Drying grapes — on mats, racks or hung in lofts — concentrates their sugar, acid and flavour before fermentation, a technique called appassimento or passito. It produces both rich dry wines like Amarone and sweet wines like recioto and vin santo. The partial raisining intensifies everything, yielding dense, high-alcohol, often raisin-and-fig-scented wines with great depth and aging potential.
WHY IT MATTERS FOR COLLECTORS
Dried-grape wines (Amarone, recioto, vin santo) are labour-intensive and distinctive, prized for concentration and longevity. Their richness makes them cellar-worthy and a hallmark of certain Italian regions.
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