Grape variety
Corvina
Corvina, the backbone of Valpolicella, Amarone and Bardolino near Verona: where it comes from, its blending partners, style and food pairings.
- Colour
- Red
- Origin
- Veneto, around Verona; a parent of Rondinella (DNA analysis)
- Main regions
- Valpolicella and Bardolino in the Veneto, where almost all of the vineyard area lies
- Typical aromas
- Sour cherry, black plum, bitter almond; high acidity, little tannin
- Classic pairing
- Pasta in meat sauce, risotto, braises; Amarone with game and hard cheese
- Blending partners
- Corvinone and Rondinella, formerly also Molinara
Corvina is the grape behind the red wines around Verona. It is the backbone of Valpolicella, Amarone and Bardolino, and almost all of its vineyard area lies in the Veneto, between the Lessini mountains and Lake Garda. It is seldom bottled on its own; its strength shows in the blend. Under the Valpolicella rules, Corvina and the similar Corvinone together must make up 45 to 95 per cent of the wine, Rondinella adds 5 to 30 per cent, and the rest may come from other authorised red grapes.
Corvina ripens late and has small berries with thick skins. That makes it resistant to rot and well suited to drying, which Amarone requires. It is traditionally trained on a pergola, which allows long fruiting canes; where yields are not held back, the wine turns thin. In the glass Corvina is light to medium ruby, with plenty of acidity, little tannin and notes of sour cherry and a faintly bitter almond note on the finish. That is exactly why it needs partners. Rondinella is a cross of Corvina and an unknown variety: productive, hardy and rather neutral in flavour. Corvinone was long taken for a clone of Corvina; DNA analysis has since shown it to be a variety in its own right, with larger berries, later ripening, denser colour and a little more tannin.
The same grapes make very different wines. Bardolino, from the eastern shore of Lake Garda, is the lightest: a pale, cherry-scented red to drink young and slightly cool, with the rosé Chiaretto as its counterpart. Plain Valpolicella is a little fuller and belongs on the everyday table. For Ripasso it is fermented a second time on the pomace of Amarone or Recioto, which gives it body and spice. For Amarone the grapes dry for several months on racks and in drying lofts before they are fermented. The result is a powerful, fully fermented wine with at least 14 per cent alcohol and at least two years of ageing, with notes of dried cherry, chocolate and spice. Its name means roughly “the great bitter”, as opposed to the sweet Recioto, which is made from the same dried grapes.
Bardolino and Valpolicella go with pasta in meat sauce, pizza, risotto, cold cuts and grilled food, and in summer they take a little chilling. Amarone belongs with braised meat, game, risotto made with Amarone and aged hard cheese; open it early, serve it at 16 to 18 degrees and drink it with the meal rather than as an aperitif. Corvina rarely appears alone on a label; anyone who knows the names Valpolicella, Amarone and Bardolino has long had it in the glass.