This document corrects common misconceptions about Valpolicella wines. It explains that Valpolicella means "valley of many cays" not cellars, the typical grape blend has changed, Amarone was discovered in the 1930s not ancient Roman times, and Recioto della Valpolicella is a valuable wine not difficult to sell. It also provides accurate information on the drying process for Amarone/Recioto, what Ripasso is made from, and that Amarone means lack of sweetness not "big bitter" wine.

1. 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

2. This slideshare was originally posted in
www.terroiramarone.net
Independent reports on Amarone and
Valpolicella wines

3. 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

4. 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

5. • 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

6. 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

8. 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

9. • 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)

10. 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

11. • 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

12. 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

13. 7 . T H E P R O C E S S O F D RY 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

14. • 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

16. 8 . T H E A P PA S S I M E N T O
( D RY 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

17. 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

18. • 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

19. … 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