The 5 Levels of Valpolicella Wine
Tier 1: Valpolicella Classico
Easy drinking pizza wine of the area.
Tier 2: Valpolicella Superiore
Fuller body, more structure.
Tier 3: Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso
Deep rich wine left on the Amarone skins during fermentation.
Tier 4: Amarone della Valpolicella
The richest of all Veneto still wines and considered one of the
greatest wines in the world.
Tier 5: Recioto della Valpolicella
The Red Dessert Wine of the area
What goes into Amarone?
2x as many grapes as normal wine.
45+ day slow fermentations.
Overly Long term aging at the winery.
Most wineries will select their older, more mature vines for this wine. Grapes are picked a bit later to ensure ripeness –usually in mid-October. Then, they are left all winter to dry into raisins. By law, the grapes must lose up to 40% of their liquid.
Corvina, or Corvinone, is the primary grape used for Amarone but Rondinella and Molinara are also in the blend.
Typically, the length of the drying process is 120 days, but varies according to producer and the quality of the harvest.
The most evident consequence of this process is the loss
of weight ...
35 to 45% for Corvina grapes,
30 to 40% for Molinara,
27 to 40% for Rondinella.
Following the drying process that is completed during the end of January or beginning of February, the grapes are crushed
and go through a dry, low temperature fermentation process that may last up to 30 or 50 days.
(That is an unusually long time)
