Veneto is the most productive wine region in Italy where drying grapes is a resilient historic speciality. Veneto produces by far the most of dried grape wines in the world.
The technic came possibly from Greece, Crete to be precise where the general principals of grape drying were laid down. Then it spread across the world. Tuscany`s Vin Santo, Vinum reticum of Verona was probably the forefather to Recioto and Amarone. Traditionally the grapes dried on the vine by twisting the stem and cutting off the bunch from the sap. Drying is an old concentration method. At the medieval times these wines were in great demand thanks to their sweetness and high alcohol that helped to preserve them.
In Veneto twisting stems was once practised, but now the drying process is happening off site. Picking should be done before full maturation to lower the risk of rot and retain higher proportion of acidity, that provides freshness and balance to the wine. By drying the grapes, water evaporates, and it concentrates the extract in the grapes. Ripe, healthy, superior whole bunches are picked and pre-selected by experienced pickers. Healthy grapes are vital as rot, mould spreads quickly. The grape skin must be intact. Then the bunches put on shallow trays for transport to avoid bruising. Bunches need to be loose for the air to be able to circulate. In smaller vineries drying happens in lofts, where bunches are hung up vertically or laid on neutral material, plastic fruit box, wire mesh, cane mats, bamboo racks but straw is rarely used as it attracts rodents. Traditionally it was carried out on the hillsides, above the fog level. Nowadays the drying is more likely to happen in purpose built, air-conditioned, humidity controlled drying rooms. It can help to fight against botrytis that can cause premature oxidation. Having said that some producers embrace the complexity that botrytis can add to the wine, but usually is not used for dry styles of wine. The grapes are left drying through autumn and winter at least until December. It can take 3-4 months, but it can go up to 6 months. (On another note, maybe now it is more obvious why Amarone della Valpolicella is so expensive!) Depending on the desired style, the loss of grape weight varies between 10-60%. Acidity and sugar can concentrate, but other organic substances can change through dehydration. They can develop new substances or can be lost, but grapes will have extremely high levels of extract. The process results a polymerization of tannins, metabolization of acids that provide richness. As dried grapes are high in volatile acidity due to high sugar levels and possible botrytis SO2 levels can be high in the end product. Crushing should be gentle. The must is so concentrated that fermentation is slow, mainly being in cooler regions, and being mid-winter.
In Italy fermentation is usually starts in wood (large Botti, now in barrique), but it may need specific yeasts or heating to be able to start. Saccharomyces uvarum usually the starter than Saccharomyces bayanus can work at higher alcohol levels necessary for Amarone. Producers allow the fermentation to stop and start. It can take months but even two three years. Usually, producers use racking and chilling to stop fermentation. The retained lees can be used for enriching normal Valpolicella, that is the Ripasso style. Dried grape wines give an intense, concentrated complex, often sweet wines. It can be split into two groups: wines with retained primary fruit aromas (usually, Muscat, Soave, Riesling), or wines where the primary fruit aromas were sacrificed to gain a more complex, oxidative style, a rancio character (Vin Santo, Amarone, Recioto).
The most well-known dried grape wines from Veneto are:
- Amarone della Valpolicella (Corvina, Corvione, Rondinella, other authorised international grapes), that is a dry style of red wine. It is like a Recioto but fermented to full dryness (max. 12g sugar / litre) and has at least 14% of alcohol, a secondary and tertiary fruit character with a pleasant bitterish aftertaste. Hence the name Amarone (amaro means bitter in Italian)!
- Recioto della Vallpolicella (Corvina, Corvione, Rondinella, authorised international grapes) the sweet counterpart of Amarone. It is rather rare.
- Recioto di Soave (Garganega70%, Trebbiano di Soave 30%) sweet style of white wine, very rare.
- Recioto di Gambellara (Graganega) sweet style of white wine, very rare.
The last three wines are Italy`s finest sweet vines but the lack of demand less and less winemaker is willing to produce them.
Amarone and Recioto are typically the result of prolonged maceration, deliberately frequent racking and ageing in large old oak barrels. Since the 80`s there is a movement away from the classical style to have a more fruit forward style of Amarone as it proved to be a success in the US and Scandinavian countries. Since 2000 the Valpolicella zone has been dramatically extended, so quality can be varied. It is nowadays a very industrialised process, where the result is a much cleaner, more balanced, but maybe not too original wine. Since 2010 it is more fashionable to have less alcohol, less oak influence, and little or no residual sugar.
Photographs by The Tannin Addict.