THE GREAT MOSAIC OF RAISIN WINES

The concept of “passito“, in its essence, is very simple. While generally fresh grapes are used for the production of wine, in this case dried grapes are used. Less water, therefore, and more concentration, which means a greater quantity of sugars. The bunches change color, becoming golden if berries are white, or brick color in case of red berries. The aroma, the concentration of sugars and the density of the juice itself all increase. The roads that explore the wide typologies of raisin wines branch off in different directions, let’s see which are the main ones.

A first subdivision concerns the drying method. We can talk about natural withering when it takes place directly on the plant, allowing the grapes to dehydrate spontaneously, to then be picked with a postponed harvest, which is defined as “late”. Artificial drying, conversely, is managed by the producer. The grapes are harvested, as usual, but instead of pressing them, they are dried. The process takes place in special dry rooms, where ventilation is essential: it can be either naturally caused by the environment or induced by special fans. The objective, in any case, is to protect the bunches from mouldering, which is why they are always spaced apart, sometimes hung on racks, other times placed on straw beds or boxes. There are still some places where, as happened in the past, the grapes are dried under the sun. For example, Pantelleria.

When we talk about winemaking, the technique does not change compared to what typically happens for other wines. The wine is obtained, from the must, by the action of yeasts that transform sugars into alcohol. What changes in sweet wines is that during fermentation not all the sugars are transformed into alcohol. In fact, they are very concentrated due to drying, so much that they interrupt the action of the yeasts once they exceed a certain alcohol content. In some cases, fermentation can also be interrupted artificially by lowering the temperature, by adding sulfur dioxide or through specific filtration. The result, in any case, is that we will find residual sugars in the final product.

Wines made from dried grapes have the characteristic of being sweeter and softer, because with dehydration the acidity that characterizes the grapes decreases. Even from a chromatic point of view they show particularities: depending on white or red grapes they embrace a spectrum of colors that goes from gold to amber, up to orange and mahogany.

When referring to the world of raisin wines, we tend to think about sweet wines. However, it is important to remember that dry raisin wines also exist. They are made with raisin grapes, yes, but they contain no sugar, because it has been transformed entirely into alcohol. Two examples: Amarone della Valpolicella and Sforzato della Valtellina. We have dedicated one of our previous articles to this specific typology.

There is also another particular way of drying grapes. It comes from the effect of a mold – Botrytis Cinerea, or noble mold – which attacks the grapes and transforms and dehydrates them. The resulting wines are called “muffled (muffati)” and are characterized by truly unique scents. In this case too, it is possible to deepen the topic thanks to one of our articles already published.

A final case study concerns Ice Wines, produced in cold places such as Canada, Germany, Austria, and in general in the Alps. The bunches, in this case, are left on the vine until freezing and harvested late, when the temperature drops below zero.

Returning to the more classic dessert wines, and talking about varieties, for this methodology we often tend to use aromatic grapes; among these we remember Moscato, Malvasia and Gewürztraminer. It is precisely with the latter that the South Tyrolean winery Hofstätter produces its Rechtenthaler Schlossleiten, obtained from a late harvest. The peculiar
climate of the area where the vineyards are located, characterizes the grapes with an important acidity. In the glass this translates into a vein of surprising crispness, which definitely distinguishes Rechtenthaler Schlossleiten in the panorama of dessert wines. Another key feature is the low alcohol content, which stands at around 7% and makes it much leaner than the average for the type. The palate is persuasive: it recalls honey, apricots and dehydrated fruit in general. Interesting idea to taste it at the end of a meal, perhaps to accompany a dessert or a selection of blue cheeses.

 

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Graziano Nani

Over 15 years in communication, today Graziano Nani is Branded Content Lead in Chora, where he deals with podcasts. AIS Sommelier, he writes for Intravino and curates @HellOfaWine on Instagram. He teaches wine communication at the Catholic University. He deals with the same topic in the podcast “La Retrolabel”, of which he is co-author, and with speeches at dedicated events.