Recioto della Valpolicella

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• Veronese foothills zone: a series of valleys and hills forming the shape of 'an open hand', stretching from Lake Garda to the border with Vicenza.
• Mild, not excessively rainy climate with Mediterranean influence on the lower hillsides; sheltered to the north by the Lessini mountains, with Lake Garda acting as a thermal regulator.
• Average annual rainfall between 850 and 1,000 mm, with peaks concentrated in the winter period.
• Soils of calcareous-dolomitic, basaltic, and morainal-fluvial (volcanic) origin, with variable water retention that influences the ripening phases.

• The Acinatico of the 4th century: a sweet appassimento wine already described as 'regal in colour, dense and full-bodied'.
• S. Zeno (4th century) already advocated barrel ageing: 'ut melius veterascendo reddatur' (so that it may improve with age).

• Soils derived from calcareous-dolomitic breakdown, basalts, and volcanic morainal/fluvial deposits modulate the vine's water supply from budbreak through to ripening.

Facts drawn from the cahier's terroir-link section (Lien au terroir) by automatic interpretation — see the source.

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-IT-A0441
• Official trade body site — Consorzio Tutela Vini Valpolicella