Vincotto

It is made by the slow cooking and reduction over many hours of non-fermented grape must until it has been reduced to about one-fifth of its original volume and the sugars present have caramelized.

Vincotto appears to be related to defrutum and other forms of grape juice boiled down to varying strengths (carenum, sapa) that were produced in ancient Rome.

Over many centuries, the vincotto produced in Basilicata and the Salento area of Apulia was further developed into several different varieties of higher quality and culinary sophistication and is produced from the slow reduction together of a blend of cooked grape must and of a wine that has started to spoil and sour, attaining the consistency of dense non-alcoholic syrup.

This tradition goes back to the times of the ancient Romans, when grape musts were reduced over heat to facilitate conservation and transportation.

In Basilicata, vincotto is a key ingredient of several traditional dishes such as lagana chiapputa, pasta with walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, and raisin,[2] and pan minisc', a dessert enriched with flour, sugar, and spices.