Muscat grapes drying in the sunGrapes sun-wilting on the plantGrapes laid out to dry
Straw wine, or raisin wine, is a wine made 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.
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 of raisining, 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 sweet white wines, similar in density and sweetness to Sauternes but potentially sweeter. They are capable of long ageing. The low yields and labour-intensive production method means that they are quite expensive. Around Verona red 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 in Roman times and in late Medieval/Renaissance Europe when wines such as Malmsey ('Malvasia' originally from Greece) and Candia (from Crete) were highly sought after. Traditionally, most production of these wines has been in Greece, the islands of Sicily, Cyprus, Northern Italy and the French Alps. However, producers in other areas now use the method as well.
Excavations in Cyprus on the Neolithic site at Erimi have revealed that sweet wine was made there some 6000 years ago. This is the earliest appearance of sweet wine in the Mediterranean region. A wine grape wine known as the Cypriot Manna (or Nama).[1][2] Similar principles were used to make the medieval Cypriot wine Commandaria, which is still produced today.
The process of making raisin wines was described by the Greek poet Hesiod in mainland Greece around 800 BC. Various Mediterranean raisin wines were described in the first century AD by Columella and Pliny 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.[3]
Columella discusses the Passum wine 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 di Pantelleria from Zibibbo, a variety of the ancient muscat grape, produced on Pantelleria, an island in the Strait of Sicily (50 miles from Tunisia) opposite to where Carthage used to be.[4]
Australia
Barossa Valley producer, Turkey Flat Vineyards has 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.[5]
The minimum must weight requirements for Strohwein or Schilfwein is 25 degrees KMW, the same as for Austrian Beerenauslese, and these regulations are part of the Austrian wine law.[7] 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 a Trockenbeerenauslese) after a minimum of two months, the grapes are allowed to be pressed at this earlier time.[7]
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 Strohwein Prädikat exists only in Austria, not in Germany.
Croatia
The raisin wine most commonly seen in Croatia is Prošek which is traditionally from the southern area of Dalmatia. 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 víno is the Czech term for straw wine that, under Czech wine law, is classified as a Predicate wine (Czech: Jakostní víno s přívlastkem). Czech regulations require the harvested grapes to come from a single wine sub-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 the Normalizovaný moštomer scale.[8] Straw wine in the Czech Republic is typically made from white grapes that are well-ripened and undamaged.[9]
France
Vin de Paille
Vin de Paille is the French for 'straw wine', made only in the ripest vintages. Perhaps the best known example is made in the Cotes du Jura (Arbois and sometimes L'Étoile) from a blend of Chardonnay, Savagnin and the red grape Poulsard. Vins de paille are also made from Marsanne in Hermitage, and from Riesling in Alsace. In Corrèze, it is called Vin 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 [original research?]. It is an excellent accompaniment to foie gras.[according to whom?]
Greece/Cyprus
Liastos is 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.
Cyprus[10]Commandaria claims descent from the native Cypriot wine served at the wedding of King Richard the Lionheart, just after he conquered the island, and then produced by the Knights Templar at 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 white Xynisteri and the red Mavro, an ancestor of the Négrette grape known as Pinot St-George in the US.
Monemvasia. Monemvasia-Malvasia is a recreation of the famous Malmsey or Malvasia wine 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 are Aidani and Athiri mentioned below.
Santorini. Vinsanto, the hallmark dessert wine of the island of Santorini, is made of the choicest Assyrtiko grapes, usually blended with small quantities of Aidani and Athiri. 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.
Samos Some of the famed sweet wines of Samos Island are also made of sundried Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains grapes. 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.
Liastos wines are also made on the islands of Paros, Evvia, Tinos, Ikaria and Crete.
Italy
In Italy, the generic name for these wines is passito. The method of production is called rasinate (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 the Cinque terre east of Genoa.
Tuscany
Cantucci e Vin Santo in a restaurant in Milan, Italy
Vin Santo is 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 'Cantucci e 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.
