The Many Faces of the Corvina Grape

Tue, Jul 11, 2023 | italian wine valpolicella amarone ripasso corvina

Discover three amazing styles of wine found in Valpolicella!

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A little background on the area of Valpolicella:

- It is located 75 miles west of the city of Venice and directly north of the city of Verona in northeastern Italy’s Veneto province.

- It is a historic winegrowing area which has produced prized wines since Roman times.

-The name Valpolicella literally means “valley of the many cellars”.

Corvina Grape

The bottlings you see in Valpolicella all have in common the same predominate grape – CORVINA – however each undergoes different winemaking techniques that results in three different wine styles.

Corvina Veronese is a thick-skinned black grape variety grown in Veneto as the principal grape for production of wines from Valpolicella and Bardolino appellations.

Wines made with Corvina typically show aromas of sour cherry, violet, aromatic herbs and bitter almonds.

Now that you have an understanding of the Corvina Grape and where it comes from, let's a take a look at three popular wine styles that utilize this grape!

VALPOLICELLA CLASSICO The production of this wine involves typical red winemaking techniques, which ensure adequate exposure to the grape skins in order to extract sufficient color, flavor, and structural elements. The result is an easy drinking, food friendly wine with notes of sour cherries, flowers, and a slightly bitter almond-y finish. This wine is perfect for summer barbeque season and can be served slightly chilled.

AMARONE DI VALPOLICELLA These wines are made using the ancient winemaking process called appassimento. In sum, pasito wines are made with grapes that have been air dried in the winery for 3-4 months before being fermented. As the drying Corvina grapes "raisen-ate" sugars and flavors become extremely concentrated. Once the grapes are dried, they are pressed to release their juice. This juice is then fermented along with the crushed skins, resulting in a powerful and opulent wine with an an array of characteristics including ripe berry, dried fruit, tobacco, dark chocolate, coffee, leather and spices - to name a few. Amarone wine is rich and earthy, pairing perfectly with foods like roasted meats, Osso Bucco, aged cheeses, pastas with ragu or mushroom sauce, and even dark chocolote! Amarone is Veneto's answer Piedmonte's prestigious Barolo and Barbareso wines. If you've never tried one, you're in for a real treat!

RIPASSO This wine is sometimes referred to as a "baby Amarone". With this style, the freshly produced wine is combined with the leftover crushed grape pumice used during the making of the previously mentioned Amarone di Valpoliella. The fresh wine is left in contact with the leftover Amarone pumice for 1-2 weeks, adding body and deeper, more developed flavor components. The result is a beautiful wine that is stylistically between the lighter quaffable Valpolicalle Classico the heavier, more powerful Amarone.

Come see us in person at Rollers Wine & Spirits or shop these fantastic Valpolicella wines online, or by using our app!

By Paige Lorberbaum