Vinous

DOCG · Appellation profile

Amarone della Valpolicella

64,316 haProduction zone
6Wines in the rules
19.3 °CGrowing season · hot
IVWinkler region

What is made here

Wine colours

The only colour the rules allow.

100% Red

Where it is

Amarone della Valpolicella in Italy

Latitude
45.3°–45.7° N
Vineyard altitude
54 m to 466 m
Production zone
64,316 ha

Lies within
Garda, Vigneti della Serenissima, delle Venezie

Covers the same area as
Recioto della Valpolicella, Valpolicella, Valpolicella Ripasso

Worked out from the boundaries (smallest container first). They follow whole communes, so a neighbour sharing a commune can show up here too.

Boundary drawn from whole communes, so it is a little larger than the legal zone. Boundary: Eurac Research PDO inventory (CC0). Country outlines: Natural Earth. Dots on the zone map are the vineyard points used for climate.

01 · What the law says

The rules

Limits on grapes, yields, ripeness and ageing that every wine labelled Amarone della Valpolicella must meet.

6 wines in the rules.
WineMain grape(s)Max yield
t/ha		Max wine
hl/ha		Wine from grapes
max. %		Grape ripeness
min. % pot. alc.		Actual alc.
min. %		Acidity
min. g/l		Dry extract
min. g/l		Sugar
max. g/l		Ageing
min. months
Amarone della Valpolicella Corvina Veronese / Corvinone, Rondinella1231401114528924
Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Corvina Veronese / Corvinone, Rondinella1231401114528924
Amarone della Valpolicella Valpantena Corvina Veronese / Corvinone, Rondinella1231401114528924
Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva Corvina Veronese / Corvinone, Rondinella1231401114532948
Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva Corvina Veronese / Corvinone, Rondinella1231401114532948
Amarone della Valpolicella Valpantena Riserva Corvina Veronese / Corvinone, Rondinella1231401114532948

From the official production rules (disciplinare di produzione). Hover a figure to see the clause it comes from. A dash means the rules set no figure, or it is not captured yet.

Blend rules

Amarone della Valpolicella

  • 45–95% Corvina Veronese / Corvinone · Main grape
  • 5–30% Rondinella · Main grape
  • ≤ 25% altri vitigni (totale) · Allowed
  • ≤ 15% altri vitigni a bacca rossa non aromatici ammessi in provincia di Verona · Others allowed
  • ≤ 10% vitigni autoctoni italiani a bacca rossa ammessi in provincia di Verona · Allowed

At least 24 months' ageing.

Blend rules

Amarone della Valpolicella Classico

  • 45–95% Corvina Veronese / Corvinone · Main grape
  • 5–30% Rondinella · Main grape
  • ≤ 25% altri vitigni (totale) · Allowed
  • ≤ 15% altri vitigni a bacca rossa non aromatici ammessi in provincia di Verona · Others allowed
  • ≤ 10% vitigni autoctoni italiani a bacca rossa ammessi in provincia di Verona · Allowed

At least 24 months' ageing.

Blend rules

Amarone della Valpolicella Valpantena

  • 45–95% Corvina Veronese / Corvinone · Main grape
  • 5–30% Rondinella · Main grape
  • ≤ 25% altri vitigni (totale) · Allowed
  • ≤ 15% altri vitigni a bacca rossa non aromatici ammessi in provincia di Verona · Others allowed
  • ≤ 10% vitigni autoctoni italiani a bacca rossa ammessi in provincia di Verona · Allowed

At least 24 months' ageing.

Blend rules

Amarone della Valpolicella Riserva

  • 45–95% Corvina Veronese / Corvinone · Main grape
  • 5–30% Rondinella · Main grape
  • ≤ 25% altri vitigni (totale) · Allowed
  • ≤ 15% altri vitigni a bacca rossa non aromatici ammessi in provincia di Verona · Others allowed
  • ≤ 10% vitigni autoctoni italiani a bacca rossa ammessi in provincia di Verona · Allowed

At least 48 months' ageing.

Blend rules

Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Riserva

  • 45–95% Corvina Veronese / Corvinone · Main grape
  • 5–30% Rondinella · Main grape
  • ≤ 25% altri vitigni (totale) · Allowed
  • ≤ 15% altri vitigni a bacca rossa non aromatici ammessi in provincia di Verona · Others allowed
  • ≤ 10% vitigni autoctoni italiani a bacca rossa ammessi in provincia di Verona · Allowed

At least 48 months' ageing.

Blend rules

Amarone della Valpolicella Valpantena Riserva

  • 45–95% Corvina Veronese / Corvinone · Main grape
  • 5–30% Rondinella · Main grape
  • ≤ 25% altri vitigni (totale) · Allowed
  • ≤ 15% altri vitigni a bacca rossa non aromatici ammessi in provincia di Verona · Others allowed
  • ≤ 10% vitigni autoctoni italiani a bacca rossa ammessi in provincia di Verona · Allowed

At least 48 months' ageing.

Other varieties allowed

Besides the main grapes, the rules allow these varieties in some wines. Grape names link where a profile exists.

