The meaning of the name "Valpolicella" is not sure and it has been object of discussion for several centuries. One of the hypothesis is that it comes from the latin word Vallis-poli-cellae, that litterally translated means "valley with a lot of wine cellars" ("valli dalle molte cantine").
In fact, the Valpolicella area was renowned for thewine procuction just from the Roman period. The Valpolicella area is also known throughout the world for the extraction of the precious red marble of Verona.
Valpolicella is in fact a byword of wine of excellence: here there is the most important production of Valpolicella wine, precious DOC italian wine. This kind of wine is obtained by the grapes of three different vines of this region: the "Corvina veronese" vine, the "Molinara" vine and the "Rondinella" vine". The production of wine is attested just from the Roman age, but during the Middle Ages the activity was highly increased.
The wine growers' cooperative were born and increased during the XIX century. The 1888 is the year of birth of Recioto wine (at that time, called "Recchiotto"), wine produced with the same grapes and the the same zones of Valpolicella wine, but with a different processing, that includes a light flas-off time.
It's just starting from the Recioto wine that it comes the production of one of the most famous wines in the world: the Amarone wine. The name comes from the word "amaro" (eng., "bitter"), used to distinguish it from the sweetness of Recioto wine.
