One of the fascinations of wine is that it can be a kind of in-house genie. Instead of rubbing a magic lamp, you open up a bottle in your accumulation – “collection” seems so pretentious – and you are transported.

Just such a genie-like transport happened to me the other night. I was rooting around in my cellar and I came across a bottle I had intentionally (and successfully) secreted so I wouldn’t drink it too soon.

The wine was probably cellared longer than it needed, although to no ill effect. I’m fortunate to have a cold wine cellar, which slows the aging process. (I’m thinking of installing myself in there pretty soon.) It was a 1979 Recioto della Valpolicella Amarone “Mazzano Vyd.” from the producer Masi. With its wax topping and sepia-colored, hand-lettered label, it seemed even older and more of an artifact than it already was.

What matters, of course, is what’s in the bottle. And here the genie certainly was in residence.After knocking off the brittle wax covering the cork – the least messy technique, by the way, is to place the bottle at the bottom of a large paper bag and tap the wax with the back of a heavy chef’s knife – and pulling the cork, what emerged was what Italians reverentially call a vino da meditazione,a wine to meditate over.

Recioto della Valpolicella Amarone is as much of a mouthful as its name suggests. It’s a red wine made from semidried grapes. It’s a big wine, even by the measure of today’s Big Reds from California where formerly sunkenchested cabernets and pinot noirs weighing in at 12% or 13% alcohol are now flexing 15% alcohol or more.

Recioto della Valpolicella Amarone, for its part, was the original Big Red. It routinely shows up at anywhere from 14% to 17% alcohol. And it’s been doing so for centuries, even millennia. There’s some evidence to suggest that the wine dates as far back as ancient Rome.

What sets the wine apart is how it’s made. Here, the word recioto is the key. Most likely derived from the dialect word recie (in Italian, orrechie) or ears, it refers to the original practice of selecting the “ears” or the wings or shoulders of the cluster to dry them before making the wine.The “ears” of the cluster are always the ripest, most flavor-mature part, thanks to their greater exposure to the sun.

Centuries ago,and still today,growers would take their best clusters (either the “ears” or, more commonly today, their best whole clusters) and place them only one cluster deep in cane or plastic racks.

These racks are placed in well-ventilated structures where the grape clusters are allowed to partially dehydrate.You’ll see 8 or 10 wide racks, with ample space between each rack, stacked up in temperature- and humidity-controlled rooms supplied with a constant current of air from multiple small fans. In the old days, the clusters were simply hung in well-ventilated barns.

Three to five months after the harvest, the grapes are semidry, but not totally raisined. These semidry grapes are then lightly crushed to release the highly concentrated juice and a conventional fermentation proceeds.

Originally it was a way of concentrating the sugars in the grapes to create a wine of higher alcohol which would be more stable and not go “off.”Also, the same sugar-rich juice allowed for the creation of a sweet wine, which was much admired and preferred during centuries when sugar was a rare and expensive commodity.

This desire for a sweet wine explains why until relatively recently, if you said “Recioto della Valpolicella,” it was expected that what you got was a strong red wine of higher than usual alcohol and noticeable sweetness. Indeed, to this day, if the label says only “Recioto della Valpolicella” without any further qualification (“Amarone”), then the wine is the classico version, which means some level of sweetness.

Eventually came a qualifier: amarone,from amaro or bitter.Today we most frequently see the full phrase “Recioto della Valpolicella Amarone.” That “Amarone” tacked on at the end is relatively new. Nobody knows quite when an “Amarone” version of a recioto wine in the Valpolicella zone (about 10 miles northwest of Verona) first appeared. Probably it always existed, since the juice surely fermented to complete dryness some years.

What is known, however, is that a dry or Amarone recioto was not the preferred version until the mid-20th century. Where today the most common type of Recioto della Valpolicella is, by far, the Amarone version, prior to the 1960s it was the dolce, or sweet, version that was preferred.Both types are still made today,although you have to look hard to find a Recioto della Valpolicella dolce on these shores. Some does get imported, though.

And what do you get from this unusual winemaking? Recioto della Valpolicella dolce is the easier of the two to appreciate immediately, as well as when it’s younger.The dolce version is lush and purplish-black. It tastes like, well, the world’s most wonderful and complex cough syrup. It’s not that sweet, but it is awfully smooth and rich-tasting, with scents and tastes of black cherry, plums, cinnamon, and an uplifting note of sweetness that makes the wine glide down the gullet – so much so that it might be described as a “wine of greed.” You want more. It’s terrific with strong cheeses, roasted chestnuts (my favorite), or blue cheeses.

Recioto della Valpolicella Amarone is a more formidable creature. Amarone (a shorthand contraction used by everyone) is serious stuff. In a good vintage, it won’t fully reveal itself for several years after the vintage date. Then it will continue to become more layered and dimensional for at least another decade. All but the richest Amarones are at their best after aging six to 15 years.

A good Amarone is like no other red wine in the world. You get scents and tastes of preserved cherries, various black fruits, whiffs of licorice and tar, along with a swirl of spices. It’s a bit too liquorous to serve with a main course (although dark-meated game birds like guinea hen go nicely). But after dinner, some roasted chestnuts, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or bittersweet chocolate are all elevated by Amarone – and vice versa.

Recioto della Valpolicella is not cheap. Indeed, the Amarones of the two most sought after producers, Giuseppe Quintarelli and Romano dal Forno, each cost from $150 to $400 a bottle.They are collector’s items.

More real world – and not much lesser in quality – are the various single-vineyard bottlings from the producer Masi, which sell for $50 to $100. Look also for Allegrini, again for about $75. Less often seen, but very fine, is Luigi Righetti and Fratelli Tedeschi. Both create lovely Amarones that sell for about $60. Not least is the longtime standard-bearer, Bertani, at $75.

Happily, this classic “winter wine” is readily available. Many merchants stock several of the more commercial Amarones. But for the top bottlings, it pays to call around. Italian Wine Merchants (108 E. 16th St., off Park Avenue South near Union Square) is a leading source of superb Amarones, especially from older vintages.

As for vintages, older is better. But you don’t have to get crazy about it. The 2000 vintage or older is drinking nicely now. But for a special, meditative moment – say, just you and a significant other, along with a significant chunk of Parmigiano – an older Amarone will top off the year nicely. Now’s the moment.