🍷 Appassimento

Appassimento is an Italian method in which grapes are partly dried for weeks or months before pressing. The bunches are laid on racks or hung in airy rooms. The berries lose water, about 30–40% of their weight, and the sugar, acids and aromas become more concentrated.

The method is mostly tied to Italian winemaking, especially the Valpolicella area. Amarone and Recioto are made from dried grapes. For Ripasso, young wine is soaked once more on the pomace left from this fruit. A similar idea stands behind straw wine, Italian passito and the Israeli shfursat.

Drying gives a richer, denser and often stronger wine, or a sweet wine. It takes a lot of space, time and fruit, because dried berries give very little juice. That is why such wines usually cost more than ordinary ones. The drying time depends on the grape, the weather and the style of the wine.