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Valpolicella is a viticultural zone of the province of Verona, Italy, east of Lake Garda. The hilly agricultural and marble-quarrying region of small holdings north of the Adige is famous for wine production. Valpolicella ranks just after Chianti in total Italian ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata'' (DOC) wine production.〔J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pp. 19, 726 Oxford University Press 2006 ISBN 0-19-860990-6〕 The red wine known as Valpolicella is typically made from three grape varieties: Corvina Veronese, Rondinella, and Molinara.〔Wine Intro ''"(Valpolicella ) Accessed: December 28th, 2009〕 A variety of wine styles is produced in the area, including a ''recioto'' dessert wine and Amarone, a strong wine made from dried grapes. Most basic Valpolicellas are light, fragrant table wines produced in a ''nouveau'' style, similar to Beaujolais nouveau and released only a few weeks after harvest. Valpolicella Classico is made from grapes grown in the original Valpolicella production zone. Valpolicella Superiore is aged at least one year and has an alcohol content of at least 12 percent. Valpolicella Ripasso is a form of Valpolicella Superiore made with partially dried grape skins that have been left over from fermentation of Amarone or ''recioto''.〔 Winemaking in the region has existed since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. The name "Valpolicella" appeared in charters of the mid-12th century, combining two valleys previously thought of independently. Its etymology is unknown; it might derive from a Latin and Greek mixture for "Valley of Cellars." Today Valpolicella's economy is heavily based on wine production. The region, colloquially called the "pearl of Verona", has also been a preferred location for rural vacation villas. Seven ''comuni'' compose Valpolicella: Pescantina, San Pietro in Cariano, Negrar, Marano di Valpolicella, Fumane, Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella and Sant’Anna d’Alfaedo.〔A. Domine (ed) ''Wine'', pp. 390–391 Ullmann Publishing 2008 ISBN 978-3-8331-4611-4〕 The Valpolicella production zone was enlarged to include regions of the surrounding plains when Valpolicella achieved DOC status in 1968. In December 2009, the production of Amarone and ''recioto'' dessert wines within the Valpolicella DOC received their own separate ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita'' (DOCG) status.〔D. Furer ''"(Amarone promoted to DOCG )"'' Decanter Magazine, December 4th, 2009〕〔VinoWire News ''"(Amarone and Recioto DOCG approved by Italian government )"'' December 1st, 2009〕 ==History== Viticulture has been used in the Veneto region since at least the time of the ancient Greeks, though the exact period of cultivation for the Valpolicella area is not precisely known. The tradition of using partially dried-grapes (seen today in the modern Valpolicella wines of Amarone) was known as the "Greco" or "Greek style" of winemaking, with its origins likely dating back to this period.〔H. Johnson ''Vintage: The Story of Wine'', p. 422 Simon and Schuster 1989 ISBN 0-671-68702-6〕 In the 6th century AD, the Roman writer Cassiodorus notes that the sweet wines of the area were favorites in the courts of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy.〔 Since the 8th century AD, the Republic of Venice was long a vital trading port in the Mediterranean, linking the Byzantine Empire with the rest of Europe. Merchants records shows that one of the items regularly traded through Venice was local wines produced in Verona province in the hills west of Venice.〔K. MacNeil ''The Wine Bible'', pp. 360–365 Workman Publishing 2001 ISBN 1-56305-434-5〕 During the 15th and 16th century, struggles with the Ottoman Turks led to frequent blockades of the Venetian ports, limiting the amount of available export wines from the Greek isles and abroad. This further stimulated the development of domestic vineyards for the Venetians, who pushed even further into the hills of the Verona and the Valpolicella region.〔 While the exact etymology is unknown, it is possible that the name is derived from several Greek and Latin phrases that meant ''"the valley of many cellars"''.〔 The 19th century brought a series of calamities to most wine producing regions of Italy-including the phylloxera epidemic, oidium, downy mildew and the political upheaval of the ''Risorgimento''. According to the 1889 writings of the French wine historian Dr. C. B. Cerletti, one of the few Italian wine regions to emerge from this period relatively unscathed was Valpolicella.〔 In the 1950s, the "Amarone" style of winemaking was rediscovered. In 1968, the Valpolicella region received official recognition for quality wine production when it was granted its own DOC. However, with DOC recognition also came a large expansion of vineyard areas that were permitted to produce Valpolicella DOC wine, including land in the fertile plains of the Po River, which tend to produce excessively large yields of grapes with varying qualities. Additionally the grape composition for Valpolicella wines were expanded to include varieties of lower potential quality such as Molinara and Rondinella. This led to a general drop in quality, which had a detrimental impact on not only the area's reputation on the international wine market but also on sales and prices. As winemaking became less profitable, the vineyards in the most labor-intensive areas (such as the hillsides in the classico zone) were uprooted and abandoned. This shifted the source of grape production even further away from the better quality producing hillside regions down to the fertile plains.〔 In the 1980s and 1990s, the Amarone wines of Valpolicella experienced a spike in popularity on the world's wine market. Production of Amarone jumped from 522,320 US gallons (19,772 hectoliters) in 1972 to 1.2 million gallons (46,500 hl) by 1990. By 2000 Amarone production grew to over 3.9 million (148,000 hl). By this point, the price for grapes destined for Amarone production was nearly three times higher than what a comparable quantity of grapes would fetch for basic Valpolicella production. This sparked renewed interest in planting vineyards in the high altitude hillside locations that produced lower yields of grapes better suited for Amarone production. In the 21st century, the reputation of Valpolicella wines continued to expand on the world's wine market, as ambitious winemakers began to invest more in advanced viticultural and winemaking techniques that produce higher quality wines. In 2003, the DOC regulations were adjusted to eliminate mandatory blending requirements for sub-quality grapes such as Molinara.〔 At the end of 2009, the production of both Amarone and ''recioto'' dessert wines in the Valpolicella zone received Italy's highest quality wine designation as a DOCG zones.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Valpolicella」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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