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Introduction

Anshu Grover: 

Hello, and welcome to The Wineitupanotch Podcast, a podcast where we talk about wine, life, and everything in between. My name is Anshu Grover, I'm your host, and I'm so thrilled that you've decided to join me today. Thank you for doing so.

Welcome to episode 58 of The Wineitupanotch Podcast.

What is Appassimento?

Today, we're going to talk about the term 'appassimento'.

Appassimento is a term that if you drink Italian wine, you might be familiar with or have seen on a label or perhaps in a description. But maybe if you drink Italian wine, you're still not familiar with the term. And I would hazard a guess that many people who think they know what appassimento means are still a little bit unclear about exactly what it is, or may be misrepresenting what it is.

So let's get into it.

Appassimento is an Italian term. It translates most naturally into English as withering or drying or partial dehydration. It comes from the term "appassire", meaning to wither. And in wine, it describes a process that's applied to the grapes to dry them out to make a wine from dried grapes.

It does not describe whether a wine is dry or sweet. It does not describe whether a wine is red or white. It simply describes a process.

And the resulting wine in Italian is called "passito". So appassimento is a process, not a wine or a wine style, and passito is the actual resulting wine.

The Drying Process

In the appassimento method, bunches of grapes are hung or laid on racks, mats, or some sort of a support in order to enable them to dry, generally over an extended period of time.

Traditionally in Italy, vini passiti, which are wines made from dried grapes, are generally made in designated rooms or on mats or while hanging. When a designated room is used, it's called a "fruttaio" and that's usually something like a room or a loft in which harvested grapes are kept, and then they're allowed to dehydrate either naturally or through controlled processes.

Natural drying is what used to take place traditionally, particularly in areas at higher elevation where there would be cooling breezes. So windows might be left open in order to allow those breezes in to dehydrate the grapes. But many modern versions now use fans, cooling systems, or some sort of humidity control in order to get an even drying effect across the grapes.

The technique basically consists of making sure that you're harvesting suitably ripe, completely sound grapes. So your grapes have to be in really good condition. They cannot be damaged in order to avoid the introduction of off flavors. The bunches are selected, they're really picked through to make sure that the best grapes are selected and used.

Then they're arranged to permit airflow. Over a period of time, the grapes are allowed to lose water, either naturally, as I mentioned, or under partially controlled conditions. However, it's important to note that they're not only losing water. During that time, they are becoming smaller in size and lower in weight. The sugars, acids, and flavor development is also becoming more concentrated.

So as that water evaporates, these other aspects of the [00:03:00] grape become more concentrated, and some chemical reactions also can occur to introduce some new flavors. Then the grapes are sorted again, de-stemmed, crushed, and pressed, and then fermented into must and eventually turned into wine

In terms of how much water is lost, it's approximately 20- 30% for many dry wines and can go as high as 40 to 50%, particularly for intensely sweet wine styles. The actual target ends up depending on grape variety, berry size, bunch compactness, drying rate, final wine style, and in some cases appellation rules.

Valpolicella & Key Wines

One of the areas in Italy that is most famously globally known and associated with the appassimento style is Valpolicella, the All wines in Valpolicella are not made using appassimento, but Amarone and Recioto wines are in fact made using the appassimento method.

Now, these two wines are not synonyms for one another. They're quite different. Amarone della Valpolicella is a dry, high alcohol wine that's made using the appassimento method, while Recioto della Valpolicella is actually its sweet counterpart. And in Recioto wines, fermentation is actually stopped, generally speaking, when there's a sufficient amount of sugar, or sometimes the grapes are so concentrated that fermentation stops naturally. But the point here is Recioto is a sweet wine, while Amarone is a dry wine.

Within Valpolicella, there is also a wine style that is known as Valpolicella Ripasso. However, Ripasso's quite a different technique. It's produced by re-fermenting Valpolicella wine on the pomace or on the remains from Amarone or Recioto.

So it's incorporating some of the flavors, but it is not, strictly speaking, a wine that has been made using the appassimento method. The appassimento method has already occurred before this secondary process takes place from which a Ripasso is made.

 So the important thing to remember here is appassimento is a technique or a process. It is not a flavor profile, and it is not necessarily a method of sweet wine production.

Equivalent Wines Around the World

The appassimento method has some equivalent processes in other parts of the world.

Vin de paille or straw wine in France uses a similar process. Vin Santo in Santorini deploys a similar process. Commandaria in Cyprus and Pedro Ximénez in Spain, and Strohwein in Austria all deploy the process of dehydration or drying of grapes before processing them to make wine.

 Generally speaking, grapes are dried for approximately 100 days in order to get the desired result, particularly in the case of Valpolicella. However, it can go from 100 days all the way up to 130 days. The actual amount of drying is really dependent on the style that the producer is looking for.

I was speaking to a producer recently, and they described the Appassimento style as a very traditional historic style, something that's been around since Roman times because Romans really enjoyed drinking sweet wine.

Appassimento Tasting Notes

So what do you get when you're trying a wine that's been made 

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using the appassimento style?

Often the fruit flavors will feel more dried and taste more dried. You may get the feeling of marmalade or a little bit of honey. Often there's a balsamic or floral note. There can be chocolate, coffee, and toasted notes, and notes of spices and peppers. Cinnamon is often a common descriptor as well.

Now let's talk a little bit about where appassimento occurs. We've already talked about Valpolicella, where we get Amarone della Valpolicella and Recioto della Valpolicella. There's also Recioto di Soave.

And interestingly, in Ontario, VQA has a specific term around appassimento as well. It's an optional technique that can be used, but the label terminology itself is regulated and requires at least 85% dried grapes using the appassimento method.

Production Challenges & Producers to Know

Two other things that I think are important to mention: 

Firstly, managing mold and rot is extremely important. So one, when the grapes are being grown and harvested, making sure that they're fully ripe, intact, and in great health is critical, and sorting is used to achieve the selection process of removing some of the grapes that may not be in perfect condition.

But also, when the grapes are being dried, it's important for producers to be watching for any mold or rot development, because that would absolutely ruin the wine style ultimately.

And then because the grapes are so concentrated and so much water has been lost, when they're pressed, the yields are extremely low.

These are grapes that do not deliver a lot of wine for the amount of grape that's used compared to wines that are made not using the appassimento method. The fermentation conditions can also be quite challenging and is an area that producers need to watch carefully.

Some producers to look out for when it comes to Amarone and Recioto della Valpolicella include Bertani, Giuseppe Quintarelli, Masi, Speri, and Tedeschi. There are others, but these are some of the largest names in the area that are making these wines and can be found globally.

If you'd like to learn more about the appassimento method and its practical application, 

Be sure to check out episode 40 where we talk to Masi Agricola, one of the leading producers in the Veneto region. 

Closing

So remember, wines made using the appassimento method are concentrated, beautiful, rich. They are wines of distinction. And now you know they aren't necessarily sweet wines.

So the next time you have a wine where you see the term appassimento on the label, hopefully you'll understand the process that went into making it just a little bit better.

And with that, thank you for tuning in today, and I will catch you on the next episode of the podcast. 

Take care, and until next time, wishing you lots of peace, love, light, and of course, great wine.

Cheers!