1 0 T H I N G S A B O U T VA L P O L I C E L L A Y O U P R O B A B LY K N O W W R O N G 9 FA C T S A B O U T VA L P O L I C E L L A

T H AT Y O U P R O B A B LY K N O W W R O N G

This slideshare was originally posted in www.terroiramarone.net

Independent reports on Amarone and Valpolicella wines

1 . VA L P O L I C E L L A M E A N S “ VA L L E Y W I T H M A N Y C E L L A R S ”

• Wrong!

• The name “Valpolicella” appears for the first time in an official document in 1177.

• In those days, there were no cellars as we mean nowadays

• The true meaning of the name “Valpolicella” is”valle dei polloni” (“valley of many cays”). The cays are small, low heaps of sand along the banks of river Adige

2 . T H E B L E N D O F G R A P E S I N VA L P O L I C E L L A W I N E S I S M A D E W I T H C O R V I N A , R O N D I N E L L A A N D M O L I N A R A

• Unfortunately, this is the OLD grape blend: today almost nobody use it. The actual one is pretty different.

• Due to its light color, Molinara grape is no more added in the blend

• Today the most common blend is made with Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella. Sometimes, other native red grapes (Croatina, Oseleta…) are added

• However, a very few wine producers still add Molinara in their Valpolicella or Amarone: their wines are sticking to the traditional model and quite interesting

3 . A M A R O N E D E L L A VA L P O L I C E L L A I S A N H I S T O R I C A L W I N E , K N O W N S I N C E R O M A N T I M E

• Wrong!

• Although in Valpolicella a structured red wine has been produced since ever - the local people was used to call it “Austero Rosso” (“Austere Red”) - Amarone della Valpolicella like we know it is a recent discovery. The first bottles with this name were sold only starting from 1936

• The true “historical” wine is the sweet Recioto della Valpolicella

4 . C L A S S I C VA L P O L I C E L L A W I N E I S M O R E VA L U A B L E T H A N B A S I C VA L P O L I C E L L A

• Wrong!

• Classic Valpolicella and basic Valpolicella are the same kind of wine. “Classic” doesn’t mean “more valuable”: it’s simply an historic classification

• “Classic Valpolicella” is the most historic area of production of the Valpolicella red wines, located West of Verona. So a Classic Valpolicella is just a basic Valpolicella produced in any of the 5 municipalities - Negrar, Fumane, Marano, San’Ambrogio, San Pietro in Cariano - of this part of the denomination

• When on the label of the bottle the adjective “Classic” doesn’t appear, it means that the wine comes from the Eastern part of the denomination. In this case, the wine is labelled as Valpolicella DOC (“Denominazione d’Origine Controllata”, similar to the French AOC)

5 . R E C I O T O D E L L A VA L P O L I C E L L A I S A N U N FA S H I O N A B L E W I N E T R I C K Y T O S E L L

• Recioto della Valpolicella is the most valuable and typical wine of this zone, praised in the centuries by poets, historians and wine lovers.

• It’s difficult to make, requires a really good know-how, the best selected grapes in the best vintages, so it’s often expensive and hard to find all around the world

• It’s regarded as the father of Amarone, because in the beginning this latter wine was a sort of wrong Recioto, turned in a totally dry red wine by chance

• “Sweet” though is hot topic again. There is an huge audience of potential wine drinkers who are choosing sweet cocktails made with sodas and fruit juices only because nobody gives them good sweet wines

• Getting the balance just right between residual sugars, acidity, structured tannins and the proper level of alcohol is the secret to make a really good Recioto della Valpolicella. The wine producers who can bottle this kind of wine, find no problem in selling it

6 . R I PA S S O I S T H E W I N E M A D E W I T H T H E P O M A C E O F A M A R O N E O R R E C I O T O A D D E D T O A C L A S S I C VA L P O L I C E L L A

• Wrong

• Ripasso is made with the pomace of Amarone or Recioto added to any basic (fresh) Valpolicella, Classic or DOC. The quality of the final wine depends only on the quality of its original “ingredients”, not on where they geographically come from

7 . T H E P R O C E S S O F D R Y I N G G R A P E S T O M A K E A M A R O N E D E L L A VA L P O L I C E L L A L A S T S O N LY 1 M O N T H

• Wrong

• The production’s rules of red wines from dried grapes like Amarone or Recioto della Valpolicella establish that the process of appassimento (also called “rest of the grapes”) has to last 100-120 days at least. Hence the bunches of grapes are pressed during the month of January

• Sometimes, due to particularly warm vintages, the rest of grapes can be shortened

• However, some wine producers extend this period until February- beginning of March

8 . T H E A P PA S S I M E N T O ( D R Y I N G G R A P E S P R O C E S S ) I S A P R E T T Y M O D E R N T E C H N I Q U E

• Wrong!

• This technique is really old. Ancient Romans used it for making a wine called “passum” (i.e. passito)

• To dry the grapes, Romans used hang them on wires or lay them on grates

9 . T H E N A M E “ A M A R O N E " M E A N S “ B I G B I T T E R ” W I N E

• Wrong!

• “Amarone” originally was simply the “dry version” of the sweet Recioto della Valpolicella. Thus the name means lack of sweetness, not “bitter taste”. In fact, for its high content in alcohol and glycerol, the wine lovers often find Amarone della Valpolicella a wine sensorially “sweet” - although it is not such a case

… A N Y O T H E R Q U E S T I O N S ? A S K T O U S ! W W W. T E R R O I R A M A R O N E . N E T

by Elisabetta Tosi