The more famous are the passito wines made from the blend of red wine grapes typical of Valpolicella: 40-70% Corvina, 20-40% Rondinella and 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 is Amarone 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. The pomace left over from pressing off the Amarone is used in the production of ripasso Valpolicellas. Amarone was awarded Denominazione di Origine Controllata status in December 1990 and promoted to Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita status in December 2009. If fermentation is incomplete, the result is a sweet red wine called Recioto della Valpolicella. Fermentation may stop for several reasons including low nutrient levels, high alcohol, and Botrytis metabolites. Grapes dried in the valley bottoms are more prone to noble rot and are favored for Recioto, whereas grapes intended for Amarone are dried on the higher slopes to avoid Botrytis.
Recioto della Valpolicella is regarded as a good companion to chocolate desserts because of the high acidity in cocoa.
Refrontolo passito is 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 of Prosecco, only a few thousand bottles of Refrontolo passito, a Denominazione of Colli di Conegliano DOCG, are produced. This wine is made from Marzemino grapes, it was already appreciated in the past as documented in the opera Don Giovanni of W.A. Mozart, where the protagonist describes it as an excellent wine.
Recioto di Soave is the passito white wine from around Verona, made from the Garganega grape used in Soave. The name comes from the word, recie that 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.[11] A classic accompaniment can be the Christmas sweets panettone and Pandoro of Verona.
Torcolato is also passito style 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 in Breganze, along the Strada (or Wine Road) between the Astico and Brenta rivers, in the strip of land between the city of Bassano del Grappa and the Valdastico valley. 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 passito is a passito wine from the closely Friuli region. Typically produced in the hilly area around Nimis closed to Udine by Verduzzo Friulano grapes, is sweet full-bodied and honey taste. In the same area is produced even the prestigious Picolit, an extremely high quality passito wine. In the Treviso and Venice area are often produced some 'Ramandolo style' wines by the varieties Verduzzo Friulano and Verduzzo Trevigiano A match up that could be recommended is between the Venetian sweet bussolà and Verduzzo passito wines.
Slovakia
Slamové víno is the Slovak term for straw wine that, under Slovak wine law, 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 the Normalizovaný muštomer scale. Grapes should originate in a single wine sub-region and reach at least 6% of alcohol.[citation needed]
South Africa
De Trafford created the first Vin de Paille to be released under the new appellation "Wine from Naturally Dried Grapes" in 1997.[10] They use 100% Chenin blanc.
Spain
A number of wineries produce straw wine, known in Spanish as vino de pasas, including Bodegas Oliveros and Bodegas Gonzalez Palacios. Most involve a blend of two grapes, the first one usually a Muscat.
Pedro Ximénez grapes are dried in the sun before being vinified, fortified and matured in a solera system like other sherries.[12]
Another straw wine of Spain, produced only by locals of the town of Pedro Bernardo, province of Ávila, Castile and Leon is known as Ligeruelo wine. Grapes of the Uva Ligeruela variety 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 (called tinaja), and conserved in clay or crystal recipients.[citation needed]
In Galicia straw wine is known as viño tostado, and is traditionally produced at Ribeiro (DO).
Dominican Republic
Barcelo Winery produces a straw wine known as Caballo Blanco primarily from Alexandrian Muscat.[citation needed]
United States
When commercial wine was banned during Prohibition from 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.[13]
Barboursville Vineyards in Virginia produces a straw wine in the Italian passito style, based on Moscato Ottonel and Vidal grapes.[15] Potomac Point Winery, also in Virginia, produces a straw wine based on the Petit Manseng grape.[16][17] Likewise, King Family Vineyards in Crozet, Virginia produces a 100% Petit Manseng in the vin de paille style, called "Loreley".[18]
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.[19]
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.[20]
Silver Springs Winery in the Finger Lakes produces a vin de paille from 100% Cayuga White and 100% Pinot Grigio.[21]
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.
Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert.
Malvasia, also known as Malvazia, is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands and the island of Madeira, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the world. In the past, the names Malvasia, Malvazia, and Malmsey have been used interchangeably for Malvasia-based wines; however, in modern oenology, "Malmsey" is now used almost exclusively for a sweet variety of Madeira wine made from the Malvasia grape. Grape varieties in this family include Malvasia bianca, Malvasia di Schierano, Malvasia negra, Malvasia nera, Malvasia nera di Brindisi, Malvasia di Candia aromatica, Malvasia odorosissima, and a number of other varieties.
Amarone della Valpolicella, usually known as Amarone, is an Italian DOCG denomination of typically rich dry red wine made from the partially dried grapes of the Corvina, Rondinella (5–30%) and other approved red grape varieties.
Valpolicella is a viticultural zone of the province of Verona, Italy, east of Lake Garda. The hilly agricultural and marble-quarrying region of small holdings north of the Adige is famous for wine production. Valpolicella ranks just after Chianti in total Italian denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) wine production.
The Muscat family of grapes includes over 200 grape varieties belonging to the Vitis vinifera species that have been used in wine production and as raisin and table grapes around the globe for many centuries. Their colors range from white, to yellow, to pink to near black. Muscat grapes and wines almost always have a pronounced floral aroma. The breadth and number of varieties of Muscat suggest that it is perhaps the oldest domesticated grape variety, and there are theories that most families within the Vitis vinifera grape variety are descended from the Muscat variety.
Rondinella is an Italian wine grape variety. Almost all of the total global growing area of 2,481 hectares is in the Veneto region of northern Italy, and the grapes are used in wines from the Valpolicella and Bardolino wine regions. Rondinella always appears in these wines blended with Corvina, as a secondary constituent along with Corvinone and Molinara. The grape has rather neutral flavors but is favored by growers due to its prolific yields. The vine is very resistant to grape disease and produces grapes that, while they do not necessarily have high sugar levels, do dry out well for use in the production of Valpolicella straw wine styles such as Recioto and Amarone.
Italian wine is produced in every region of Italy. Italy is the country with the widest variety of indigenous grapevine in the world, with an area of 702,000 hectares under vineyard cultivation, as well as the world's second largest wine producer and the largest exporter as of 2023. Contributing 49.8 million hl of wine in 2022, Italy accounted for over 19.3% of global production, ahead of France (17.7%) and Spain (13.8%); the following year, production decreased by 11.5 million hl, and Italy was surpassed by France. Italian wine is also popular domestically among Italians, who consume a yearly average of 46.8 litres per capita, ranking third in world wine consumption.
Picolit is a white Italian wine grape grown in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeast Italy. The grape is allowed in the Denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG) wines of Colli Orientali del Friuli. The grape is most commonly associated with sweet dessert wines often made in the passito style. Historically planted in poor and infertile vineyards, the grape gets its name from the very small stalk, which in friulian language is called pecolèt or pecolùt. The grape had a worldwide reputation in the 18th century when it was featured in royal courts from Great Britain to the Russian Empire. While experiencing cult wine popularity in the 1960s & 1970s, Picolit's extremely small yields have made it economically difficult to grow and has limited the number of plantings.
Soave is a dry white Italian wine from the Veneto region, in northeast Italy, principally around the city of Verona. Within the Soave region are both a denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) zone and, since 2001, a denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG) designation known as Soave Superiore, with both zones being further sub-divided into a general and Classico designation for the wines produced in the heartland of the Soave region, around the sloping vineyards of Verona.
The glossary of wine terms lists the definitions of many general terms used within the wine industry. For terms specific to viticulture, winemaking, grape varieties, and wine tasting, see the topic specific list in the "See also" section below.
Sagrantino is an Italian grape variety that is indigenous to the region of Umbria in Central Italy. It is grown primarily in the village of Montefalco and the surrounding area, with a recent rapid increase in planting area from 351 hectares in 2000 to 994 hectares by 2010 dedicated to the grape, in the hands of about 50 producers.
