Amarone and appassimento - wines from dried grapes
Imagine a wine so dense, strong and full that it tastes like a condensed essence of fruit, dried plums and chocolate. This is Amarone, one of Italy’s most powerful wines, and its secret lies not in the vineyard but in the drying loft. Before the grapes reach the vat, they rest for months on racks, losing up to forty percent of their weight and turning almost into raisins. This method, called appassimento, concentrates the sugars, flavours and tannins, giving a wine of immense depth and strength. From the same process the sweet Recioto is also made, and the difference between them is a single decision during fermentation. Here is how appassimento works, where Amarone’s density comes from, how it differs from Recioto and why it is one of the most characterful wines in the world.
What appassimento is
Appassimento is the process of drying and shrivelling grapes in Italian winemaking, also known as raisining. Ripe grapes, instead of going straight into the vat, are laid out and left to dry for many weeks or months. During this time the fruit loses water and shrinks, turning almost into raisins. This concentrates the remaining sugars, flavours and phenolic compounds, giving a raw material of immense intensity. The method is ancient, widely used in Italy from Roman times until the early twentieth century. From appassimento come the most famous wines of the Valpolicella region: the powerful, dry Amarone and the sweet Recioto. Understanding that the key is drying the fruit before fermentation, not the vineyard itself, is the starting point for the whole topic. It is wine made in the drying loft.
How the drying works
The drying process itself is precise and demands attention. The grapes are picked ripe, usually in the first two weeks of October, carefully choosing bunches with loosely arranged fruit so that air can flow freely. They are then moved to a special room called the fruttaio, where they rest for up to four months. Traditionally they were dried on bamboo racks, today more often in plastic or wooden crates. Throughout, airflow must be maintained and mould prevented, because damp, crowded grapes easily rot. It is a delicate stage in which part of the harvest can easily be lost. Well-managed drying is the foundation of Amarone’s quality. Patience and care in the fruttaio decide whether the grapes become a great wine or wasted fruit.
Weight loss and concentration
The heart of appassimento is the dramatic loss of water by the grapes. During drying the bunches lose about thirty-five to forty percent of their weight, mainly through water evaporation. What remains is condensed: sugars, acids, flavours and phenolic compounds become much more concentrated. As the fruit loses water, the ratio of skin to pulp rises, leading to a higher concentration of phenolic compounds, especially abundant in the dark skins of Valpolicella’s native varieties. The result is a raw material that gives a wine extremely dense, strong and rich in tannin and aroma. It is the same logic as in other concentration methods, only achieved through drying. The greater the water loss, the more powerful the wine. Concentration is literally the essence of the whole appassimento method.
Amarone versus Recioto
From appassimento two different wines are made, and the difference between them is a single decision during fermentation. After drying, the grapes are crushed and undergo a slow, low-temperature fermentation. If fermentation is stopped early, residual sugar remains in the wine, more than four grams per litre, and the sweet Recioto della Valpolicella is born. If, however, fermentation is allowed to run to the end, the yeast converts almost all the sugar, giving the dry, powerful Amarone. Amarone’s fermentation can be very long, reaching thirty or even fifty days. So from the same dried fruit, either a sweet nectar or a dry heavyweight is born, depending on when the conversion of sugar into alcohol is stopped. It is an elegant demonstration of how one decision in the cellar separates two styles of wine.
Where Amarone’s density and strength come from
Amarone’s characteristic density and strength follow directly from the concentration achieved through drying. Concentrated sugars mean that, after fermentation to dryness, the wine reaches a high alcohol content, often exceeding fifteen percent. Concentrated phenolic compounds give powerful tannins, deep colour and immense intensity of flavour. Hence Amarone’s typical notes: dried plums and cherries, raisins, chocolate, spice and earthy depth. The wine is full, almost dense in the mouth, with a long, warming finish. This is not a wine for quenching thirst but for slow savouring. All this power comes from a simple, if laborious, idea: removing water from the fruit before fermentation. Amarone is proof of how strongly the concentration of the raw material translates into the character of the finished wine.
An ancient method
It is worth remembering that appassimento is not a modern invention but a method of ancient lineage. Drying grapes to obtain sweet, strong wines was widely practised in Italy from Roman times until the early twentieth century. In the past such wines were valued for their durability and richness, and the method allowed sweetness and strength to be obtained without adding anything. Over time, with the development of modern winemaking, drying grapes became rarer and more niche. Valpolicella, however, kept this tradition and raised it to the level of world-class wines. Appassimento thus combines ancient wisdom with modern craft. It is another example of how the oldest winemaking techniques can survive and give wines that cannot be obtained otherwise. Tradition is here a living ingredient of quality.
The role of native varieties
Amarone and Recioto rest on the native varieties of Valpolicella, which matters greatly. The base is varieties such as Corvina, with a dark skin rich in phenolic compounds. It is precisely these thick, coloured skins that make concentration through drying give such an intense effect. These varieties withstand long drying well and do not rot as easily as thin-skinned ones. Combining the right raw material with the appassimento method is the key to the character of these wines. If drying were applied to delicate, thin-skinned varieties, the effect would be quite different and often worse. That is why Amarone is so strongly tied to a particular place and its varieties. This shows that great wine is born from the meeting of the right raw material with the right technique, not from the method in isolation.
Other wines from dried grapes
Appassimento and concentration through drying are not only Valpolicella, because similar methods are found in many places. Sweet wines from dried grapes, generally called passito, are produced in various regions of Italy. The idea of concentrating fruit also appears in other techniques, though achieved by a different route, like ice wines from frozen grapes or wines from grapes touched by noble rot. The common denominator is removing water and thickening the sugar and flavour. Each of these methods gives a different effect, but all aim at the same thing: a concentrated, intense wine. Amarone stands out in that it is usually dry, not sweet, despite intense concentration. This makes it exceptional among wines from dried grapes. Concentrating fruit is a whole family of techniques, and appassimento is one of the most famous.
What it means in the glass
For the drinker, Amarone is above all an experience of power and depth. Expect a dark colour, an intense aroma of dried fruit, chocolate and spice, and a full, dense body with high alcohol. It is a wine for slow savouring, best with strong, meaty dishes or aged cheeses, not for drinking by the litre every day. Recioto, in turn, offers a sweet, dessert version of the same concentration. Both wines reward attention and patience. If you want to deliberately explore wines of varying concentration, record your tastings in the app and compare your impressions. It is also worth setting Amarone against a wine from saignee, another concentration method, to feel the difference in the route to concentration. Amarone is one of the wines that best show what a condensed essence of fruit is.
The key points
Amarone is made by the appassimento method, that is drying grapes for many weeks or months in a room called the fruttaio, until the grapes lose about thirty-five to forty percent of their weight. This concentrates the sugars, flavours and phenolic compounds, giving a raw material of immense intensity. From the same dried fruit two wines are born: if fermentation is stopped early, the sweet Recioto, and if it runs to the end, the dry, powerful Amarone of often over fifteen percent alcohol. Amarone’s density and strength come directly from concentration through drying, and the native, dark-skinned varieties of Valpolicella, like Corvina, are key. It is an ancient method that Valpolicella raised to world class. In the glass Amarone is a powerful, dense wine for slow savouring.