Straw wine

Straw wine,orraisin wine,is awinemade from grapes that have been dried off the vine to concentrate their juice. Under the classic method, after a careful hand harvest, selected bunches of ripe grapes will be laid out on mats in full sun. (Originally the mats were made of straw, but these days the plastic nets for the olive harvest are likely to be used). This drying will probably be done on well exposed terraces somewhere near the wine press and the drying process will take around a week or longer. Small scale productions were laid out on flat roofs; however, if this still happens, it is extremely rare nowadays.

Muscat grapes drying in the sun

Grapes sun-wilting on the plant

Grapes laid out to dry

Under less labour-intensive versions of the technique, easily portable racks might be used instead of mats or nets, or the grapes are left lying on the ground beneath the vines, or even left hanging on the vine with the vine-arm cut or the stem twisted. Technically speaking the grapes must be cut off from the vine in order for the wine to be a 'straw wine'. If the grapes are just left to over-ripen before being harvested, even if this is to the point ofraisining,this is a 'late harvest' wine.

The exact technique used varies according to local conditions, traditions and increasingly modern innovations. In some regions the grapes are laid first in the sun and later covered or they are covered at night to protect them against dew fall. In cooler, damper regions, the entire drying process takes place indoors in huts, attics or greenhouses with the bunches lying on racks or hanging up with good air circulation.

Straw wines are typically sweet to very sweetwhite wines,similar in density and sweetness toSauternesbut potentially sweeter. They are capable of longageing.The low yields and labour-intensive production method means that they are quite expensive. AroundVeronared grapes are dried, and are fermented in two different ways to make a strong dry red wine (Amarone) and a sweet red wine (Recioto della Valpolicella).

History

The technique dates back to pre-Classical times with wines becoming fashionable inRomantimes and in lateMedieval/RenaissanceEurope when wines such asMalmsey('Malvasia' originally fromGreece) and Candia (fromCrete) were highly sought after. Traditionally, most production of these wines has been in Greece, the islands ofSicily,Cyprus,Northern Italyand theFrench Alps.However, producers in other areas now use the method as well.

Excavations inCypruson theNeolithicsite at Erimi have revealed that sweet wine was made there some 6000 years ago. This is the earliest appearance of sweet wine in theMediterraneanregion. A wine grape wine known as the Cypriot Manna (or Nama).Similar principles were used to make the medieval Cypriot wineCommandaria,which is still produced today.

The process of making raisin wines was described by the Greek poetHesiodinmainland Greece around 800 BC.Various Mediterranean raisin wines were described in the first century AD byColumellaandPliny the Elder.Pliny uses the Greek term for honey wine for the following raisin wine:

The grapes are left on the vine to dry in the sun... It is made by drying grapes in the sun, and then placing them for seven days in a closed place upon hurdles, some seven feet from the ground, care being taken to protect them at night from the dews: on the eighth day they are trodden out: this method, it is said, produces a liquor of exquisite bouquet and flavour. The liquor known as melitites is also one of the sweet wines.

Columella discusses thePassumwine made in ancient Carthage. The modern Italian name for this wine, passito, echoes this ancient word, as does the French word used to describe the process of producing straw wines,passerillage.Perhaps the closest thing to passum is Moscato Passito diPantelleriafromZibibbo,a variety of the ancientmuscat grape,produced on Pantelleria, an island in theStrait of Sicily(50 miles from Tunisia) opposite to whereCarthageused to be.

Australia

Barossa Valley producer,Turkey Flat Vineyardshas been experimenting with this style since 2002 with their 100% Marsanne named'The Last Straw'.Air-dried on racks for approximately six weeks it is fermented in new oak and then bottle post-fermentation to retain freshness. Residual sugar sits at a comparatively low 59g/L.

Austria/Germany

StrohweinorSchilfweinis anAustrianwine termin thePrädikatsweincategory which designates a straw wine, a sweetdessert winemade from raisin-like driedgrapes.StrohisGermanforstraw,whileSchilfmeansreed.

The minimummust weightrequirements for Strohwein or Schilfwein is 25degrees KMW,the same as for AustrianBeerenauslese,and these regulations are part of the Austrianwine law.The grapes are furthermore required to be dried for a minimum of three months, either by laying the grape bunches on mats of straw or reed, or by hanging the bunches up for drying by suspending them from pieces of string. However, if the grapes have reached a must weight of at least 30 ºKMW (same must weight as aTrockenbeerenauslese) after a minimum of two months, the grapes are allowed to bepressedat this earlier time.

Strohwein and Schilfwein are treated as synonyms by the wine law, and the choice between them therefore depends on local naming tradition rather than the specific material used for the drying mats for a specific batch of wine.

The StrohweinPrädikatexists only in Austria, not inGermany.

Croatia

The raisin wine most commonly seen inCroatiaisProšekwhich is traditionally from the southern area ofDalmatia.It is made using dried wine grapes in the passito method. There are only a few commercial producers as it is typically homemade.

Czech Republic

Slámové vínois theCzechterm for straw wine that, underCzech winelaw, is classified as a Predicate wine (Czech:Jakostní víno s přívlastkem). Czech regulations require the harvested grapes to come from a single winesub-region,the grapes must be dried for at least three months either on straw or reed mats or hung in a well-ventilated space, and the must weight is required to reach at least 27° NM on theNormalizovaný moštomerscale.Straw wine in the Czech Republic is typically made from white grapes that are well-ripened and undamaged.

France

Vin de Paille

Vin de Pailleis the French for 'straw wine', made only in theripest vintages.Perhaps the best known example is made in theCotes du Jura(Arbois and sometimes L'Étoile) from a blend ofChardonnay,Savagninand the red grapePoulsard.Vins de paille are also made fromMarsanneinHermitage,and fromRieslinginAlsace.InCorrèze,it is calledVin paillé.Traditionally the grapes are placed indoors on straw mats for up to three months, and the final wine has 10-20% residual sugar, with flavours of peaches and apricots.It is an excellent accompaniment tofoie gras.

Greece/Cyprus

Liastosis Greek for "sun-dried" and is the word used to describe Passito or straw wine. Greece and Cyprus are the original home of the style and quite a few Liastos wines are produced here.

CyprusCommandariaclaims descent from the native Cypriot wine served at the wedding of KingRichard the Lionheart,just after he conquered the island, and then produced by theKnights Templarat La Grande Commanderie in Cyprus after they purchased it from him, and hence claims to be oldest named wine still in production. Commandaria is made from two indigenous grapes, the whiteXynisteriand the redMavro,an ancestor of theNégrettegrape known as Pinot St-George in the US.

Monemvasia.Monemvasia-Malvasia is a recreation of the famous Malmsey orMalvasiawine traded by the Venetians and made originally here in the Southeast Peloponnese. The version made by Monemvasia Winery has won many awards recently.

It is worth noting that Monemvasia-Malvasia is NOT made from any of the various grapes called Malvasia. It is made from a blend of grapes including Kidonitsa,Assyrtiko,Monemvasia and Asproudi. Some of these varieties are, (or are related to) the ancestor varieties of the Malvasia family, as areAidaniandAthirimentioned below.

Santorini.Vinsanto,the hallmark dessert wine of the island ofSantorini,is made of the choicestAssyrtikograpes, usually blended with small quantities ofAidaniandAthiri.These will be pressed and vinified after a few days of sundrying. It is then barrel aged to mature for several years or sometimes much longer. Its capacity for ageing in bottle is measured in decades. Producers include: Argyros, Artemis Karamolegos, Boutari, Gaia, Hadjidakis, Canava Roussos, Santo Wines, Sigalas and Venetsanos Winery.

SamosSome of the famed sweet wines ofSamosIsland are also made of sundriedMuscat Blanc à Petits Grainsgrapes. The most widely available is Nectar, made by the EOSS cooperative. The small wineries Vakakis and Nopera also make examples. Many growers also make private productions, especially around the village of Platanos.

Liastoswines are also made on the islands of Paros, Evvia, Tinos, Ikaria and Crete.

Italy

In Italy, the generic name for these wines ispassito.The method of production is calledrasinate(to dry and shrivel). The Moscato Passito di Pantelleria has already been mentioned above. Other famous passiti include Malvasia delle Lipari Passito D.O.C., Vin Santo in Tuscany, Recioto around Verona, the historical (made since Roman times) Caluso Passito made from Erbaluce grapes from the Canavese region in Piedmont and Sciachetrà from theCinque terreeast of Genoa.

Tuscany

Cantuccie Vin Santo in a restaurant in Milan, Italy

See also:Vin Santo

Vin Santois made in Tuscany from hand-picked grapes that are hung from the rafters to dry. They are fermented in small cigar-shaped barrels called caratelli, and then aged in the caratelli for up to ten years in the roof of the winery. The wine develops a deep golden or amber color, and a sweet, often nutty, taste. Vin Santo is often served as 'Cantuccie Vin Santo', with almond or hazelnut biscuits which are then dipped in the wine.

Piedmont

Passito di Caluso, precious straw wine made from Erbaluce di Caluso best grapes harvested, it stays 6 months on straw mats to dry, then after a soft pressing it goes in oak barrels for at least 4 yrs. before being bottled. It is one of the three historical passito wines: Pantelleria, Sciacchetrà and Caluso.

Veneto

Main article:Amarone

The more famous are the passito wines made from the blend of red wine grapes typical ofValpolicella:40-70%Corvina,20-40%Rondinellaand 5-25%Molinara.The grapes are dried on traditional straw mats or on racks on the valley slopes. There are two styles of red passito produced in Veneto. If fermentation is complete, the result isAmarone della Valpolicella( "Amarone"- literally" extra bitter ", as opposed to sweet). Amarone is a very ripe, raisiny red wine with very little acid, often >15% alcohol (the legal minimum is 14%). Typically Amarone is released five years after the vintage, even though this is not a legal requirement. Thepomaceleft over from pressing off the Amarone is used in the production ofripassoValpolicellas. Amarone was awardedDenominazione di Origine Controllatastatus in December 1990 and promoted toDenominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantitastatus in December 2009. If fermentation is incomplete, the result is a sweet red wine calledRecioto della Valpolicella.Fermentation may stop for several reasons including low nutrient levels, high alcohol, andBotrytismetabolites. Grapes dried in the valley bottoms are more prone tonoble rotand are favored for Recioto, whereas grapes intended for Amarone are dried on the higher slopes to avoidBotrytis.

Recioto della Valpolicella is regarded as a good companion tochocolatedesserts because of the high acidity incocoa.

Refrontolo passitois a passito red wine produced in a hilly area close to Conegliano in the Treviso province. In a few hectares of this small area in the core ofProsecco,only a few thousand bottles ofRefrontolo passito,a Denominazione of Colli di Conegliano DOCG, are produced. This wine is made fromMarzeminograpes, it was already appreciated in the past as documented in the operaDon GiovanniofW.A. Mozart,where the protagonist describes it as an excellent wine.

Recioto di Soaveis the passito white wine from around Verona, made from theGarganegagrape used inSoave.The name comes from the word,reciethat in the native Venetian language means 'ears', a reference to this variety's habit of forming two small clusters of extra-ripe grapes sticking out of the top of the main bunch, that were preferred for this wine. It seems to be an ancient wine, in the 5th century AD, Cassiodorus refers to a sweet white wine from Verona that sounds like Recioto di Soave.A classic accompaniment can be the Christmas sweetspanettoneandPandoroof Verona.

Torcolatois alsopassitostyle white wine from the region. It has a warm golden color and sweet flavor, pleasantly persistent, round and thick; it is an excellent dessert wine, one of the top national wines. It is produced inBreganze,along the Strada (or Wine Road) between the Astico andBrentarivers, in the strip of land between the city ofBassano del Grappaand theValdasticovalley. The name comes from a word of the Venetian language and means twisted, indeed, in the traditional production method, the clusters were twisted to dried.

Ramandolo passitois a passito wine from the closelyFriuliregion. Typically produced in the hilly area aroundNimisclosed toUdinebyVerduzzo Friulanograpes, is sweet full-bodied and honey taste. In the same area is produced even the prestigiousPicolit,an extremely high quality passito wine. In the Treviso and Venice area are often produced some 'Ramandolo style' wines by the varietiesVerduzzo FriulanoandVerduzzo TrevigianoA match up that could be recommended is between the Venetian sweet bussolà and Verduzzo passito wines.

Slovakia

Slamové vínois theSlovakterm for straw wine that, underSlovak winelaw, is classified as a Predicate wine (Slovak:Akostné víno s prívlastkom). Slovak regulations require the wine to be produced from well ripened grapes, stored before processing on straw or reed matting, or hung on strings for at least three months; additionally, the must weight is required to reach at least 27 °NM on theNormalizovaný muštomerscale. Grapes should originate in a single winesub-regionand reach at least 6% of alcohol.

South Africa

De Trafford created the first Vin de Paille to be released under the new appellation "Wine from Naturally Dried Grapes"in 1997.They use 100%Chenin blanc.

Spain

A number of wineries produce straw wine, known in Spanish asvino de pasas,including Bodegas Oliveros and Bodegas Gonzalez Palacios. Most involve a blend of two grapes, the first one usually a Muscat.

Pedro Ximénezgrapes are dried in the sun before being vinified, fortified and matured in asolerasystem like othersherries.

Another straw wine of Spain, produced only by locals of the town ofPedro Bernardo,province ofÁvila,Castile and Leonis known as Ligeruelo wine. Grapes of theUva Ligeruelavariety are cultivated in drained, warm, sunny vineyards, and then collected and partially dehydrated over "zardos", or wicker beds constructed to give a light maturation to the grapes, exposed to sun during the first days of fall. These half-dried grapes are then vinified in big clay jars or amphorae (calledtinaja), and conserved in clay or crystal recipients.

In Galicia straw wine is known asviño tostado,and is traditionally produced atRibeiro (DO).

Dominican Republic

Barcelo Winery produces a straw wine known asCaballo Blancoprimarily from Alexandrian Muscat.

United States

When commercial wine was banned duringProhibitionfrom 1920 to 1933, homemade raisin wine became a popular substitute. Raisin producers circuitously promoted the practice by issuing warnings against winemaking that were so detailed as to function as winemaking instructions.

SomeCalifornia wineriesare experimenting with the vin de paille style.Tablas Creek Vineyard,inPaso Robles,make one from 100%Roussanne,one from 100%Mourvèdre,and one from a blend of Roussanne,Viognier,Grenache blancand Marsanne,while cult winerySine Qua Nonmakes one from 100%Sémillon.Stony Hill winery, a Chardonnay producer in theNapa Valley,makes a 100% Semillon in the Italian passito style.Qupé, in Santa Barbara County, makes a vin de paille from 100% Marsanne, sourced from the Sawyer Lindquist Vineyard.

Barboursville Vineyardsin Virginia produces a straw wine in the Italian passito style, based on Moscato Ottonel and Vidal grapes.Potomac Point Winery, also in Virginia, produces a straw wine based on the Petit Manseng grape.Likewise, King Family Vineyards in Crozet, Virginia produces a 100% Petit Manseng in the vin de paille style, called "Loreley".

In Texas, it was illegal to make wine from dried grapes until 1999, when following pressure from Shawn and Rocko Bruno, who wanted to recreate the raisin wines of their Sicilian heritage, the Alcoholic Beverage Code was amended.

Ravines Wine Cellars in the Finger Lakes produces a vin de paille from Chardonnay grapes. The cool climate of the Finger Lakes gives the grapes a good acidity like the Jura region of France.

Silver Springs Winery in the Finger Lakes produces a vin de paille from 100% Cayuga White and 100% Pinot Grigio.

Denmark

A Danish winery, Vester Ulslev Vingaard, has made wine from dried grapes since 2007. The varieties used are Léon Millot and Cabernet Cantor. The grapes are dried for 4–5 weeks using forced ventilation. During that time the grapes lose up to 50% of their weight, the remaining juice being similarly more concentrated. The wines produced are red, dry wines with a level of alcohol of more than 15%. Vester Ulslev Vingaard sees the use of dried grapes as a means to make more powerful wines in a cool climate and also as a means to redress deficits in concentration and sugars in bad seasons. In 2010 a double-fermented (ripasso-method) wine was also produced using the pomace of the first wine.

See also

• Dessert wine
• Late harvest wine
• Sweetness of wine
• Vin Santo

External links

• "Vin de Paille: A Dessert Wine Making Technique for the Obsessed"from the Tablas Creek Vineyard blog