Corvina Veronese

Corvina Veronese is VIVC variety number 2863, catalogued under the prime name Corvina Veronese, with a berry skin colour of noir (black). Its country or region of origin is Italy. No parents are recorded for it: both parent fields in its variety passport are blank, and its full pedigree field reads "NO". The passport's "Parent - offspring relationship" field reads "YES", but it names no parent and lists no offspring, so the parentage of Corvina Veronese remains unknown. VIVC-derived lineage data list no children, full siblings or half-siblings for Corvina Veronese.

• VIVC variety number 2863; prime name Corvina Veronese; berry skin colour noir (black)
• Country or region of origin: Italy
• Parents: unknown; both parent fields are blank and the full pedigree field reads NO
• Corvina Veronese is registered in the European Catalogue

Italy's production rules name the variety "Corvina Veronese (Cruina o Corvina)", giving Cruina and Corvina as its other names. The first ampelographic catalogue of the 19th century officially recognised "la corvina" as a typical cultivar of Valpolicella. The official history of Amarone della Valpolicella traces the wine's first ancestor to Acinatico, a wine made with a special grape-drying technique, which Cassiodorus, minister of Theodoric, asked Valpolicella landowners to supply for the royal table; the first commercial sale of a bottle of Amarone della Valpolicella dates to 1953. Valpolicella received DOC recognition by Presidential Decree of 21 August 1968, and ministerial decrees adopted on 24 March 2010 made the four types, Valpolicella, Valpolicella Ripasso, Recioto della Valpolicella and Amarone della Valpolicella, autonomous. Drying grapes was the only way the Greeks and Romans had of increasing a wine's alcohol content.

• Synonyms in Italy's production rules: Cruina and Corvina
• Valpolicella DOC: Presidential Decree of 21 August 1968
• Recioto is the ancestor of Amarone and the most ancient wine of the Valpolicella appellation

Corvina is the most important grape variety of Valpolicella, in the Veneto region of north-east Italy, and it typically dominates the blend, though a number of other local grapes are permitted. Valpolicella's climate is shaped by Lake Garda's mild influence combined with cooler breezes from the mountains, and the vines are usually pergola-trained to prevent the small, thin-skinned Corvina grapes from scorching in the summer sun. Pergola training has a diffusion of 75% and Guyot 25%, and the pergola's foliage protects the bunches from the sun. The Valpolicella Classica has five zones: Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, San Pietro in Cariano, and the Fumane, Marano and Negrar valleys; the Valpantena lies halfway between the Classica and the eastern zone, with remarkable temperature variations between day and night. The Bardolino DOC rules, on the other side of the Adige river, require 35% to 95% Corvina Veronese, and in Bardolino, Lake Garda's mild conditions let Corvina reach sufficient ripeness at moderate alcohol.

• Valpolicella, Amarone della Valpolicella and Recioto della Valpolicella: 45% to 95% Corvina Veronese and/or Corvinone
• Bardolino DOC: 35% to 95% Corvina Veronese, with Corvinone allowed to replace up to 20% of it
• Bardolino's poor, stony, moraine soil contrasts with Valpolicella's limestone-rich calcareous soil, "which lends more grip"

Corvina gives structure, aromas and softness to the wine, and, thanks to its technological characteristics in the vinification phase and its phenolic properties, it gives structure and body to Valpolicella. Corvina has been called "by far the most characterful of the three grape varieties" from which Valpolicella may be made. Andrew Jefford writes that Valpolicella should smell of fresh fruits, "often the cherry with which the region’s key grape variety, Corvina, is intimately associated", and portrays a red wine with little tannin or extract whose defining quality is a zesty, fruit-saturated acidity. For Amarone, Michael Garner writes that the aromas and flavours are determined invariably by Corvina, and to a lesser extent Corvinone, and that elegance and perfume, especially a telltale note of freshly ground black pepper, are hallmarks of Corvina. The appassimento method can make Corvina much more powerful and structured.

• Valpolicella DOC: a young and fine wine with a vinous aroma and delicate bouquet, fresh and dry on the palate; its organoleptic descriptors include cherry, bitter, rose and almond
• Amarone della Valpolicella: very intense red colour with garnet notes and a scent recalling dried fruit, tobacco and spice
• Recioto della Valpolicella: its descriptors include balsamic, maraschino cherry and dried fruit, and its good acidity keeps the wine from being cloying

The appassimento method involves picking the grapes and drying them indoors to concentrate them, and a range of wines can be made from grapes dried to different extents. Drying Corvina, Corvinone or Rondinella for a red Recioto or Amarone needs three to four months, and up to six months for Recioto. For Amarone della Valpolicella, the production rules require the grapes to stay in the fruttai for 100 or 120 days until they lose at least half their weight, require a natural potential alcohol of at least 14% vol after drying, and set a minimum actual alcohol of 14% vol. The dried grapes may not be vinified before 1 December, although, when climatic conditions make it necessary, Regione Veneto, on the Consorzio's documented request, may authorise an earlier start. The rules require at least two years of ageing from 1 January after the harvest, and at least 4 years from 1 November of the harvest year for a riserva. Recioto is also made from grapes dried in the fruttaio, vinified once they have lost at least half of their weight, and its fermentation is stopped to preserve its typical structure and sweetness. Valpolicella Ripasso is made by refermenting basic Valpolicella on the pomace of Amarone and/or Recioto, which gives it higher alcohol, phenolic substances and extract than a basic Valpolicella.

