Corvinone is a red wine grape variety grown grown mainly in the Valpolicella zone in the Veneto region of Italy where it is the typical blending partner of Corvina. The name Corvinone (‘big Corvina’) refers to the big bunch size. Though its name suggests a relationship with Corvina, DNA profiling has established the two are not related to each other–despite producers continuing to pretend otherwise.

Synonyms: Corvinon, deriving from ‘corvo’ which is Italian for a raven, whose black colour is similar to that of Corvinone’s grapes. Another synonym is Cruinon. 

Vineyard area: The Italian 2010 vine census noted that total plantings had grown to nearly 1,000 ha (Oxford Companion 2015, p.213).

In the vineyard: Grows well on both hillside and flat land.

Winemaking: Careful selection needed due to asynchronous maturation or uneven ripening within the bunch (see above).

Wine style: It is now highly regarded as a grape of specific use for such dried-grape wines as amarone and recioto as its loose bunches and large berries make it particularly suited to drying (Oxford Companion 2015, p.213). Red cherry aromas. Good tannin structure. Its rotundone component adds spiciness to the Valpolicella blend.

DOC Wines: Bardolino DOC. | Bardolino Superiore DOC. | Veneto Valpolicella DOC. | Valpolicella Ripasso DOC (now Valpolicella Superiore Ripasso DOC.

DOCG Wines: Amarone della Valpolicella DOCG. | Recioto della Valpolicella DOCG. 

Bibliography

Dr Ian d’Agata, Native Wine Grapes of Italy (University of California Press, 2014), p.264-265.

Oxford Companion to Wine 4th edition ed. Jancis Robinson MW and Julia Harding MW (Oxford University Press, 2015), p.213.