Winemaking
Appassimento (drying grapes)
Drying grapes after picking to concentrate them — producing both Amarone and sweet passito.
Overview
Grapes are laid on racks, mats or in ventilated lofts for weeks or months after harvest. Water evaporates and everything else concentrates.
Ferment the concentrated must to dryness and you get Amarone at 15–16%. Stop it early and you get sweet Recioto or passito.
It is among the oldest concentration techniques, predating any understanding of botrytis or freezing.
Sources
Sources consulted
- Italian DOP and IGP wine register — Ministero dell’agricoltura, della sovranità alimentare e delle foreste (MASAF)
More in winemaking
Winemaking
Fermentation
Yeast converting sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide — the step that makes wine wine.
Winemaking
How red wine is made
Fermenting grape juice in contact with the skins, which is where colour and tannin come from.
Winemaking
How white wine is made
Pressing the juice off the skins before fermentation, then fermenting the clear juice.