An interesting opportunity arose recently when I was offered the chance to taste four Sicilian wines: two white wines made from Grillo, and two reds made from Nero d’Avola. The wines in each pair were identical in terms of vineyard, picking and basic winemaking, but in each case one of the wines was a straightforward vinification, the other a result of appassimento.

Those familar with the wines of Amarone will know this technique, in which grapes are harvested and then partially dried before fermentation. Grapes could be left to wither and dry on the vine, but they would continue to ripen, eventually over-ripening, which means acidity drops as sugars are concentrated. That’s a recipe for late-harvest sweet wines, but not this rich but essentially dry style.

With appassimento, the fact that the fruit is cut from the vine means ripening stops along with the associated loss of acidity. Natural dehydration still occurs as the grapes lie on straw mats or hang from rafters in the cellar. That ensures concentration, but also creates new aroma and flavour compounds that can translate into the finished wine.

The Wine People

These wines come from a quite unusual wine company called The Wine People, established by two businessmen, Stefano Girelli and Peter Kosten, to make wines from across Italy. They have their own vineyards, but their team also works with growers and winemakers from Friuli to Sicily on all aspects of production, packaging, marketing and sales. They represent a broad portfolio of brands and wines, including one of their Sicilian brands featured here, Miopasso.

The Wines

This is a fun excercise for the wine geek, as normally it is very difficult to line-up pairs of wines like this, to compare the effect of appassimento on otherwise identical wines. Given they are modestly priced too, it could be good opportunity for wine tasting groups to try something just a little bit different.