Recioto

A word indicating the wine is sweet (as in recioto di Soave and recioto di Valpolicella). To make a recioto wine, the grapes are left for months to dry and raisinate, usually on mats or shelving in cool, dry lofts (a process called appassimento). In Italy, the general term for wines made from intentionally raisinated grapes is passito.  The word recioto comes from “recie” in the Venetian dialect, meaning ears—a reference to the little lobes or “ears” on a grape cluster that usually get very ripe because they are the most exposed to the sun.