Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG

The first traces of Recioto go back to Cassiodorus, who described Acinatico as a sweet wine, "regio per colore" in his words, made with a special grape-drying technique; Acinatico has been considered identifiable as the ancestor of Recioto della Valpolicella. St. Zeno, eighth bishop of Verona, whose likeness appears in the Recioto della Valpolicella DOC mark, taught farmers the need to keep wine for a long time in barrels. The 1276 statutes of Alberto I della Scala regulated retail sale as well as the transport of grapes and wine into the city, and banned keeping grapes at home after the harvest, a rule that clashed with deep-rooted traditional methods, among them Recioto production, and did not win the consent of growers and winemakers. The first production rules and DOC recognition came in 1968, and on 24 March 2010 ministerial decrees made the four typologies (Valpolicella, Valpolicella Ripasso, Recioto della Valpolicella and Amarone della Valpolicella) autonomous, to protect the identity of each. Legend has it that Amarone was born after a Recioto fermentation was left too long.

• Cassiodorus's Acinatico has been considered identifiable as the ancestor of Recioto della Valpolicella
• St. Zeno, eighth bishop of Verona, appears in the Recioto della Valpolicella DOC mark
• DOC recognition by DPR of 21 August 1968; the DOCG disciplinare was approved by DM of 24 March 2010
• Michael Garner, quoted in Decanter, writes that among producers Recioto 'is accepted unconditionally as the true mother of Veronese red wines'

The production zone covers the whole foothill belt of the province of Verona, from Lake Garda almost to the border with the province of Vicenza, a series of valleys and hills that run into the plain in the shape of a hand. The Lessini mountains shelter it to the north, Lake Garda is close by, and hill and valley-floor vineyards face south, giving a mild, not very rainy climate, close to Mediterranean in the low hills and valley floor. Average annual rainfall ranges between 850 and 1,000 mm. Soils come from the breakdown of calcareous-dolomitic formations, from basalts, and from moraine and river deposits of volcanic origin, and Valpolicella vineyards reach up to 500 m above sea level.

• Classico zone: Negrar, Marano, Fumane, Sant'Ambrogio and San Pietro in Cariano
• The full production zone takes in all or part of 19 communes, including Verona, Grezzana, Mezzane, Illasi and Montecchia di Crosara
• The marly limestones (Biancone and Scaglia) of the highest slopes give strong sugar accumulation
• Simple pergola and pergoletta veronese training shade the bunches in the hottest months; harvest falls between the last ten days of September and the first week of October

Corvina Veronese and/or Corvinone make up 45% to 95% of the blend and Rondinella 5% to 30%; the nineteenth-century ampelographic catalogue made Corvina the typical cultivar of Valpolicella. Selected grapes are laid in a single layer in wooden or plastic crates or on bamboo-cane racks and placed in airy fruttai above the cellars. They stay there for three to four months (100 to 120 days), checked and turned, until they lose at least half their weight. Drying may use climate-control equipment only at temperatures like those of traditional drying, and any dehumidification using heat is excluded. The dried grapes are crushed and fermented, and the fermentation is arrested to keep the sugar the style needs. Fermentation can stop naturally, but the arrest is normally induced by the winemaker, usually by cooling the must to suppress the yeast and then filtering it. The wines then age in wooden containers, with a further period in bottle before release.

• Drying: at least half the weight lost, reaching at least 14% vol natural potential alcohol
• No vinification before 1 December, unless the Regione Veneto authorizes an earlier start
• During drying, acidity falls, the ratio of glucose to fructose shifts and glycerine rises considerably

Speri makes La Roggia from the La Roggia vineyard on the southeastern hillside of Monte Sausto in San Pietro in Cariano, at 160 m; the grapes dry for around 110 days and lose about 42% of their weight, and the wine ages 24 months in 225-litre French oak barriques. Allegrini has dedicated its Recioto to Giovanni Allegrini since 1990; the grapes dry for about five months, and the wine spends 14 months in new barriques. Tedeschi's Capitel Fontana is made from grapes selected in its own vineyards and dried for four months in a controlled environment, with a natural arrest of fermentation and two years in Slavonian oak casks. Andrew Jefford, writing in Decanter, called Masi's Angelorum "the most classical of its Recioto styles". On labels, qualifiers such as 'extra', 'fine' and 'scelto' are barred, 'vigna' followed by a place name is allowed under set conditions, and the vintage year is required.

• Speri La Roggia: Corvina Veronese 65%, Rondinella 30%, other indigenous varieties 5%; 13.5% vol
• Allegrini: grapes from the upper hillsides, with a drop in weight of 40-45% during drying
• Bottles may hold no more than 15 litres
• A cork stopper set flush with the neck (tappo raso bocca) is required; long-skirt screw caps are allowed only on bottles up to 0.250 litres

Serve Recioto at 14 to 16 degrees with dessert, chocolate or cheese; it is particularly suited to desserts and blue-veined cheeses. Compared with Amarone, Recioto della Valpolicella is sweet while Amarone is dry or off-dry, and Amarone generally has higher alcohol, with minimums of 14% for Amarone and 12% for Recioto. A sparkling version, or spumante, also exists.

• Suggested serving temperature 14 to 16 degrees
• The most commonly used closure is a one-piece natural cork

Primary sources (MASAF disciplinare di produzione; the Consorzio per la Tutela dei Vini Valpolicella; producers' own sites for their own wines): 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, https://www.consorziovalpolicella.it/en/types-of-wines/recioto-della-valpolicella-docg/, https://www.speri.com/en/wines/recioto/, https://allegrini.it/en/wines/recioto-valpolicella-giovanni-allegrini/, https://www.tedeschiwines.com/product/capitel-fontana/?lang=en. Secondary: https://www.decanter.com/learn/advice/what-s-the-difference-between-amarone-and-recioto-della-valpolicella-51636/, https://italianwinecentral.com/denomination/recioto-della-valpolicella-docg/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/taste-valpolicella-ripasso-recioto-366038/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews-tastings/introducing-appassimento-wines-from-veneto-357089/. Last verified 2026-10-05