• Amarone: at least 14% vol natural potential alcohol after drying; no vinification before 1 December unless Regione Veneto authorises an earlier start for climatic reasons at the Consorzio's documented request
• Amarone ageing: at least two years from 1 January after the harvest; riserva at least 4 years from 1 November of the harvest year
• Valpolicella DOC Superiore must age at least one year before release

Producers regarded as reliably superior for Valpolicella include Allegrini, Boscaini, Dal Forno, Masi, Quintarelli, Santi, Trabucchi and Tedeschi. Allegrini's La Poja is a Corvina Veronese IGT, the winery's Corvina varietal, and Giovanni Allegrini decided to plant only Corvina grapes on the top of La Grola in 1979. Allegrini calls its Valpolicella Classico, from Corvina Veronese and Rondinella, "the simple but refined introduction to the world of Corvina Veronese". Brigaldara's Valpolicella is Corvina 45%, Corvinone 40% and Rondinella 15%, and Speri's Recioto della Valpolicella Classico La Roggia is Corvina Veronese 65%, Rondinella 30% and other indigenous varieties 5%.

The appassimento method can make Corvina much more powerful and structured, and each style has its own suggested pairings. Valpolicella DOC suits appetizers, light first courses and white meats, and Valpolicella DOC Superiore suits second courses, with a preference for red meats and medium seasoned cheeses. Valpolicella Ripasso pairs with winter main courses, meat courses, cold cuts and medium-seasoned cheese, Amarone with meat courses, game and matured cheeses or alone as a "meditation wine", and Recioto with dessert, chocolate and cheese. The suggested serving temperature for Valpolicella DOC is 14 to 16°C. Amarone should be sipped with care, ideally like port after a meal rather than swigged throughout a meal.

Primary sources: https://www.vivc.de/index.php?r=passport%2Fview&id=2863 ; https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252F2%252F3%252FD.8ccd09a077f2ec35dc9b/P/BLOB%3AID%3D4625/E/7z?mode=download (Valpolicella and Recioto della Valpolicella disciplinari) ; https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252Ff%252F6%252FD.507dfbac5b16903e5472/P/BLOB%3AID%3D20309/E/pdf?mode=download (Amarone della Valpolicella disciplinare) ; https://www.masaf.gov.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeAttachment.php/L/IT/D/1%252Fa%252Fe%252FD.8495fb8195fb9f88e44b/P/BLOB%3AID%3D4625/E/7z?mode=download (Bardolino disciplinare) ; https://www.consorziovalpolicella.it/en/the-varieties/ ; https://www.consorziovalpolicella.it/en/types-of-wines/vino-valpolicella-doc/ ; https://www.consorziovalpolicella.it/en/wines/amarone-della-valpolicella-docg/ ; https://www.consorziovalpolicella.it/en/types-of-wines/recioto-della-valpolicella-docg/ ; https://www.consorziovalpolicella.it/en/types-of-wines/valpolicella-ripasso-doc/ ; https://www.consorziovalpolicella.it/en/the-area/zona-classica-della-valpolicella/ ; https://www.consorziovalpolicella.it/en/the-area/zona-valpantena/ ; https://www.wsetglobal.com/media/13022/wset_l2wines_sessionplans_en_may2023_issue2.pdf ; https://allegrini.it/en/wines/valpolicella-classico-doc-allegrini/ ; https://allegrini.it/en/wines/recioto-valpolicella-giovanni-allegrini/ ; https://www.brigaldara.it/en/wines/valpolicella-doc ; https://www.speri.com/en/wines/recioto/ Reference sources: https://www.decanter.com/wine/touring-valpolicella-494988/ ; https://www.decanter.com/premium/bardolino-makeover-plus-12-best-worth-seeking-411823/ ; https://www.decanter.com/magazine/amarone-buyers-guide-382500/ ; https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/taste-valpolicella-ripasso-recioto-366038/ ; https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews-tastings/introducing-appassimento-wines-from-veneto-357089/ ; https://www.jancisrobinson.com/learn/wine-regions/italy/veneto Last verified 2026-10-04