Recioto Della Valpolicella is a  sweet, unfortified Venetian wine DOC that was so named because only the ripest ‘ears’ (‘rece’ is Italian slang for ears ‘orecchie’) of each bunch of grapes were selected to make the wine. 

Until Amarone’s emergence in the 20th century, Recioto represented the apogee of every Valpolicella producer’s range. The Romans raved about ‘recitium’ and even though this was in all likelihood the white Recioto di Soave, it is the red Recioto della Vapolicella that has caught the imagination ever since. Recioto is made using the same ‘appassimento’ process as Amarone but the fruit is left to dry for an extra month, thus necessitating the selection at harvest of only the very best bunches. 

Once pressed, after at least 1^st January following the harvest, the juice’s fermentation is arrested prematurely to capture the fresh, sweet primary fruit characters. The resulting wine is massively rich in dry extract (approximately 300 grams/litre) and high in residual sugar (250 grams/litre) but has a relatively modest alcohol level of around 12%. 

The wine is then typically matured for 12 months in small French barriques. Recioto della Valpolicella wine should be medium-bodied with a beautiful, crushed velvet texture and a palate brimming with vivid, seductive black fruit and chocolate. Not surprisingly, only tiny quantities are made each year – a mere 2% of Amarone.

Recommended producers: Tomaso Bussola, Corte Sant’Alda and Giuseppe Quintarelli.