46 varieties · 6 wines

Ancellotta, Barbera, Cabernet Carbon, Cabernet Cortis, Cabernet Eidos, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Volos, Carmenere, Casetta, Corbina, Croatina, Dindarella, Forsellina, Gamay, Gosen, Iasma Eco 1, Iasma Eco 2, Julius, Lagrein, Lambrusco a Foglia Frastagliata, Marselan, Marzemina Grossa, Marzemino, Merlot, Merlot Kanthus, Merlot Khorus, Molinara, Negrara, Oseleta, Petit Verdot, Pinot Noir, Prior, Raboso Veronese, Rebo, Regent, Rossignola, Sangiovese, Schiava Gentile, Schiava Grigia, Schiava Grossa, Sennen, Spigamonti, Syrah, Teroldego, Turchetta

In the vineyard and cellar: rules for every wine

3,300
Vines per hectare, minimum
Training
Systems allowed
spalliera; pergola veronese inclinata mono o bilaterale
No forcing
Forcing the vines is prohibited
Emergency only
Irrigation
Cellar
Where the wine must be made
Within the production zone

02 · Climate fingerprint

The climate

The growing season averages 19.3 °C, hot on Gregory Jones's scale, with 1,984 growing degree days (Winkler IV).

The average year  1991–2020, vineyards at about 89 m

Monthly mean, °CRain, mmGrowing season
3.8° 55 Jan 5.2° 61 Feb 9.1° 70 Mar 13.0° 99 Apr 17.6° 110 May 21.7° 96 Jun 24.2° 82 Jul 24.2° 91 Aug 19.5° 105 Sep 14.5° 113 Oct 9.2° 121 Nov 4.8° 76 Dec
Growing-season temperature
19.3 °C
Hot · 19–21 °C (Jones)
Growing degree days
1,984
Region IV: 1,944–2,221 degree days
Growing-season rain
696 mm
Of 1,079 mm a year
Harvest rain
218 mm
September–October

Copernicus ERA5-Land monthly averages at 5 vineyard points (Vineyard point 1, 123 m; Vineyard point 2, 37 m; Vineyard point 3, 130 m; Vineyard point 4, 116 m; Vineyard point 5, 41 m), moved to each point's height from the model's terrain. Indices that need daily data are not captured yet. How the climate figures are made.

Lower confidence:Monthly reanalysis in complex terrain (height corrections up to 4.9 °C); absolute values may be several degrees out, year-to-year changes are more reliable.

Closest climates in the database

Picked by the data, not by hand: the profiles nearest on season warmth (counted twice), degree days, rain, ripening-month nights and day–night range. Neighbours within 30 km are left out, as they share the same weather.

1. Colli EuganeiVery similarCompared with Amarone della Valpolicella: same season warmth, drier (−79 mm).
2. MerlaraVery similarCompared with Amarone della Valpolicella: same season warmth, drier (−76 mm).
3. Primorska HrvatskaVery similarCompared with Amarone della Valpolicella: same season warmth, drier (−78 mm).

Growing-season temperature

Amarone della Valpolicella
19.3 °C
Colli Euganei
19.2 °C
Merlara
19.4 °C
Primorska Hrvatska
19.4 °C

Growing degree days

Amarone della Valpolicella
1,984
Colli Euganei
1,979
Merlara
2,021
Primorska Hrvatska
2,021

Growing-season rain

Amarone della Valpolicella
696 mm
Colli Euganei
617 mm
Merlara
620 mm
Primorska Hrvatska
618 mm

03 · Year by year

35 vintages

Each column is one growing season: heat above or below the 1991–2020 average, and rain at harvest. Pick a year for the details.

Warmer than averageCooler than averageHarvest rain (Sep–Oct)Average harvest rain, 218 mm
2025
Growing-season temp.
Growing degree days
Harvest rain
Growing-season rain
September nights
Hot days and frosts

Seasons are labelled by harvest year (April–October). Year-to-year changes from ERA5-Land; tested against station records in Alto Adige (r = 0.94 for season temperature at Bolzano). Rain varies more locally, so treat single-season rain with some caution. Vintage ratings, harvest dates and frost or hail events have places in the data model but are not loaded yet.

04 · Where the numbers come from

Sources

  1. A geospatial inventory of regulatory information for wine protected designations of origin in Europe · Candiago et al., Scientific Data 9, 394 (2022); Eurac Research · CC0
  2. Quality wines in Italy and France: a dataset of PDO specifications · figshare 25393261 · CC BY 4.0
  3. ERA5-Land monthly averaged data (reanalysis-era5-land-monthly-means) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), Climate Data Store · CC BY 4.0 (Copernicus licence)
  4. OpenStreetMap vineyard areas (landuse=vineyard), from Geofabrik country extracts · OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0
  5. Copernicus DEM GLO-90 (AWS open data tiles) · European Space Agency / Copernicus · Copernicus DEM licence
  6. Disciplinare di produzione: Amarone della Valpolicella · Ministero dell'agricoltura, della sovranità alimentare e delle foreste (MASAF) · Official act
  7. Appellation nesting worked out from boundaries (pipeline/build_nesting.py) · Vinous, from the Eurac PDO boundaries · CC0 (source data)
  8. Climate profiles calculated by Vinous: method
Still to check (3)
  • Generated from EU reference data: check against the current product specification.
  • From the specification: Grapes are dried (no heat-based dehumidification) to at least 14% vol natural alcohol and may not be vinified before 1 December; at most 65% of the maximum grape yield may be set aside for drying; vines must be in at least their fourth growing season. Wine yield max 40% (no hl/ha figure). Residual sugar may exceed 9 g/l by 0.1 g/l per 0.1% vol above 14% vol up to 16%, and 0.15 g/l per 0.1% vol above 16%. Of the 25% other grapes, at most 15% may be non-aromatic red varieties (max 10% each) and the rest Italian native red varieties. Older pergola vineyards registered before 2010 are exempt from the density and training rules. Classico and Valpantena grapes must be dried and vinified in their own sub-zones.
  • National tier (DOC/DOCG) not captured yet; rules extracted from the specification text.