Recioto della Valpolicella

Yesterday, in my final Thanksgiving post, at least until I decide to do another one, I wrote about Recioto della Valpolicalla. It's abig name, but not one most people are familiar with and several asked me about it. What in the world is Recioto della Valpolicella and should I like it?

I'll answer the second question first. Yes, you should. You should like all well-made wines although you are certainly entitled to like some more than others. I do.

Recioto della Valpolicella, henceforth referred to here as Recioto, is a sweet wine made in the same style as a dry wine, Amarone della Valpolicella. Highly ageworthy, and a cornucopia of rich flavors from raisin to date to fig to chocolate and many more in between, both wines follow very similar processes. But, one is so dry and one is so sweet. What is going on?

Recioto, like Amarone must contain between 45 and 95% Corvina and or Corvinone, 5 to 30% Rondinella, and up to 25% of other approved grapes, but in total, the aromatics cannot exceed 10%, and none of the "other grapes" can indivudually exceed 10%. 

Confused yet.

Then there are more sules, because the complex wine composition is not enough. At harvest, the grapes must have alcohol potential of at least 11%. Typically, this is measured with a refractometer. The grapes are then dried by air on special drying mats until at least December 1, often exactly December 1, before the process of making wine from them begins. When that process begins, the potential alcohol level must be at least 14%. After vinification, the alcohol must be at least 12% by volume. And, the wine must have at least 5% (slightly rounded) residual sugar.

Where does the sugar come from when Amarone is so dry? Fermentation is stopped as early as possible allowing the grapes to retain as much sugar as possible, thus producing a sweet complement to Amarone.

One particularly interesting note about Recioto is that while it is almost always barrel-aged (there is no requirement though), a lot of the Recioto produced is aged not in oak barrels, but in cherry wood barrels. This (DUH !!) produces dark cherry notes as compared to the spice or vanilla often imparted by oak.

In addition to the usual flavors of Amarone, the sweetness is the Recioto often gives it a liquoricey taste much like the chewy black candy. Enjoy it with chocolates and rich cheeses which is why yesterday, we paired it with chocolate cheesecake.