Recioto di Corteforte

At harvest, the outer parts of the bunches are selected (in dialect recie, meaning “ears”, hence the name “Recioto”) from Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara and other old native grape blends permitted by the production regulations, and then left to dry naturally.

In January, about half of the dried “recie” are crushed and fermentation, often started (because of the rigours of winter) by gently warming a small part of the must, continues slowly at a temperature of about 10-15 degrees Celsius.

At the beginning of March, the remaining grapes, of very high sugar content, are crushed and the must is added to that obtained earlier and still fermenting. Racking begins when the alcohol reaches 12-13% of the total volume, and fermentation is definitively stopped shortly afterwards, with the wine still retaining over 10-12% residual sugar.