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| Amarone, a unique and inimitable wine |
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Produced in strict observance of the rules and left patiently to mature, Amarone becomes a wine which is absolutely unique and inimitable in the world panorama. It is a deep, bright colour, with an intense aroma of cherry, redcurrants, chocolate and spices, with a wealth of substance, well-structured and full, though supple, elegant and perfectly balanced. It has a pleasant quality, suppleness of taste, sweetness of expression and duration which conquer one at the very first taste. In contrast with the other great Italian red wines suitable for ageing its rounded tannins and juicy fruitiness allow it also to be appreciated when young, although it is a magnificent wine for ageing. It is a wine which the most sophisticated gourmets all over the world, from the United States to Germany, Switzerland and Japan, have learnt to appreciate, enjoying the unique character, typical of an ancient wine which is still modern and up-to-date, capable of testifying to the grandeur, charm and authentic magic of the Valpolicella area.
Valpolicella Recioto
The name Recioto derives from the term "recia" in dialect, which means the smallest and most sparse bunches known indeed as the "recie", as well as the external appendices of the better exposed grapes, riper and richer in sugars. In a her new book, dedicated precisely to the Recioto wines from the Verona area (Valpolicella and Soave Recioto) the journalist Elisabetta Tosi describes Recioto with the following particularly appropriate words: "the long process in the creation of Recioto - she observes – begins in the field, continues in the fruit-drying rooms and is perfected in the cellars: a very long and patient process which man accompanies and guides ".
The brother or even "father" of Amarone, coming from the same careful combination of grapes, Recioto is substantially different not only in terms of its different use with cuisine (Amarone being a wine to be served with red meat, game and mature cheese, Recioto a dessert wine, suitable for dry biscuits, fruit tarts and "meditation"), and the taste, decidedly sweeter and softer, but also for a series of reasons of a technical nature.
The grapes destined for Recioto, which maintain a natural sugar residue thanks to the admirable natural balance, are generally picked even later than those destined for Amarone and have an even greater sugar content. They are left to wither for an even longer time, developing a more intense and concentrated aroma and a natural sweetness, in addition to the natural halting of fermentation, which takes place because in the presence of such a high level of sugar the yeast cannot act in the same way as for Amarone. The production of Recioto is much more limited than that of Amarone and often the producers, among whom there are genuine specialists who are not necessarily the best producers of Amarone and vice versa, prefer to skip a year when the conditions are not ideal for creating a wine which is sweet, but not excessively so, pleasant and well-structured, but destined to be pleasing fundamentally as a nectar.
The longevity and potential for ageing are also very different for Recioto and Amarone: whereas Amarone is a wine the best vintages of which keep splendidly for several decades, Recioto tends to be drunk young, within five to six years from picking. The different attitudes adopted today in the field, and the relatively differentiated attitude of producers in considering Recioto (which today is often fermented and refined in small casks of French oak and not only in steel or large oak barrels from Slavonia), mean that an increasing number of Recioto wines may be kept with particular care in the cellar for a longer period of time.
For some time most of the producers of Valpolicella Recioto have chosen half bottles, either half or 0.375 litre, as the ideal container for a wine which should be savoured and served in glasses not only in the restaurant, but also for relaxing and sociable moments in the home.
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