Red Grape · Veneto
The grape on the back label of every Valpolicella: Corvina's child, never the star, but in nearly every Ripasso, Amarone and Bardolino you have drunk.
Rondinella is the quiet partner in almost every Valpolicella, Ripasso, Amarone and Bardolino. A child of Corvina, it grows on about 2,500 hectares around Verona and almost nowhere else. It rarely gets a bottle of its own. It brings colour, freshness and steady crops, and its thick skins dry well for Amarone and Recioto.
Your cellar, your trips, and the wines you've been tracking are right where you left them.
New here?
Free, always. Education first, we'll never sell you anything you didn't ask to see.
Already have an account?
Enter the email you signed up with and we'll send a link to choose a new password.
Before you buy
The anchor fact: Rondinella is never sold alone. Valpolicella and Amarone must be 45 to 95% Corvina with 5 to 30% Rondinella, so the label word that matters is the style: Valpolicella, Ripasso, Amarone, Recioto or Bardolino.
Taste · Where it sits
Forget scores out of five. Here’s Rondinella described against grapes you already know.
Lighter than Corvina, its parent; in Valpolicella it is the top-up, in Amarone it only gains weight once the grapes have dried.
Softer than Corvinone, which brings the grip to Amarone; Rondinella's thick skins give colour rather than tannin.
Holds its acidity better than Corvina in a hot Verona summer, which is one reason the rules keep 5 to 30% of it in every Valpolicella.
Red cherry when fresh; dried for Amarone it turns to raisin and fig, and in Recioto it carries the sugar.
Key flavours
The map
Rondinella is light to medium, soft tannin, mapped against other red grapes you can buy. The closer a grape sits, the more its weight and grip resemble Rondinella.
Is this for you?
Reach for it when…
Maybe skip it if…
Serving guide
Serve at
15-17°C
Valpolicella at 14 to 16C, cooler still for Chiaretto; only Amarone wants 18C.
Decant
30 minutes
Basic Valpolicella needs none; give an Amarone an hour, and pour an old one off its sediment.
Glass
Large Balloon Glass
A standard red glass for Valpolicella and Ripasso; the biggest bowl you own for Amarone.
Drink within
3-5 days
Valpolicella and Chiaretto within three years; Ripasso within five.
Cellar
2-10 years
Amarone and Recioto keep ten to twenty years, and the Rondinella in them helps hold the colour.
On the table
Start with the home-table matches that made the grape, then browse the full cuisine library.
With a Valpolicella Classico
Bitter radicchio and creamy rice want a light red with fresh acidity and no heavy tannin; the cherry fruit of a young Valpolicella softens the bitterness.
With a Ripasso
Duck fat and crisp skin need a wine with more flesh than basic Valpolicella; Ripasso's raisin edge and extra body from the Amarone skins match the richness.
With an Amarone
Slow-cooked game is the classic Amarone plate in Verona; the wine's dried-fruit sweetness and 15% alcohol sit inside a dark, savoury stew without overpowering it.
With a Recioto
Salt and blue mould against sweet raisin and fig is the oldest pairing in the Valpolicella hills; the sweetness tames the cheese and the cheese cuts the sugar.
Buy it · three to start with
A curated trio across the price range, then every Rondinella on sale in the UK right now.
Entry · everyday
6 retailers
Valpolicella
6 retailers
£10.95
Why this one: The Valpolicella Hemingway called light, fresh, red and friendly. Nine UK shops stock it at about £11; drink it a little cool.
The sweet spot
4 retailers
Valpolicella Ripasso
4 retailers
£13.96
Why this one: Zenato's Ripassa is the Ripasso most people meet first: plump cherry, dried fig and spice from the second run over Amarone skins, around £14.
Special occasion
6 retailers
Amarone della Valpolicella
6 retailers
£35.00
Why this one: Bertani's Valpantena Amarone is 80% Corvina and 20% Rondinella, the biggest share of the grape you will find in a serious bottle. About £40.