Vin Santo is a style of Italian dessert wine. Traditional in Tuscany, these wines are often made from white grape varieties such as Trebbiano and Malvasia, although Sangiovese may be used to produce a rosé style known as "Occhio di Pernice" or eye of the partridge. The wines may also be described as straw wines since they are often produced by drying the freshly harvested grapes on straw mats in a warm and well ventilated area of the house. Although technically a dessert wine, a Vin Santo can vary in sweetness levels from bone dry to extremely sweet. While the style is believed to have originated in Tuscany, examples of Vin Santo can be found throughout Italy and it is an authorised style of wine for several denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) and indicazione geografica tipica (IGT).
Venetian wine is produced in Veneto, a highly productive wine region in northeastern Italy.
Vincotto is a dark, sweet, thick paste produced in rural areas of Italy. 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. It can be made from a number of varieties of local red wine grapes, including Primitivo, Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera, and before the grapes are picked they are allowed to wither naturally on the vine for about thirty days. In Roman times it was known as sapa in Latin and epsima in Greek, the same names that are often used for it in Italy and Cyprus, respectively, today.
Tuscan wine is Italian wine from the Tuscany region. Located in central Italy along the Tyrrhenian coast, Tuscany is home to some of the world's most notable wine regions. Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano are primarily made with Sangiovese grape whereas the Vernaccia grape is the basis of the white Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Tuscany is also known for the dessert wine Vin Santo, made from a variety of the region's grapes. Tuscany has forty-one Denominazioni di origine controllata (DOC) and eleven Denominazioni di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG). In the 1970s a new class of wines known in the trade as "Super Tuscans" emerged. These wines were made outside DOC/DOCG regulations but were considered of high quality and commanded high prices. Many of these wines became cult wines. In the reformation of the Italian classification system many of the original Super Tuscans now qualify as DOC or DOCG wines but some producers still prefer the declassified rankings or to use the Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) classification of Toscana. Tuscany has six sub-categories of IGT wines today.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia wine is wine made in the northeastern Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. There are 11 denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) and 3 denominazione di origine controllata e garantita (DOCG) in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia area. The region has 3 indicazione geografica tipica (IGT) designations Alto Livenza, delle Venezie and Venezia Giulia. Nearly 62% of the wine produced in the region falls under a DOC designation. The area is known predominantly for its white wines, which are considered some of the best examples of Italian wine in that style. Along with the Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige, the Friuli-Venezia Giulia forms the Tre Venezie wine region, which ranks with Tuscany and Piedmont as Italy's world class wine regions.
Verduzzo is a white Italian wine grape grown predominantly in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeast Italy. It is also found in significant plantings in the Piave Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) of the Veneto region, though some of these plantings may be of the separate Verduzzo Trevigiano variety. Verduzzo Friulano is used in varietal and blended wines, many of which fall under DOC as well as vino da tavola designations, that range in style from dry to late harvest wines. According to wine expert Oz Clarke, most of the sweeter examples of Verduzzo can be found in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia with the grape being used for progressively drier styles of the wine the further west into the Veneto.
Slovak wine is produced in the southern part of Slovakia, which is divided into 6 wine-producing areas. Although Slovak wines except Tokaj are not well-known internationally, they are popular domestically and in neighbouring countries. The best wines are produced by medium-sized wineries with their own vineyards, with white wine production being most dominant, including the full range of historic sweet wines – ice wine, straw wine, and botrytized wine.
Santorini is a Greek wine region located on the archipelago of Santorini in the southern Cyclades islands of Greece. Wine has been produced there since ancient times, but it was during the Middle Ages that the wine of Santorini became famous worldwide under the influence of the Republic of Venice. The Italian influence is still present in modern Santorini winemaking: the most famous Tuscan sweet wine is called Vin Santo just like Santorini's Vinsanto/Visanto. It is made in a passito style from grapes dried in the sun after harvest.
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