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What happens when grapes are asked to wait?

In this episode of The Wine Lab, we explore appassimento, the traditional practice of drying grapes before fermentation, and how it reshapes wine long before yeast ever gets involved. From ancient Roman preservation methods to modern Amarone and passito wines, we look at how dehydration concentrates sugars, alters acidity, and transforms texture and aroma.

Along the way, we meet Corvina, the grape at the heart of Valpolicella’s most iconic wines and trace how sweet passito styles, dry Amarone, and even Ripasso all emerge from the same ecosystem.

This is a story about patience, chemistry, and flavor built by subtraction.

If you enjoy the episode, taste these wines, share them with friends, and pay attention to how time shows up in the glass. And as always, I’d love to hear from you — send your questions, feedback, or ideas for future themes my way.

Until next time… stay curious, cheers!

Glossary

Appassimento
A winemaking technique where grapes are dried after harvest to concentrate sugars, acids, and phenolic compounds before fermentation.

Corvina
A red grape variety native to northeastern Italy, central to Valpolicella wines. Known for high acidity and excellent performance during grape drying.

Amarone della Valpolicella
A dry, high-alcohol wine made entirely from appassimento grapes, known for depth, structure, and dried-fruit aromas.

Recioto
A traditional sweet wine style made from appassimento grapes. The term refers to technique and selection, not a grape variety.

Recioto della Valpolicella
A sweet red wine made from Corvina-based grapes using appassimento.

Recioto di Soave
A sweet white passito wine made primarily from Garganega.

Vin Santo
An Italian wine made from dried grapes and shaped by long oxidative aging, often amber in color.

Passito di Pantelleria
A sweet wine from Sicily made from sun-dried Zibibbo (Muscat of Alexandria), known for intense aromatics.

Ripasso
A Valpolicella wine made by refermenting fresh wine over the spent skins of Amarone or Recioto. Mentioned here as a teaser for a future episode.

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