Dec 02: Veneto Region, known for Amarone, one of Italy’s top wines in the quality hierarchy, has authorized earlier fermentation of raisinated grapes used for the production of Amarone and Recioto, ostensibly at the request of the Consorzio of Valpolicella and Amarone, writes Subhash Arora feels that this will further bring the quality of Amarone a couple of notches and make his preferred Ripasso even more attractive because of the value-for-money advantage that it enjoys
Decree no. 161 issued on November 6, 2020 by the food and agriculture department of the Region of Veneto, ostensibly at the explicit request of the producers’ association- Consorzio Tutela Vini della Valpolicella, authorized the fermentation of grapes stored aside for drying into raisins for the production of Amarone, starting on November 16- two weeks earlier than the previous regulation. The justification for this was that the level of sugar of grapes from the 2020 harvest was considered sufficient for the production of Amarone.
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The previous date of December 1 was already considerably early considering the tradition of allowing the grapes to dry almost until Easter. Preponing the date appears to be a move to reduce production costs, and increase the earnings. But, it also means producing simpler wines and runs a real risk of denigrating and trivializing the top wine like Amarone, reducing its organoleptic properties and bringing it closer to a Ripasso (Baby Amarone) which in any case is recommended more by delWine for the wine market in India due to its v-f-m character.
‘A connection between the ancient Acinaticum and the modern Amarone wine is found in the writings of Cassiodorus who observed that to make the ancient wine “the cold-blooded grapes should rigorously be pressed in winter”, thus confirming that the colder period of the year is suited more for fermentation, says Danielle Cernilli, popularly known as DoctorWine in Italy.
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‘With all this in mind, the decision to bring forward the fermentation seems to me to be a little too hasty, to say the least. And although there are obviously reasons for doing this, it does not take into consideration two fundamental aspects. The first is that it moves away from a traditional vision of what Amarone should be. And I am sure that the wine’s “founding fathers” like Bepi Quintarelli, Marta Galli or Mino Franceschetti who are no longer with us, would not have approved such a decision. And this also in view of the fact that Amarone as we know it today is a relatively new wine, dating back to around 60 years ago’, says Danielle.
The process to make Amarone is a Unique Process that is a big differentiator and gives the unique wine a process discovered by mistake; the fermentation of dried grapes that is supposed to be aborted, giving a high sugar content and carried on till the high sugars get ‘eaten’ by the yeasts, giving a powerful wine with high alcohol. Although it is not uncommon to find other regions of Italy copying this style, ‘Appassimento’ or ‘fermentation of dried grapes’ was discovered in this region. Grapes used are mostly the local grapes Corvina, Corvinone and Rondinella. Molinara which is also used in making Valpolicella, is being used less and less in Amarone.
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Amarone has already become a victim of its own success. This is not the first such instance where wines/regions become victims of their popularity. In order to meet the explosive demand, producers stoop to higher volumes which bring the quality down. Mosel, Austria (sweet wines), Barossa Valley and Chianti are the recent examples where the popularity of the region caused the quality to go down and needed quality producers or the laws took stringent measures to try and get back to the original quality levels. A group of 12 premier producers of Amarone had already left the Association and formed Family of Twelve in 2009 as they were upset about the quality going down unchecked in order to reduce prices and quality.
Amarone is considered the top quality in the hierarchy of Italian wines and is respected as much as Barolo, Barbaresco and Brunello di Montalcino- the 3 Big B’s. It is also known as a meditation wine since one can drink it even after dinner with friends and cheese, although a serious dry wine which needs red meats for company. It ages very well too. Masi, Zenato, Tedeschi, Tommasi and Allegrini are already being imported into India from the Family of Twelve which is responsible for 40% of all exports from Valpolicella.
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We need to decide what should be considered a “great wine” and what is needed to ensure that the properties that make it such are protected. Bringing forward the fermentation is a regressive step and will bring the quality of the wine down and trivialise Amarone- an extremely popular wine and accepted by Italian wine connoisseurs as one of the top wines of Italy.
Subhash Arora
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