Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG is the product of the most unusual winemaking process in Italy: the grapes are harvested in autumn, laid on bamboo racks (graticci) in well-ventilated drying lofts (fruttai) for three to four months, and pressed only when they have lost 30-40% of their water weight. This process, called appassimento (from "appassire," to wither), concentrates the sugars, flavors, and phenolics of the Corvina, Corvinone, and Rondinella grapes used in the blend to a degree that produces, after two or more years of barrel aging, a wine of extraordinary density, 15-17% alcohol, and a flavor profile that encompasses dried fig, chocolate, coffee, leather, tar, and dried cherry simultaneously. It isn't a subtle wine. It is a profound one.
The Valpolicella production zone covers the hills northwest of Verona, the classic zone of Negrar, Fumane, and Marano di Valpolicella producing the most structured Amarone. The eastern zone of Valpantena producing lighter, earlier-drinking versions. The Classico zone (the original historic production area) producing the most traditionally minded wines. Understanding this geography is the first step to understanding Amarone as a category rather than a single product.
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How Amarone Is Made: The Appassimento Process
The harvest for Amarone begins in late September, approximately two weeks later than for table wines in the same zone. The selected grapes, always the best Corvina clusters, with thick skins and high sugar, are laid in single layers on bamboo or wooden racks in the fruttai, the drying lofts that distinguish every significant Valpolicella producer's estate. The lofts are designed for air circulation: screened windows that allow the mountain air from the Lessini hills to pass continuously through the grape layers, removing moisture without promoting rot. The key risk: Botrytis cinerea (noble rot), which in very wet years can destroy a drying crop entirely. The key requirement: dry, cool, windy conditions from October through January.
By January, the dried grape clusters are pressed. The resulting must has sugar concentrations of 30-35 Brix, far more than any conventionally harvested Italian grape can achieve, which ferments slowly over weeks to produce a wine of 15-17% alcohol with 5-12 g/L of residual sugar in dry Amarone. The fermentation must be pushed to completion to produce Amarone (as opposed to Recioto, the sweet version where fermentation is arrested while significant residual sugar remains). The wine then spends a minimum of two years in oak (minimum requirement for Amarone, with Riserva requiring four years), often in a combination of large Slavonian oak casks and smaller French barriques depending on the producer's philosophy.
The Best Amarone Producers
Bertani (Grezzana)
The historical benchmark for Amarone. Bertani's Amarone Classico has been produced continuously since 1958 and represents the traditional style at its most austere: minimal new wood, extended aging in large old Slavonian oak, a result that requires ten or more years of bottle age to show its full complexity. Not for early drinking. Extraordinary for those willing to wait. The estate's oldest cellar vintages (sold at auction and directly) are among the most prized wines in the Italian secondary market.
Dal Forno Romano (Cellore d'Illasi)
The most discussed and most expensive Amarone producer. Romano Dal Forno has been making Amarone in the eastern Valpolicella (Valpantena zone, technically Illasi valley) since the 1980s with an obsessive approach to quality that has produced prices (€300-500+ per bottle) usually associated with Burgundy grand crus. The Dal Forno Amarone is a maximalist statement of the wine's potential: deep, dense, extraordinarily long, requiring a decade of aging to open. Almost impossible to find without a waiting list.
Quintarelli (Negrar)
Giuseppe Quintarelli (1927-2012) defined a generation of Valpolicella winemaking. His estate, now run by his family, produces Amarone of extreme aging potential (some vintages closed for fifteen or more years after release) from a combination of the five traditional Valpolicella varieties plus Nebbiolo and Croatina, in a style that prioritizes elegance and complexity over immediate power. The Quintarelli Amarone Classico is the reference product for the complexity that the appassimento method can achieve in the right hands.
Allegrini (Fumane)
The most accessible of the leading Amarone producers, available internationally at prices below €50 for the standard release, reliable quality, and an approach that balances the wine's natural power with modern winemaking precision. The Allegrini La Poja (a single-vineyard Corvina aged in French oak, technically a Veronese IGT rather than Amarone since it uses only one grape variety) is among the most elegant expressions of the Corvina grape anywhere.
