Valpolicella
Valpolicella is a viticultural zone of the province of Verona, Italy, east of Lake Garda. The hilly agricultural and marble-quarrying region of small holdings north of the Adige is famous for wine production. Valpolicella ranks just after Chianti in total Italian denominazione di origine controllata wine production.
The red wine known as Valpolicella is typically made from three grape varieties: Corvina Veronese, Rondinella, and Molinara. A variety of wine styles are produced in the area, including a recioto dessert wine and Amarone, a strong wine made from dried grapes. Most basic Valpolicellas are light, fragrant table wines produced in a novello style, similar to Beaujolais nouveau and released only a few weeks after harvest. Valpolicella Classico is made from grapes grown in the original Valpolicella production zone. Valpolicella Superiore is aged at least one year and has an alcohol content of at least 12 percent. Valpolicella Ripasso is a form of Valpolicella Superiore made with partially dried grape skins that have been left over from fermentation of Amarone or recioto.
Winemaking in the region has existed since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. The name "Valpolicella" appeared in charters of the mid-12th century, combining two valleys previously thought of independently. Its etymology is likely from the Latin vallis pulicellae. Today Valpolicella's economy is heavily based on wine production. The region, colloquially called the "pearl of Verona", has also been a preferred location for rural vacation villas. Seven comuni compose Valpolicella: Pescantina, San Pietro in Cariano, Negrar, Marano di Valpolicella, Fumane, Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella and Sant’Anna d’Alfaedo. The Valpolicella production zone was enlarged to include regions of the surrounding plains when Valpolicella achieved DOC status in 1968. In December 2009, the production of Amarone and recioto dessert wines within the Valpolicella DOC received their own separate denominazione di origine controllata e garantita status.
History
Viticulture has been used in the Veneto region since at least the time of the ancient Greeks, though the exact period of cultivation for the Valpolicella area is not precisely known. The tradition of using partially dried grapes was known as the "Greco" or "Greek style" of winemaking, with its origins likely dating back to this period. In the 6th century AD, the Roman writer Cassiodorus notes that the sweet wines of the area were favorites in the courts of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy. Since the 8th century AD, the Republic of Venice was long a vital trading port in the Mediterranean, linking the Byzantine Empire with the rest of Europe. Merchants records shows that one of the items regularly traded through Venice was local wines produced in Verona province in the hills west of Venice. During the 15th and 16th century, struggles with the Ottoman Turks led to frequent blockades of the Venetian ports, limiting the amount of available export wines from the Greek isles and abroad. This further stimulated the development of domestic vineyards for the Venetians, who pushed even further into the hills of the Verona and the Valpolicella region.The 19th century brought a series of calamities to most wine-producing regions including the phylloxera epidemic, oidium, downy mildew and the political upheaval of the Risorgimento. According to the 1889 writings of the French wine historian Dr. C. B. Cerletti, one of the few Italian wine regions to emerge from this period relatively unscathed was Valpolicella. In the 1950s, the "Amarone" style of winemaking was rediscovered. In 1968, the Valpolicella region received official recognition for quality wine production when it was granted its own DOC. However, with DOC recognition also came a large expansion of vineyard areas that were permitted to produce Valpolicella DOC wine, including land in the fertile plains of the Po River, which tend to produce large yields of grapes with varying qualities. Additionally, the grape composition for Valpolicella wines was expanded to include varieties of lower potential quality such as Molinara and Rondinella. This led to a general drop in quality, which had a detrimental impact not only on the area's reputation in the international wine market but also on sales and prices. As winemaking became less profitable, the vineyards in the most labor-intensive areas were uprooted and abandoned. This shifted the source of grape production even further away from the better quality producing hillside regions down to the fertile plains.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Amarone wines of Valpolicella experienced a spike in popularity on the world's wine market. Production of Amarone jumped from 522,320 US gallons in 1972 to 1.2 million gallons by 1990. By 2000 Amarone production grew to over 3.9 million gallons. By this point, the price for grapes destined for Amarone production was nearly three times higher than what a comparable quantity of grapes would fetch for basic Valpolicella production. This sparked renewed interest in planting vineyards in the high altitude hillside locations that produced lower yields of grapes better suited for Amarone production. In the 21st century, the reputation of Valpolicella wines continued to expand on the world's wine market, as ambitious winemakers began to invest more in advanced viticultural and winemaking techniques that produce higher quality wines. In 2003, the DOC regulations were adjusted to eliminate mandatory blending requirements for sub-quality grapes such as Molinara. At the end of 2009, the production of both Amarone and recioto dessert wines in the Valpolicella zone received Italy's highest quality wine designation as a DOCG zones.
