From the atlas
Cantine di Ora
At A Glance
Producer: Cantine di Ora Region: Veneto, Italy Appellation: Valpolicella Winemaker: Fiorenzo Franceschi Grapes: Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara, Corvinone Key wines: Amicale, Amicone Rosso, Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore, Amarone della Valpolicella
The Producer
Fiorenzo Franceschi makes four red wines from the Corvina-dominant grape set that has defined Valpolicella for generations. Each wine uses a different technique to extract more from the same three or four native varieties: conventional oak ageing, partial appassimento, re-fermentation over Amarone lees, and full appassimento with two years in barrel. The range is an argument made in wine about what drying grapes can and cannot do, and where to stop.
The entry wine, Amicale, is a straightforward Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara blend at 14% alcohol, oak-touched and approachable. The Amicone Rosso pushes into different territory by drying a portion of the harvest on wooden racks before fermentation, a practice called appassimento. The Ripasso Superiore borrows concentration from Amarone production rather than drying grapes a second time. The Amarone is the full commitment: all grapes dried, two years in oak, the appellation's most intensive style.
Place
Valpolicella is a red wine appellation in the western part of the Veneto, northeast Italy, built almost entirely on three native grapes: Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara. Corvina is the backbone of every wine in the zone, contributing tart cherry fruit, firm acidity, and the capacity to survive drying without losing freshness. Rondinella adds colour and secondary fruit. Molinara lightens the blend and adds lift. Corvinone, a close relative of Corvina, appears in the Amarone blend, where it deepens body and dark fruit character.
The appellation produces wines at several levels of concentration, all shaped by how much the grapes are dried before fermentation. Standard Valpolicella is made from fresh grapes. Ripasso takes a standard Valpolicella and passes it over the marc or lees left from Amarone production. Amarone dries the entire harvest until grapes lose a significant share of their water weight, concentrating sugar, colour, and flavour before fermentation begins. Each step up the ladder produces a wine with more body, darker fruit, and higher alcohol.
Soil And Site
No vineyard location or soil data is source-verified for this producer. The wines are produced within the Valpolicella appellation zone in Veneto, where the classical area covers hills north and northwest of Verona. What is confirmed is the drying practice: Amicone Rosso uses wooden drying racks under controlled temperature and humidity, and the Amarone grapes are dried in well-ventilated environments before fermentation.
Story
No founding date or estate history is confirmed in verified sources. What the wines establish is a clear production philosophy: the same Corvina-dominant grape set handled four different ways, each method producing a distinct wine weight and character.
The choice to make Amicone Rosso as a partial appassimento wine sits between two established categories. It is not a standard Valpolicella, which uses fresh grapes and produces a lighter red. It is not a full Amarone, which requires total drying and years of oak ageing. Partial appassimento means some grapes are selected by hand, dried on racks, and then fermented alongside or instead of a fresh-picked component, raising concentration and darkening the fruit without reaching Amarone weight. Fermentation in stainless steel rather than oak preserves freshness, and ageing in tonneaux adds wood character without overwhelming the fruit. The result occupies its own position in the Valpolicella range.
Vineyards And Cellar
Amicale is fermented and aged in oak, producing a wine with developed spice, slight sweetness, and a dark fruit profile that includes raisins and orange peel alongside cherry.
Amicone Rosso follows a more involved cellar path. Grapes are hand-selected and dried on large wooden racks under controlled temperature and humidity. Controlled drying slows water loss and prevents unwanted mould, allowing the grapes to concentrate without oxidising. The partially dried grapes are then fermented in stainless steel, which keeps the wine fresh despite the concentrated fruit, and aged in tonneaux. The smaller oak format gives more wood contact per litre than a large foudre, contributing the toasted oak and dark spice character on the finish.
The Ripasso Superiore takes a different route. Standard Valpolicella wine is re-fermented over the leftover lees from Amarone production. Those lees carry residual sugar, yeast, colour, and concentration from the dried grapes that made the Amarone. When the Valpolicella passes over them, it picks up body, darker fruit, and more tannin without the full weight of appassimento.
The Amarone dries all the grapes on wooden racks in well-ventilated environments before fermentation, then ages the wine for two years in oak barrels. Two years in barrel rounds the tannins from the concentrated dried fruit and integrates the wood into the wine.
Wines
The four wines form a clear progression from lighter to heavier, each shaped by a distinct production decision.
Amicale is the entry wine: Corvina, Rondinella, and Molinara at 14% alcohol, oak-aged, with dark cherries, orange peel, raisins, vanilla, and chocolate on the palate. A slight sweetness and developed spice character run through the wine. It is the most conventionally made of the four and the most accessible.
