Amarone della Valpolicella
Have you ever asked yourself where the origins of the Amarone wine come from?
It is a very ancient story that dates to the Romans. In fact, both the Recioto della Valpolicella and also the Recioto di Soave are metioned in the writing of Plinio il Vecchio, dating some 2000 years ago.
What does Amarone have to do with all this? We will explain that right now.
The name Amarone come about to label something that was very “bitter” and not entirely appreciated. Behind the name given to this wine, today considered one of the best wines in the world, there is a nice story that not everyone knows yet.
When Recioto della Valpolicella, a sweet wine made with dried grapes, started to be produced the techniques used by the winemakers were not so advanced yet and the instruments utilized were not as good and precise as the ones we have today. For that reason, the producers were encountering lots of difficulties during the vinification process.
Recioto della Valpolicella is made with Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella and Molinara grapes, left to dry for about 4/5 months.
After the pressing process, the fermentation of the must begins (rich in sugar), that last about two to three weeks. The fermentation is the process that determines if the wine will be a sweet wine like Recioto or a dry and full-bodied wine like Amarone.
During the fermentation, the yeasts convert sugar into alcohol and CO2.
If the fermentation is stopped on time we obtain Recioto della Valpolicella; however, if the fermentation keeps going, for about a month instead of two/three weeks, the yeasts have time to transform all the sugar into alcohol and we end up with Amarone.
The creation of Amarone was due to a mistake, a winemaker forgot about a barrel of Recioto and the fermentation went on far too long. This happened around 1936 and the wine obtained by a longer fermentation of the Valpolicella grapes transform all the sugar in alcohol.
The wine obtained was very bitter “amaro” and for that reason the winemaker decided to give the name Amarone to it.
From that moment on the winemaker continued to produce this “amaro” wine (Amarone) even though it was not widely after by costumers.
Mostly due to the fact that at that time people consumed more sweet dishes than savoury and was the same thing for beverage.
The tenacity and determination of the winemaker drove them to continue producing Amarone wine for 20 years before finally attending a big wine fair in New York, after which people began to admire the wine.
Since that moment on Amarone has been a highly requested wine and in 2010 it received the DOCG certification like its predecessor Recioto della Valpolicella.
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