"Amarone makes you think of something bitter, right?" Everyone asks me. The answer is no. In fact, the name comes from a mistake, and it is one of the stories I love to tell the most.

The forgotten barrel

We are in 1936, in Valpolicella, near Verona. In a cooperative winery in Negrar, a cellarman, Adelino Lucchese, tastes a forgotten barrel of Recioto. Recioto is the sweet wine of the area, but that barrel was dry: all the sugars had turned into alcohol. According to legend, he exclaims: "This is not an amaro, it is an Amarone!". Bitter because it is not sweet, and that "one" which means great. First myth to bust: many believe it is sweet due to its ripe fruit, but it is actually dry. The DOC arrived in 1968, the DOCG with the 2010 harvest.

The father: Recioto

In these parts, grapes have always been dried to have sweetness even in winter. Pliny the Elder already speaks of wine made from dried grapes, and Cassiodorus, minister to King Theodoric, called it "cold blood of the grapes". The name Recioto comes from the dialect: "recie", the ears, meaning the lateral wings of the cluster. Initially, the dry version happened almost by accident, then tastes changed and the son surpassed the father. Today, Recioto is a Slow Food Presidium, to be protected.

Why it is powerful and why it costs so much

The secret is the drying process. Corvina and Corvinone, with a bit of Rondinella, are harvested at the end of September and rest for months in the fruttai, airy rooms where the clusters dry on racks and crates. They lose most of their weight, and sugars and aromas concentrate. The wine cannot be made before December 1st, and from one hundred kilos of grapes you get a maximum of forty liters of wine. This is why it costs so much. Then at least two years of aging, four for the Riserva. It is not a wine made in a hurry, and you can taste it.

In the glass

Intense garnet red, which turns towards brick color with age. On the nose, cherry in spirits and black fruit jam, then tobacco, leather, coffee. In the mouth, warm, enveloping, soft tannins and a very long finish. Serve it around 18 degrees, in a large glass, opened a little in advance. And the second myth: it is not just for braised meat. With an aged cheese, or on its own as a meditation wine, it gives its best.

Come and taste it. An Amarone by the glass, without opening the whole bottle, is a small autumn treat. Coravin Wine Bar, Via Carlo Maderno 23, Lugano. Cheers!