Amarone is a specific style of wine made in the area of Valpolicello in Veneto region in Italy, close to Lake Garda and here comes the name of the wine: Amarone della Valpolicella. The wine is made from indigenous grape varieties of Valpolicella valley and this defines Amarone wine uniqueness. Amarone is made from 4 grape varieties: Corvina, Corvinone, Rondinella, Molinara, where Corvina is the main Amarone wine gape and is also called the Queen grape.
Amarone is entitled by DOCG status- the highest quality qualification of Italian wines- only 73 wines in Italy have it. Valpolicella wine pyramid explains the uniqueness of Amarone wine.
Why Amarone is so expensive?
Amarone wine price starts from 40 € and more and it is because of the special wine production process.
- After carefully handpicking the grapes, they are left for approximately 120 days to dry, which requires time and space in the vinery. This grapes drying technique before fermentation is called Apassimento.
- During the drying process, grapes lose around 30%-40% of their weight, which means that almost 2 times more grapes are needed to make Amarone wine.
- Aging takes minimum 2 years in oak barrels.
Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso- “Baby Amarone”
Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso is sometimes called “Baby Amarone”, because it is a wine between simple Valpolicella wine and Amarone. The basic Valpolicella wine, which is also made from the same 4 Valpolicella valley grapes, is mixed with the skins of the dried grapes from Amarone and Reciotto wines, which still have un-fermented sugars, aromatic compounds and tanins which are transferred to Valpolicella Ripasso. The aging takes at least 1 year in oak barrels.