Domìni Veneti gives Recioto a contemporary identity

Recioto della Valpolicella was presented as the region’s wine of memory and as the historic predecessor of Amarone. Production has declined substantially as consumer preference shifted from sweet to dry wines during the twentieth century. Initial discussions had therefore begun with Slow Food’s Verona organisation about possible protection.

Cantina Valpolicella Negrar had continued producing Recioto since 1933 and was making approximately 50,000 bottles annually across five forms: Recioto da Palio, Classico, the wood-matured Moron cru, amandorlato and sparkling Recioto. Luigi Messedaglia’s 1944 study of Arbizzano and Novare already referred to the cooperative’s technique for sparkling Recioto.

At Vinitaly 2024, Domìni Veneti presented the new SENTAte label for Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG Spumante. Its name means “sit down” or “make yourself comfortable” in Venetian dialect, connecting the wine with local hospitality. The wine is made from a fully grassed, south-east-facing vineyard on dry-stone terraces at 120–250 metres, with 20-year-old pergola-trained vines over varied alluvial debris. Grapes are selected entirely by hand in the final week of September, dried for 120 days and processed through a long Charmat method with six months on the lees.