12 of 224 bottles
8 retailers
Amarone della Valpolicella
8 retailers
£93.00
6 retailers
Valpolicella
6 retailers
£10.95
6 retailers
Verona/Veronese
6 retailers
£18.50
6 retailers
Amarone della Valpolicella
6 retailers
£27.61
6 retailers
Amarone della Valpolicella
6 retailers
£35.00
5 retailers
Valpolicella Ripasso
5 retailers
£26.00
£29.00
5 retailers
Amarone della Valpolicella
5 retailers
£60.00
5 retailers
Veneto
5 retailers
£74.13
5 retailers
Valpolicella
5 retailers
£84.13
4 retailers
Valpolicella Ripasso
4 retailers
£13.96
4 retailers
Valpolicella Ripasso
4 retailers
£21.00
4 retailers
Amarone della Valpolicella
4 retailers
£28.71
Denominations
The appellations where Rondinella plays a starring role.
Where it grows
Italy's largest wine region by volume, where Prosecco hills, Valpolicella ridges, and Soave's volcanic plain shape three different Italian classics.
The terroir
Rondinella grows in the hills between Verona and Lake Garda and nowhere else that matters. The difference is which wine the hills are known for.
Valpolicella Classico
Fumane, Marano, Negrar, San Pietro in Cariano, Sant'Ambrogio
The historic valleys west of Verona: Corvina leads, Rondinella fills in at 5 to 30%, and the best grapes go to the drying lofts for Amarone.
Valpantena and the eastern valleys
Bertani's valley north-east of Verona
Ripasso country, and a lighter style of Amarone: Bertani's Valpantena bottling is 20% Rondinella.
Bardolino
The morainic hills on the east shore of Lake Garda
Light red Bardolino and pink Chiaretto, with a bigger share of Rondinella, drunk young and cool.
Editorial
Turn over a bottle of Valpolicella and the back label usually lists three grapes: Corvina, Rondinella, Molinara. Corvina is the star. Molinara has mostly been dropped. Rondinella is the one that stayed, because growers can rely on it: big, steady crops, thick skins, and a vine that shrugs off rot in a wet year. DNA tests show Corvina is one of its parents.
Rondinella rarely gets a bottle of its own. It is in almost every Valpolicella, Ripasso, Amarone and Bardolino you have ever drunk.
Quattrocalici, the Italian grape atlasIt has been on Italy's grape register since 1970, and its official description dates from 1960. Around 2,500 hectares are planted, nearly all in the province of Verona in the Veneto. On its own the wine is ruby red, fresh and fairly plain, which is why almost nobody bottles it alone. In a blend it does three jobs: colour, acidity and consistency.
The rules keep it in its place. Valpolicella DOC must be 45 to 95% Corvina, with 5 to 30% Rondinella, and Amarone follows the same rule. Bardolino, on the Lake Garda side, and its pink Chiaretto rosé lean on it more. Every one of these wines is a blend. So when you buy a Rondinella you are really choosing a style: light Valpolicella, fuller Ripasso, dried-grape Amarone, or sweet Recioto. Our Valpolicella guide walks through all of them.
Its thick skin is what earns it a place in Amarone. After the harvest the grapes are laid out to dry for months, the appassimento, and Rondinella loses water without rotting or losing colour. Bertani's Valpantena Amarone is 20% Rondinella. These hills have grown vines for a very long time: in 2020 the mosaic floor of a Roman villa was found under a vineyard in Negrar.
Good to know
Rondinella is a red grape from the hills around Verona, used in the blend for Valpolicella, Ripasso, Amarone, Recioto and Bardolino. It is a child of Corvina and almost never bottled on its own.
On its own, fresh red cherry and raspberry with soft tannin and fairly plain aromas. Dried for Amarone or Recioto it turns to raisin and fig. Its real job in the blend is colour, freshness and a steady crop.
Yes. Amarone della Valpolicella must be 45 to 95% Corvina with 5 to 30% Rondinella. Its thick skins dry well over the winter without rotting, which is why growers keep it. Bertani's Valpantena Amarone is 20% Rondinella.
Because alone it makes a pleasant but plain wine. Corvina brings the cherry and bitter-almond character, Corvinone the grip, and Rondinella the colour, acidity and reliability. Together they make Valpolicella; apart, only Corvina stands up.
Same grapes, three methods. Valpolicella is the fresh young red. Ripasso is Valpolicella fermented a second time on the drained Amarone skins, for more body. Amarone is made from grapes dried for months, fermented dry to 15% or more. Recioto is the same dried grapes left sweet.
Yes. DNA tests show Corvina is one of Rondinella's parents. The other parent is not known. Both grapes are native to the Verona hills and have been grown together there for well over a century.
Explore by style
Jump to the editorial guide for each style this grape turns up in.
Keep exploring
1,439 wines
41 denominations
