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Home , Ausbruch, Late harvest wine, Must weight, Mutage, Nasco (grape), Passum

Tutored Tasting

STICKIES

Speaker: Eric LAGRE

INTRODUCTION: “SWEETNESS INTO WINE”

Everybody likes sweet , but who has ever taken time to reflect on the often labour- intensive and painstaking task of making a wine sweet? The first question that crosses one’s mind when tasting a is always: “how do they manage to put bubbles into wine?” Sparkling wines strike even non-connoisseurs as technical wines. It seems obvious that a great deal of human ingenuity came into play when one decided to make and keep a wine sparkling. But was it that much of a challenge? As a matter of fact, the occurrence of the bubble is a natural phenomenon in cold climate wines. At a time when the fermentation process wasn’t fully understood, a second fermentation would be triggered by the exposure of these wines to warmer conditions or sugary additives. The eradication of the bubble in still light wines from the was actually what Dom Perignon was working so hard to achieving before he eventually gave in to the bubble and formalised the keeping of it in the bottle. As for sweet wines, juice is sweet, so how difficult can it be to make a wine sweet?! But are sweet wines as straight forward to produce as one thinks?

Wine is the result of the fermentation of grape juice, the so-called must. When fermenting yeasts, present in the environment, enter into contact with the in the must, they start metabolising them into alcohol, with heat and CO 2 as by-products, in an uncomplicated process that only takes a few days to complete. But when you consider that fresh picked healthy, having just reached maturity, at which stage is officially declared, juices the fermentation of which stops naturally once most sugars have been converted into alcohol and the yeasts have died by lack of nutrients to feed on, the question of sweet wines becomes a rather puzzling one. Despite being simply called “fermentation”, the process is always understood as “fermentation to dryness”. So, when you realise that the result of fermenting sweet grape juice is always dry, you are bound to ask: “how do they manage to put sweetness into wine?”

DEFINITION OF WINE AND : Before I come to the actual description of the various techniques used for achieving sweetness into wine, it is important to place sweet wines in the context of the official definitions of wine and terroir .

Wine is a fruit of the vine and the vine springs from its terroir. The French INAO (Institut National des Appellations d’Origine) gives the academic definition of terroir : “Terroir is the conjunction of soil, climate and man” . The definition is actually more precise, as various types of soils, climates and human experiences need considering. Soil is both pedological and geological. The pedological soil is that in which the vine grows its roots and finds nutrients, and the nature of the pedological soil evolves in relation to a climate (a source of water and light in an environment subject to temperature variations), life (altogether microbiological, vegetal and animal) and minerals (either present in the soil originally or added). The geological soil is the original mineral source, the actual solid earth, the bedrock on which the living soil builds up. Climate, which impacts on the vine’s vegetative growth, combines microclimate (climate at a precise geographical point) and (climate at a precise moment in time). Eventually the wine will yield grapes, the quality of which reflects a given soil and climate, then the grapes will be turned into wine by man. The way man works the vine and its fruit responds to tradition (a savoir faire), but also to his drive as a winegrower and winemaker (his own talent and ingenuity). Without man, there is no terroir (and Michel Chapoutier, to whom an understanding and respect of the terroir is central to his philosophy, likes to remind us that mankind might also be the cause of its ruin).

Dry still light wine invented itself, as man only had to reproduce the result of the fermentation of some grape juice accidently left aside, which he was curious enough to taste in the first place; so human! As for making sparkling wine, it was just a matter of harnessing and enhancing a natural phenomenon in wine. But when it comes to making a wine sweet, man had to invent new processes altogether, processes that were not but occasionally observable in nature for him to reproduce. Man, with his savoir faire and ingenuity, is the cornerstone of sweet winemaking. The same way as without man there is no terroir, without man there is no sweet wine either, and the concept of terroir seems to have been tailor-made for the description of sweet wines above all wines.

As much as the concept of terroir fits sweet wines like a glove, the European definition of Wine does not. EU wine directives are very specific in their definition of Wine : “Wine is the alcoholic beverage obtained by the fermentation of the juice of freshly gathered grapes, the fermentation taking place in the district of origin according to local tradition and practice” . But what if sweet wine is made from grapes picked long before they are pressed or by not fermenting the must at all?

PUTTING SWEETNESS INTO WINE: There are many techniques used around the world to produce sweet wines, each one impacting a great deal onto the aromatic makeup of the final product. In that sense, the world of sweet wines is a very exiting one to explore. In her “Oxford Companion to Wine”, Jancis Robinson tells us that “some wine drinkers have been conditioned to be suspicious of any sweetness in a wine, perhaps because neophytes generally prefer some residual , and sweetness is therefore associated with a lack of sophistication”. Indeed, most wine consumers would tell you that they favour dryness, even though most of the big international brands that swamp our supermarket shelves have some sweetness added to them in the shape of processed unfermented grape juice. It is a shame that the modern taste for lower-alcohol, dry wines has made sweet wines rather unfashionable, for if you start on a journey of discovery, you will realise that sweet wines come in a great variety of styles and gladly experience the huge spectrum of their aromas and flavours.

