Tommasi Fiorato Recioto della Valpolicella Classico 37.5cl Half Bottle

Description

Tommasi Fiorato Recioto della Valpolicella is a sweet red dessert wine from the the Veneto region of Italy and is made by Tommasi Family Estates. Recioto della Valpolicella which is a style of wine known for its richness, sweetness, and complexity. It can be thought of as a sweeter version of Amarone.

Tommasi was founded in 1902 by Giacomo Tommasi and the estate is now the largest family-owned estate in Valpolicella Classica. The family now own 105 hectares of vineyards here and a further 15 hectares in Lugana. The winery and headquarters are located at Pedemonte in the centre of the Classico wine-growing region and the estate is managed by the fourth generation of the Tommasi family with 6 family members working together. The grapes for Tommasi Fiorato Recioto della Valpolicella come from the Fiorato vineyard, a single vineyard consisting of 1 hectare of vines at an altitude of 290 to 300m with a S / SW expsosure. The soils are clay and loam of volcanic origin. The vines using the traditional pergola training at a density of 3,500 vines per hectare.

For Recioto there has to be careful bunch selection and all grapes are carefully selected and hand picked. Like Amarone della Valpolicella, this wine is made from dried (passito) grapes. The selected bunches are laid out in 5 to 6kg boxes and are then naturally dried in a warehouse called the fruttaio. The ventilation is carefully controlled to keep the humidity under control and prevent the grapes becoming mouldy. The grapes are dried for 5 months (longer than for Amarone) by which time they have become quite raisined concentrating the natural flavours and sweetness in the grape. This drying technique is known as Apassimento.

After the drying process the grapes are gently pressed followed by skin maceration and fermentation which takes 30 days. Finally the wine is aged in French oak barrels for 12 months prior to bottling and is a blend of 65% Corvina Veronese, 30% Rondinella and 5% Molinara.