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Amarone della Valpolicella

Most Prestigious Red Wine of Veneto

Amarone della Valpolicella, which is popularly known as Amarone, is the name of the most prestigious red wine of the world-famous Veneto wine region.

This represents an intensely flavoured dry red wine that is made using dried passito grape varieties.

So, where in the Veneto region that the Amarone della Valpolicella produced?

Well, it is being produced in the Valpolicella in the province of Verona within the famous Veneto region.

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It’s to be noted that the region has been producing some notable wines right from the ancient times.

Now, let’s see everything about Amarone della Valpolicella here…

About Verona and Valpolicella in a Glance

Verona can be called as a jewel city in the north-eastern part of Italy. It can be easily reached by riding in the eastern direction from Venice by car. It would take just an hour and a half from here.

Upon reaching the city, you would understand that it is home to a clean, picture-perfect medieval centre.

This is also one of the most untouched “Roman amphitheaters” in the world today. Just outside this historic city centre, you would see some rolling hills of the Valpolicella region.

To view the scenic beauty of this region, you must head north and west towards the Lake Garda.

This region is found to be encompassing many neighbouring valleys that include seven different villages.

Origin of Amarone Style

The Amarone wine style was developed by the Veneto’s winemakers as a result of their search for a way to increase the wine’s body, complexity, as well as the alcohol content.

This is because the wines that were made from locally grown grape varieties like Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara were very light to give the much-needed satisfaction.

All these mainstays of the Valpolicella of the vineyards were not famous for their inherent depth. The major reason quoted for this deficiency is the cool growing condition that is prevailing in the western Veneto.

With the view of concentrating the natural sugars and aromatics in these wines, the local winemakers started drying the grapes after harvest.

This process removed the water contents from the berries while retaining the sweetness, as well as the flavours.

This technique was found to be very successful, although it was producing the sweeter wine styles initially.

They were called as Recioto della Valpolicella. Eventually, the style gained recognition from the people around the world.

Our Amarone wines are the Recioto wines that are fermented for too long. The name literally means “the Great Bitter” and was originally used to distinguish it from the sweeter version, the “Recioto”.

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Modern Production Process

The modern day Amarone wines are being produced in special drying chambers under specific conditions.

This method would decrease the amount of grape handling thereby help prevent the onset of Botrytis Cinerea.

As we all know, the quality of the grapes is the primary component that brings the tannins, colours, and flavours to the wine.

Here, the desiccation process would concentrate the grape juices and also increase the skin contact of the grapes.

Furthermore, the drying process would metabolize the acids of the grapes and create a polymerization of the tannins thereby, contributing to the overall balance of the finished product.

Typically, the Amarone wines are being produced using the aforementioned three grape varieties, which will be subjected to the drying process for about 120 days.

This length may vary between the producer and the quality of the harvest. The final result is that we get the very ripe and full-bodied wine with very less acid.

As such, the alcohol content of these wines will surpass 15%, although the legal minimum requirement is 14%. These are then aged in oak barrels for a minimum of two years before release.

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Author

Tharani Rajamanickam

Tharani Rajamanickam

Winewriter

I am Tharani, I have Bachelors degree in Biotechnology. I am passionate about the wine industry and continue to explore, learn and share and I bring in a wealth of knowledge and expertise to help you keep updated with best wines in the world. Stay tuned..

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Vineyards in Amarone della Valpolicella, Veneto

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