Recioto della Valpolicella is an appellation in the province of Verona, in Veneto. It was born as a DOC in 1968 and became a DOCG in 2010. The production rules were last updated in 2023.
An ancient wine
The first traces of an ancestor of Recioto are found in Cassiodorus, who described Acinatico as a sweet wine, «regal in colour […] dense and fleshy», made with a special technique of drying the grapes. The bishop of Verona Zeno, teaching farmers how to grow the vine, spoke of the miracle of the «sun that becomes wine» and advised keeping it long in barrels, «ut melius veterascendo reddatur», so that it would improve with age. In 1276 Alberto I della Scala issued the Statutes that regulated the sale and transport of grapes and wine and the time of the harvest.
The grapes and the subzones
Recioto comes from 45 to 95% Corvina and Corvinone, with 5-30% Rondinella. Up to 25% can come from other red grapes, but none above 10%, and aromatic varieties together cannot exceed 10%. It also exists as a sparkling wine, red and sweet. The Classico subzone covers the municipalities of Fumane, Marano di Valpolicella, Negrar, San Pietro in Cariano and Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella; Valpantena is the valley of the same name. The minimum alcohol is 12%.
