Recioto della Valpolicella — Veneto's Sweet Red Original

Recioto's name derives from 'recia' (ear in dialect) — the uppermost clusters of grapes that receive the most sun and are best suited for appassimento. The wine's tradition dates to at least the Roman period — Cassiodorus, secretary to Theodoric the Great, wrote admiringly of the sweet wines of Verona in the 5th century AD. DOCG status was achieved in 2010.

Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG is the ancestor of Amarone — the ancient sweet red wine of the Valpolicella hills whose accidental full fermentation is said to have created Amarone when a forgotten barrel converted its remaining sugars to alcohol. Recioto is produced from the same Corvina Veronese, Corvinone, and Rondinella grapes as Amarone and Valpolicella, using the same appassimento process (drying grapes on bamboo racks for 3–4 months), but fermentation is arrested before completion, leaving residual sweetness (approximately 50–100 g/L) to create a wine of deep ruby-garnet colour, extraordinary concentration of dried cherry, chocolate, violet, and cinnamon, and a velvety texture unlike anything else in the wine world. Recioto is also produced as a sparkling wine (Recioto della Valpolicella Spumante), which provides a unique sweet-dry counterpoint when the bubbles contrast with the wine's natural sweetness. The finest Recioto producers include Allegrini, Bertani, and Monte dall'Ora.

FOOD PAIRING: Recioto's sweet richness demands specific powerful pairings from the Provenance 1000 recipes: Dark Chocolate (60–85% cacao — the defining pairing, even more compelling than Banyuls with chocolate), Chocolate Fondant, Tiramisu (the chocolate and coffee elements resonate perfectly), Aged Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano (the salt and umami contrast is extraordinary), Walnut Tart, Panettone (Christmas and Easter tradition in the Veneto).