Climate and geography
The Valpolicella region has mostly a mild to cool continental climate that is influenced by its proximity to two sizable bodies of water-Lake Garda to the west and the Adriatic Sea to the southeast. The coolest regions are in the Monti Lessini foothills to the north, where cool winds blow southward from the Alps. This area is traditionally classified as the classico zone. Towards the south and east, the climate gets warmer in the fertile plains of the Adige river. The mean temperature in the growing season is usually around 74.5 °F, with average rainfall around 34 inches.The vineyard soils of the region range from morainic gravel near Lake Garda to more dolomite residual gravel with alluvial deposits in the fertile central plains. Towards the east and near the Soave DOC are several areas featuring volcanic soils. The most favorably situated vineyards are located in the Monti Lessini foothills in the classico zone where the grapes ripen at altitudes between.
Wine regions
The Valpolicella zone is bordered to the west by the Bardolino DOC, located along the banks of Lake Garda, which produces similar wines to basic Valpolicella using many of the same grapes. The historical "heart" of Valpolicella winemaking is in the Monti Lessini hills located northwest of Verona. In 1968, the boundaries of the region were extended far eastward towards the DOC production zone of Soave and south to the plains of the northern bank of the Po river and the Adige.Today the original zone is known as Valpolicella Classico zone and may duly noted on the wine labels of wines produced completely from grapes grown in this area. Today over 40% of all wine production in Valpolicella takes place in the classico zone, with an estimated yearly production of 12.2 million gallons. Another sub-zone that is permitted to attach its name to the wine is the Valpolicella Valpantena located in the valley located just east of Verona.
Grapes and wine styles
Most of the wines produced under the Valpolicella DOC are red and usually contain a sizable amount of the area's most distinguished grape, Corvina. Other grapes used in the production of Valpolicella wine most often include Rondinella and Corvinone, but also Molinara, Rossignola, Negrara, Barbera, Sangiovese and Bigolona. A few producers are experimenting with reviving the indigenous grape Oseleta in Valpolicella. The wines are produced in a wide variety of styles ranging from basic nouveau table wines, full-bodied red wines, sweet dessert wines and even sparkling spumante. The most basic Valpolicella are light-bodied and often served slightly chilled. They have many characteristics similar to a Beaujolais wine and are often noted for their sour cherry flavor. While full-bodied recioto and Amarone styles reach alcohol levels of 15–16%, most Valpolicellas have more moderate alcohol levels around 11%. For wines labeled Valpolicella Superiore the wines must be aged a minimum of one year in wood and reach a minimum alcohol level of 12%.Recioto
The sweet red dessert wine Recioto della Valpolicella was awarded its own separate DOCG status in 2010 and has been the style historically associated with the region. The name recioto, also made in neighbouring Soave and Gambellara regions with their own DOCG designations, comes from the local dialect recie, meaning "ears", and refers to the extending lobes that appear as "ears" at the top of a grape cluster. The exposed grapes on the "ears" usually receive the most direct sunlight and become the ripest grapes on the cluster. Historically these very ripe "ears" were picked separately and used to make very rich, sweet wines. Today the method for making recioto has evolved to include the use of whole grape clusters. Grapes destined for Recioto della Valpolicella are often grown in the most ideally situated hillside vineyards. Recioto can trace its origins to winemaking techniques of the ancient Greeks; the grapes are taken to special drying rooms where they are allowed to desiccate, concentrating the sugars inside the grape.While recioto is typically sweet, with high levels of residual sugar, the must can be allowed to ferment completely dry. Often producers will label this wine as Amarone, but they may also choose to produce it as Valpolicella DOC wine or even an indicazione geografica tipica table wine if they choose to use grape blends outside the DOC requirement. Some producers are experimenting with international varieties and producing dry Amarone style wines from grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon.