Drink

I love the rich and raisined flavor of a big Amarone, the opulent Veneto red made from dried grapes. But at $40 to $90 a bottle, it's not exactly a recession-era kind of drink.

So I've been honing in on the "baby Amarones" known as "ripasso" wines. That's Italian for "repassed," the technique of adding less precious Valpolicella red to the springtime lees left over from the fermentation of actual Amarone. The new ripassos don't take on quite the intensity of the originals, but the shades of dried-fruit sweetness and added complexity are unmistakable.

The best renditions aren't exactly cheap either, with plush examples like Zenato and Cesari Mara running $21.99 and $27.99, respectively, in Pennsylvania. (The Cesari is considerably cheaper in South Jersey.) However, this Campofiorin from Masi, a Veneto estate among the first to commercialize Amarone, is a reliably good and affordable introduction to the genre. Made from corvina and rondinella grapes, it has more of a tannic grip than the others, but I find that a welcome balance to the toffeelike sweetness that hovers around the wine's deep-red fruity edges.

The 2005 Masi Campofiorin ripasso costs $16.99 in Pennsylvania. The 2006 Cesari Mara ripasso costs $16.99 at Canal's Discount Liquors in Pennsauken (856-665-4202).

- Craig LaBan