Amicone Rosso is 50% Corvina, 30% Rondinella, and 20% Molinara. Partial appassimento on wooden racks, stainless steel fermentation, tonneaux ageing. Ripe cherries and dried plums on the nose, with baking spice and cocoa behind them. The palate is full and velvety, with dark berry compote and cherry liqueur flavours and ripe tannins. The finish brings toasted oak, soft tannins, and dark spice. Fuller and darker than Amicale, but without the weight of Amarone.
Valpolicella Ripasso Superiore uses Corvina, Molinara, and Rondinella. Re-fermented over Amarone lees to add depth and body to a base Valpolicella. Cherry, strawberry, plum, and vanilla. The texture is soft, well-rounded, and juicy: more body than a standard Valpolicella, more freshness than the Amarone.
Amarone della Valpolicella is 60% Corvina, 30% Corvinone, and 10% Rondinella. All grapes fully dried on wooden racks before fermentation. Two years in oak barrels. Black cherry, smoke, and dark spice on the nose. The most concentrated wine in the range and the longest-aged.
In The Glass
Across the range, Corvina sets the character: tart cherry fruit, medium-high acidity, firm tannins that soften with drying or ageing. Each production method modifies those qualities in a different direction.
Amicale stays closest to fresh Corvina character, with dark cherry and vanilla from the oak and raisins suggesting a small dried-fruit component. The slight sweetness keeps the wine easy-drinking.
Amicone Rosso moves into denser territory. The nose lifts with ripe cherries and dried plums, and the cocoa and baking spice arrive behind them. On the palate the body is notably fuller, the tannins riper and more velvety, and the dark berry compote and cherry liqueur flavours carry through to a finish where toasted oak and dark spice linger. Partial drying concentrates the fruit without hardening the tannins, and stainless steel fermentation keeps the wine from becoming heavy.
The Ripasso Superiore is juicier and softer than either Amicone Rosso or the Amarone. The re-fermentation over Amarone lees adds plum and dark fruit alongside the cherry and strawberry of the base wine, and the texture feels rounded and easy. It sits between the two extremes of the range: more weight than Amicale, more freshness than Amarone.
The Amarone opens with black cherry, smoke, and dark spice. Full appassimento removes enough water from the grapes that fermentation produces a wine of significant concentration and alcohol. Two years in oak round the tannins and fold in wood character. The finish is long, dark, and warm.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with Amicone Rosso. It is 50% Corvina, 30% Rondinella, and 20% Molinara, partially dried on wooden racks and fermented in stainless steel before tonneaux ageing. The partial drying is the key decision: the grapes spend time losing water on the racks, concentrating colour, sugar, and fruit flavour, but fermentation stops before the wine reaches Amarone weight or alcohol. What you get in the glass is full and velvety, with ripe cherries and dried plums on the nose, dark berry compote and cherry liqueur on the palate, and a finish of toasted oak, soft tannins, and dark spice. It shows what appassimento does more clearly than a standard Valpolicella can, and at a weight that does not require food as heavy as Amarone demands.
Anecdote
The name Amicone offers a small window into how Fiorenzo Franceschi positioned this wine. Amicone is the Italian augmentative of amico: a big friend, a generous one, someone who fills the table rather than sitting quietly at the edge of it. The word is casual and warm, the kind of word used to describe someone who brings the wine and stays late. In a range that climbs from a straightforward Corvina blend through Ripasso and up to Amarone, Amicone signals that this wine was made to be approachable without being simple. Partial appassimento gives it the body and dark fruit to stand alongside food that would overwhelm a standard Valpolicella, but the name says it was not made to intimidate. Whether Franceschi chose the name or it came from somewhere else in the house, it describes the wine accurately: concentrated, velvety, warm, and easy to open on a Tuesday.
Final Word
Cantine di Ora makes four Valpolicella reds from the same Corvina-dominant grape set, each shaped by a different degree of drying or élevage. Amicale is the lightest and most conventional. Amicone Rosso uses partial appassimento to push concentration without full Amarone weight. The Ripasso Superiore borrows depth from Amarone lees without drying the grapes again. Amarone is the full appassimento expression, two years in oak, the most intensive wine in the range. No estate history or vineyard data is confirmed, but the production pattern across the four wines is clear enough to teach a curious buyer what appassimento does and where the Valpolicella spectrum begins and ends.
Sources
- https://www.systembolaget.se/produkt/vin/7475601/
- https://theliquorbarn.com/products/cantine-di-ora-amicone-rosso
- https://arthurcantina.com/products/cantine-di-ora-valpolicella-ripasso-superiore-750ml
- https://www.mumblesfinewines.co.uk/italy/3419-cantine-di-ora-amarone-della-valpolicella-2020.html