Q&A: Amarone della Valpolicella
What is the difference between Amarone and Recioto della Valpolicella?
Both use the same appassimento process from the same grapes in the same zone. The difference is in fermentation: Amarone (whose name derives from "amaro," bitter, the antithesis of the sweet Recioto that preceded it) is fermented to dryness, with all grape sugars converted to alcohol. Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG is fermented to a point where 80-120 g/L of residual sugar remains, a sweet dessert wine of extraordinary concentration. Recioto was the original application of the appassimento process. Amarone emerged in the mid-twentieth century as winemakers discovered what happened when fermentation was allowed to complete.
What food pairs with Amarone?
The combination of high alcohol, high tannin, high concentration, and residual complexity in Amarone requires food that can compete at this weight. The classic Veronese pairing: Amarone with braised or roasted beef (brasato all'Amarone is a canonical dish of the region, using Amarone in the braise itself). Aged hard cheeses (Parmigiano Reggiano 36-month, aged Pecorino) match the wine's concentration. Game birds (pheasant, guinea fowl roasted with mushrooms) are the Veronese Sunday lunch context. Avoid delicate fish or light pasta, the wine will overwhelm them.
How do I visit the Valpolicella wine zone from Verona?
The Valpolicella Classico zone begins approximately 15 km northwest of Verona, accessible by car (not by public transport for the individual producer estates). The Strada del Vino Valpolicella connects the main producers. The Consorzio Vini Valpolicella maintains a current map and list of estates open for visits. Many estates require appointments. Some (Allegrini, Masi) have established visitor infrastructure. A half-day winery visit from Verona combined with lunch in the zone (at an agriturismo (farm stay) in the Classico hills) is the optimal format.
Is there an Amarone that is approachable young?
Ripasso della Valpolicella DOC, not Amarone itself, is the approachable entry point to the zone. Ripasso is Valpolicella wine (the lighter table wine of the same zone) "ripassed" over the Amarone pomace after the Amarone pressing, extracting color, tannin, and flavor to produce a wine of intermediate weight: more complexity than basic Valpolicella, less power than Amarone, drinkable at 3-5 years, typically €15-25. The best Ripasso producers (Brigaldara, Tedeschi, Masi "Campofiorin") produce wines of genuine quality at accessible prices.
The History of Amarone
The appassimento tradition in the Valpolicella is ancient, the Romans documented the practice of drying grapes in the Po Valley region (the Rheticum wine of Virgil, dried and concentrated, is likely an ancestor). The sweet Recioto was the historical application. Amarone as a distinct dry wine category emerged only in the mid-twentieth century. The defining moment: in 1936, a cellarman named Adelino Lucchese at the Cantina Sociale di Negrar discovered a forgotten barrel of Recioto that had fermented completely dry, bitter (amaro) rather than sweet. Rather than discarding it, the winemakers tasted it and recognized that the dry version was extraordinary. Amarone della Valpolicella became a DOCG in 2010.
What Nobody Tells You About Amarone
The word "Amarone" on a label guarantees the production method (appassimento, dry fermentation, minimum aging) but not the quality of the grapes or the execution. At the bottom of the Amarone market (€20-30 per bottle from large cooperative producers), the wine may be technically correct but lacks the concentration and complexity that justify the wine's reputation. The meaningful Amarone quality threshold begins at approximately €35-40 from a named single-estate producer. Below this price point, the wine is Amarone in production method but not in character. The €20 supermarket Amarone gives a misleading impression of what the wine is.
Internal Links
- Italy Wine Regions: The Veneto in Context
- Italian Wine for Beginners: Amarone as a Gateway
- Italian Wine to Bring Home: Amarone and the Veneto
- Valpolicella Harvest: The Appassimento Season
- Verona and Padova: Combined Veneto Wine and Art
- Palladian Villas Near the Valpolicella Zone
- Amarone Grappa: The Pomace Distillate
