Do Amarone alcohol levels vary according to vintage?
There seemed to be several plausible answers. Since Amarones are usually pushing the tolerance of yeasts anyway, it would be more likely for a heat-concentrated vintage to have more residual sugar. On the other hand, some posters suggested that producers could counter-act a hot year by earlier picking or shorter drying period, but not everyone seemed convinced that was the case.
My cursory online research into this and the Recioto question yielded few results. So, unwilling to remain in obscurity, I simply wrote an e-mail to two quality winemakers, PierPaolo Antolini and Marco Venturini (Le Bertarole), who I will gladly thank again for their expeditious and enlightening replies.
The answer is actually rather simple. After all, the drying process concentrates the juice of the grapes and can therefore be used to “correct” a vintage's overconcentration or lack thereof. If the grapes are more concentrated, a quality produver will dry them for a shorter period, but that is also subject to the quality of the grapes, the time of the harvest and the weather or ambient conditions during the drying period.
Normally, the Consorzio Valpolicella dictates that the dried grapes may not be processed before December 15th. In exceptional years, that date can be subject to change. In 2003, where the harvest was also considerably earlier than usual, the legislature allowed the pressing of the grapes for December 1st.
This would seem to be the only factor that would keep a winemaker from achieving the desired targetted alcohol content and (lack of) residual sugar every year.
In fact, by pressing the dried grapes 20 days before the usual date, one can try and maintain the balance between alcohol, acidity and tannins even in a hot year. A winemaker aiming to create an Amarone with 16-17% alcohol can do that simply by routinely checking up on the sugar levels. The main point of variation would only be the production date.
So, the short answer (about time, after all my rambling): the alcohol levels of Amarone do not vary greatly with the vintage. If anything, they may be more constant, at least more constant than that of non-dried wine. However, it is possible that the vintage may still lack the certain balance that could have been achieved with a longer but less intense ripening period on the vine.
What about Recioto? How can you have a Recioto with 14% alcohol and say, 100gr residual sugar per liter, but an Amarone with 16% and less than 10gr sugar content?
Again, the simple and obvious answer turned out to be correct: Recioto has a longer drying period to improve this concentration. While Amarone may be pressed in December, the grapes destined for Recioto keep drying, sometimes up until March. The grapes, then with a must weight between approximately 29 and 31 brix, can easily yield a wine with 12-14% alcohol and a residual sugar between 80 and 120 gram.
Theoretically, it is perfectly possible to make both an Amarone and a Recioto from the same source material. Grapes with 30 brix can make a dry wine with 17% or a sweet wine with 12% and 100gr sugar, but greater concentration, which some may desire for their Recioto, would be pushing the limits for a smooth fermentation of an Amarone. If you ever see a producer whose Recioto has 12% and Amarone 17%, chances are they could be from the same grapes.
But thanks to the relative flexibility with which the drying process endows a careful winemaker, the desired alcohol and sugar content can be obtained for each individual wine.
In the Valpolicella, as in any other wine region, it is the attention by the producer that is rewarded.
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