Recioto della Valpolicella is a very aromatic sweet red wine from dried grapes (passito method), produced in the Valpolicella area of the Veneto region (northeast Italy).

This is one of the most striking and characteristic wines of the region, especially in its sparkling version (spumante).

Label Recioto of the Valpolicella Classico zone

Type of wine “Recioto” (recioto) were the result of experiments of the winemakers of Valpolicella, seeking ways to make their wines more intense. The fact that local popular varieties Corvina and Rondinella, and Molinara especially, have difficulties with a set of “weights” (colors, sugars and flavors) in the cool climate of Western Veneto.

To increase the content of natural sugars and aromatic compounds in the wort, the producers of Valpolicella have made it a practice to dry the grapes immediately after harvest. This manipulation removes the moisture from the berries, retaining the aroma and sweetness. This technique – passito – proved to be successful and later found its application in the production of the famous wine Amarone is a dry and more alcoholic version of the wine Recioto.

The grapes used in the production of modern wines Recioto della Valpolicella, belongs to the class Corwin and local varieties korvinone.

It is harvested whole bunches and kept in drying houses where it is warm and dry. Drying lasts from three weeks to three months. This process is called appassimento.

Once the grapes were pozvolyali on straw litter, which was given the name of this type of wine – “straw wine.” These substrates were placed in the warmest part of the house or the winery. Today the straw on the floor, replaced the metal trays and wooden pallets in special drying houses.

Drying of the grapes, appassimento

When the “appassimento” is completed, the grapes are carefully pressed and the must ferments until the desired balance of alcoholic strength and sweetness.

Then the wine is aged in oak barrels for at least two years. Traditional huge Italian Botti (more than a thousand liters) today gave place to barriques (225 l) of Slavonian oak.

Standard wine Recioto della Valpolicella can be made from grapes from any part of the Valpolicella wine-growing area. However, if the grapes from the prestigious sub-zone is Classico or Valpantena, this will be indicated on the label.

Technology of production of wine type Recioto used in other regions, such as the sweet white Recioto di Soave. And usually a byproduct of this technology – a cake of dried grapes is the production of Grappa (grape distillate). However, resourceful winemakers of Valpolicella smart enough to reuse it in the production of wine, squeezing the most use and benefit from time-consuming and expensive process passito.

Adding this cake “passito” in the wort normal Valpolicella wine for their joint fermentation in order to enrich the scarce tannins and phenolic compounds, is widespread. The resulting wine is known now as Valpolicella Ripasso.