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Production techniques for Amarone and Recioto:
withering |
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The production method has remained substantially unchanged since the era of Cassiodorus: generally the grapes are picked (unless the weather conditions are particularly unusual and unpredictable) between the last ten days of September and the first week in October, taking every possible care to ensure that the grapes are perfectly healthy and fully ripened, so that they can successfully face withering phase.
Sometimes, during the crucial period of withering, in situations where the humidity of the climate could damage the grapes, having a negative influence on their health, it is necessary to make use of "air conditioning systems, so long as they operate at temperatures similar to those which would be encountered in traditional processes", with the rigorous exclusion of recourse to systems of withering for the grapes which foresee dehumidification taking place with the sole use of heat.
The grapes remain in the fruit-drying rooms for three-four months and are constantly inspected and the bunches turned, in order to immediately eliminate any bunches going rotten or affected by damaging mould, until they lose at least half their weight and reach the required concentration of sugars, 25-30%, through the evaporation of the water. In this particularly delicate phase a series of transformations take place in the grapes, from the lowering of acidity to the modification of the relationship between glucose and fructose, favouring the concentration of polyhydric phenols and a considerable increase in glycerin and other substances which make the wine obtained from withering completely different from any other obtained from normal vinification with fresh grapes.
It is precisely in the grapes subjected to withering and destined for Amarone that there is also the development of another special substance called resveratrol in this phase (see in-depth study), which substantiated research in the medical-scientific field carried out at international level has ascertained to have an extraordinarily beneficial effect, within the context of moderate and regular consumption of wine, contributing towards maintaining the arteries free and reducing the risk of arteriosclerosis and heart attack. In the best years the appearance of small quantities of noble rot, which confers a touch of class can be noted.
Once withering has terminated, resulting in a loss of around 35-40 % of the original weight, after further careful checking the grapes are pressed, this generally coinciding with the coldest period of the year. Currently in the Valpolicella area two different methods of vinification are used. The first, the traditional method, takes place at natural and hence very low temperatures, given the season (January and February) and involves a long period of contact with the skins, which may last for several months.
This system allows a wine to be produced which subsequently requires decidedly longer maturation in barrels and in the bottle, but which often produces wine which offers incomparable emotions and inimitable characteristics, together with a taste which is the original and direct expression of a unique area and which can be aged for several years.
The second method, more modern, foresees the assistance of special "vinification agents" and hence the possibility of controlling and managing the temperature of fermentation, breaking and moving the marc. It offers the opportunity to obtain supple wines with a marked fruity character already in younger wines, which can be appreciated by the consumer in a shorter time and which need less time to mature in the cellar.
Maturing in wood
The natural completion for both methods is the ageing of wines in wooden containers, which go from the large barrels in Slovenian oak to the ever more widespread 225 litre French oak barriques, which encourage more rapid maturing of the wines, fix the colour and give the wines a more marked "international" taste. The period of maturing is relatively short for Recioto and longer for Amarone, which needs to evolve and develop its full potential. Immediately after the maturing, following bottling, there is a further period of maturation in the bottle in the cellars before the wine is sold.
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