Sagrantino Secco or Passito: One Grape, Two Wines

Before it became the tannic red found on wine lists worldwide, Sagrantino was almost always sweet. The Secco that now defines the denomination is actually the younger of the two: it wasn't properly launched until the 1970s. Here's what really separates the two versions, where that history comes from, and which one to reach for depending on the occasion.

Index

• One Grape, Two Opposite Processes
• Passito: The Wine for Special Occasions
• Secco: The 1970s Turning Point
• Which One to Pick, and Why Passito Is Rare

One Grape, Two Opposite Processes

Sagrantino Secco and Passito come from the same grape, sometimes even the same vineyard, but from that point on the two processes split completely. Secco ferments straight from freshly picked fruit: the result is a tannic, dry red built to go with an entire meal. Passito takes a slower route. The best clusters are set aside to dry on racks for at least two months, a step the production rules allow either naturally or in humidity-controlled rooms, though heating is never permitted. As the grapes dry they lose water and concentrate sugar, then get fermented together with their skins. What comes out is a wine that's sweet but never cloying, with the same tannic backbone as dry Sagrantino working to balance the sweetness.

Passito: The Wine for Special Occasions

For centuries, Passito was the only version of Sagrantino anyone knew. The earliest documented mention dates to 1549, an order for Sagrantino must placed by a Jewish merchant from Trevi and his wife, preserved in local archives. Montefalco's farming families grew just a handful of vines of this difficult grape, let the clusters dry on cane racks known as camorganne until Christmas, then shelled them by hand and pressed them in small presses, aging the wine for at least two years. What came out of it, carefully guarded, was poured only for major religious holidays, so much so that the name Sagrantino is thought to trace back to the Latin sacer, sacred. Its vines climbed the walls of houses in the old town, known as piérgole, and were tended in the cloisters of the old monasteries of Santa Chiara and San Leonardo. Until the 1960s, Passito remained close to the only way anyone drank this grape.

Secco: The 1970s Turning Point

The first trace of a dry version dates to 1925, when an "asciutto" Sagrantino was entered into a regional wine competition in Montefalco by Senator Rolandi Ricci, then the owner of the historic Scacciadiavoli winery. That early attempt stayed an outlier for almost half a century: the production rules themselves place the real commercial launch of Secco in the early 1970s. Arnaldo Caprai bought land in Montefalco in 1971, but it was his son Marco, who took over in 1987, who pushed the winery decisively toward Secco, the choice that built the international reputation Sagrantino carries today. The stories of these and other wineries that built Montefalco's reputation are told in full in our piece on Montefalco's terroir.

Which One to Pick, and Why Passito Is Rare

It isn't just the process that makes Passito a different kind of bottle, it's also scarcity. The production rules cap Passito's grape-to-wine yield at 35%, against 65% for Secco: nearly half of every kilo of grape is lost to drying, and what's left still reaches the market after a longer production timeline. That's part of why Passito stays a niche label even for the wineries that make it, while Secco is built for the everyday table. If you're picking one bottle to get to know this grape, start with Secco: it's more versatile, easier to find, and gives you the tannic character that made Sagrantino's name. Passito is the next discovery, one to save for an occasion that actually calls for a rare wine. If the question instead is Secco DOCG versus Montefalco Rosso DOC, we cover that in our DOCG versus DOC comparison for Montefalco.

Both versions, Secco and Passito, are available in our Montefalco wine selection.