Recioto della Valpolicella vs Amarone: What’s the difference?

There’s a new piece by Chris Mercer written for Decanter wine magazine about the “two titans of Valpolicella”: Recioto and Amarone.

“Legend has it that Amarone was born after a Recioto fermentation was left too long.
Before fermentation, the two styles have a lot in common.
(…) Key to the process is the appassimento method. This involves drying out harvested grapes, which concentrates sugars and fruit flavours. Grapes will lose weight as water content evaporates.

(…) These days, grapes are more commonly dried in lofts in a more controlled environment; inevitably, though, some have rejected the introduction of new technology in the process.

Grapes must be dried until at least 1 December following harvest, but it often takes longer and fermentation may not begin until January or February”.

It worths reading, here.

India, a perspective view

Alok Chandra, for Business Standard,  an Indian online business magazine, reports some interesting facts on Amarone della Valpolicella:

Wine Spectator lists 773 Amarone wines, with the highest-scoring MICHELE CASTELLANI Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Cinque Stelle being rated at 96 points, with a release price of $105; the Romano del Forno Amarone 2003 is 95 points/ $425. Notable Amarone producers with wines in the 90-plus points range include Masi, Tommaso, Tedeschi, Zenato, Allegrini, and Michele Castellani - release prices vary from $50 to $175.
 (...) In India there seems to be a singular dearth of Amarone wines: the only ones I have on record are the Masi Costasera 1990 (Brindco,Rs 8,760 in Mumbai), the Montresor 2003 (Fine Wines & More, Rs 6,400), and the Guerrieri Villa Rizzardi 2006 (FW&M, Rs 10,334).

And his final words signal there's market to exploit and opportunities in India for these wines:

Wines I've been drinking: Unfortunately not an Amarone - none are available at retail in Bangalore...

Read here the complete post.