Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG

The disciplinare traces the first records of Recioto to Cassiodorus, who described Acinatico as a sweet wine, "regio per colore" in the disciplinare's quotation, made with a special grape-drying technique; the document says Acinatico has been considered identifiable as the ancestor of Recioto della Valpolicella. It also records that 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 the disciplinare says 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. Decanter reports the legend that Amarone was born after a Recioto fermentation was left too long.

• The disciplinare says 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 the disciplinare likens to 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 climate the disciplinare calls mild and not very rainy, 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 disciplinare says 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

The disciplinare sets Corvina Veronese and/or Corvinone at 45% to 95% and Rondinella at 5% to 30%, and records that 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, checked and turned, until they lose at least half their weight; the disciplinare's product description gives 100 to 120 days. 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. Decanter notes that 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
• Decanter reports the Consorzio's view that 50 to 60 days of drying can be enough for Recioto, but sometimes more than 100 days are needed
• During drying, acidity falls, the ratio of glucose to fructose shifts and glycerine rises considerably, per the disciplinare

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, according to Speri. 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, per Allegrini. 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, per Tedeschi. Andrew Jefford, writing in Decanter, called Masi's Angelorum "the most classical of its Recioto styles". On labels, the disciplinare bars qualifiers such as 'extra', 'fine' and 'scelto', allows 'vigna' followed by a place name under set conditions, and requires the vintage year.

• 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

The Consorzio suggests serving Recioto at 14 to 16 degrees and names dessert, chocolate and cheese as pairings, while the disciplinare singles out desserts and blue-veined cheeses. Decanter sets the two appassimento wines side by side: Amarone is dry or off-dry, while Recioto della Valpolicella is sweet, and Amarone generally has higher alcohol, with minimums of 14% for Amarone and 12% for Recioto. Decanter also notes that a sparkling version, or spumante, exists.

• Suggested serving temperature 14 to 16 degrees (Consorzio)
• The most commonly used closure is a one-piece natural cork, per the Consorzio

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 2026-09-28