Valpolicella
Amarone “Opera Prima” 2023
Opera Prima is the Valpolicella Consortium tasting held in Verona each winter, where the new Amarone vintage is presented to the trade and the press before it reaches the shelves. The 2023 edition showed the 2019 vintage, and this is what stood out in the glass.
2022 – Amarone end of year report
The 2022 Valpolicella year in one page: what was released, what the critics rated highest, how the harvest went and what changed in the region. Written at the end of the year from the shop floor in Venice, where we taste most of what comes out of the valley.
Valpolicella and Christmas pairings
For Christmas, pour by weight of dish. Valpolicella Superiore with antipasti and pasta, Ripasso with roast poultry and risotto, Amarone with braised or roast red meat and aged cheese, Recioto with the pudding. Serve the Amarone at about 18 degrees and open it an hour ahead.
Amarone Wine & Valpolicella Vintages, an in-depth analysis
Vintage matters in the Valpolicella because Corvina ripens late and the grapes are then dried through the winter, so both the autumn and the months after it decide the year. The best years of this century are 2000, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2019. The hardest were 2002 and 2014.
The Valpolicella grapes – in depth!
Valpolicella wine is made from three main grapes. Corvina gives sour cherry, acidity and the backbone. Corvinone, long thought a clone of Corvina, adds structure and tannin. Rondinella is hardy, dries well and fills out the blend. Molinara, Oseleta and a few others appear in smaller amounts.
The different Valpolicella wine styles
The Valpolicella makes four wines from the same grapes. Valpolicella DOC is light and fresh, pressed from fruit picked and used straight away. Superiore is the same wine aged a year. Ripasso is re-fermented on Amarone skins. Amarone and sweet Recioto are made from grapes dried for months before pressing.
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