Corvina

Corvina is the main grape of Valpolicella and Bardolino, in the Veneto near Lake Garda. On its own it makes a pale, high-acid, light-bodied red with sour cherry, a bitter almond finish and modest tannin. It is blended with rondinella and molinara, and now often with corvinone, a separate variety long assumed to be a clone of corvina.

What makes the region distinctive is what it does to the grapes rather than the grapes themselves. In the appassimento method, bunches are laid on racks or trays in drying lofts for three to four months, losing a third or more of their water. Fermented dry, the concentrated must becomes Amarone, at 15 to 16 percent alcohol, dense and bitter-edged; stopped early, it becomes the sweet Recioto. Corvina suits this because its thick skin and loose bunch resist rot during the long drying.

Ripasso is the third product: an ordinary Valpolicella refermented on the pressed skins left over from Amarone, which gives it extra body and alcohol. So one grape in one place produces a light red, a fortified-strength dry red, a sweet red and a hybrid of the first two, all from the same fruit.