyed if drunk within five to six years after harvest. All these factors, along with the must concentration achieved by grape raisining and the oak barrel ageing, combine together to obtain a wine with exclusive organoleptic characteristics, that has no equal in the world.

The Valpolicella Ripasso wine

The Valpolicella Classico Superiore Ripasso is a wine obtained according to the traditional Valpolicella ripasso technique: the wine undergoes a second fermentation on raisened grape skins which have been used to make Recioto and/or Amarone and therefore still rich in sugars and tannins. According to the Regulation on the production of Valpolicella this vinification technique is reserved exclusively for Valpolicella wines.