Every method used for the production of sweet wines stems from some understanding of the fermentation process. In order to make a wine sweet, one must prevent the fermentation process from completing its course by using many different techniques... and sweet wines are highly technical wines indeed!

WINERY WINE: Sweetness can artificially be put into wine in the winery. For a start, one can interrupt the fermentation process by simply refrigerating the must. Bear in mind that that type of sweet wine cannot be put on the market without further treatment, for as soon as it gets warm, the wine starts fermenting again, turning the bottle into a gas bomb. The wine needs to be stabilised first. It is possible to produce stable sweet wines by taking the yeast out of the equation altogether, either by killing it by adding sulphur to the fermenting must, the result being not so stable and often unpalatable, or more effectively, by removing the yeast from the fermenting must through filtration. Surface/membrane filtration, best known a microfiltration, or sterile filtration, is how sweetness is kept in the sparkling Moscato d’Asti, for instance. But not many sweet wines are produced that way. The technique is more commonly used as the first step towards the production of sweeteners that will then be added to a dry wine base to turn it sweet. There are three types of sweeteners: Sweet Reserve (or Süssreserve as it is called in Germany), which is unfermented grape juice stabilised through filtration; Rectified Grape Must (RGM), a “Sweet Reserve” concentrate; and Rectified Concentrated Grape Must (RCGM), a grape concentrate further processed to remove water and yield grape sugar crystals, the so-called inverted sugar. Inverted sugar is the sugar one finds in the fruit itself, which is composed of glucose and fructose. Inverted sugar was first produced to industrial scale as a solution to overproduction in order to keep the big European wine lake in check. In the wine industry, inverted sugar has become the favoured alternative to sucrose, commonly known as plain sugar.

Preserved grape juice, or Sweet Reserve, is made by refrigerating, filtering, clarifying then cold- stabilising unfermented grape must. Winemakers prefer preserved grape juice to any other type of sweetener, because it is the sweetener that resembles wine the most; it has the same water content as wine and is the natural, unadulterated base from which wine complexity can develop. But since RGM and RCGM are more concentrated and bacteriologically stable, therefore not needing refrigeration to keep, they are less bulky, hazardous and costly to store. Artificial concentration methods with such barbaric names as low-pressure/vacuum evaporation, reverse osmosis or cryoextraction are used in the making of grape concentrates (or more controversially to improve wine quality in , for instance). Such methods, especially when ion exchange is also used, can dramatically alter taste. Ultimately, RCGM, crystallised through the use of evaporation techniques, will be stripped of all complexity and taste of nothing but sugar.

In order to soften and counterbalance high and tart acidity rather than to make a wine sweet, such sweeteners can be blended to a dry wine base. As mentioned before, the technique exclusively applies to high volume international brands (who hasn’t once enjoyed the delights of the RGM- boosted Mateus or such süssreserve-boosted Liebfraumilch as Blue Nun, Madonna and Black Tower?!). Historically, other sweeteners such as plain sugar or honey were used, but if the tightly regulated practice of adding sugar to the must prior to fermentation is well-known as chaptalisation (nowadays a process designed to make a wine more alcoholic rather than sweet), the commercialisation of wines sweetened with sucrose after fermentation is complete is illegal in Europe. There is nothing natural about the techniques mentioned above, and the wine they contribute to making qualifies as winery wine .

TERROIR-DRIVEN SWEET WINES: The following study will focus on the finer, more terroir-driven examples of sweet wines, the making of which relies on two distinct phenomena directly linked to the survival of the yeast in the fermenting must. Paradoxically, yeasts are naturally poisoned by the two main ingredients they feed on and contribute to producing: sugar and alcohol . Indeed, at high levels, both sugar and alcohol hinder the fermentation process and eventually kill the fermenting yeasts. Therefore, the production of true sweet wines is subject to two main approaches:

- One approach involves achieving high sugar levels in the must prior to fermentation, late in the harvest season, by extracting the water from the grapes through natural concentration methods. Natural Concentration methods actually concentrate all the solids in the grapes, notably acids, but it is the high sugar concentration that will render fermentation difficult and slow, till the yeasts eventually die, long before all of the sugars in the must get a chance to be converted into alcohol. A wine made by using natural concentration methods (and none of the winery tricks mentioned above) qualifies as , but I will not describe a sweet wine made that way as Natural Sweet Wine , for the terminology sometimes apply to one specific sub category within that family of wines, which is a source of confusion.

- The other approach involves preserving part of the natural sugars present in the grapes when picked fresh, having just reached maturity at harvest time. It is achieved by interrupting the fermentation process, long before it is complete and all sugars are converted into alcohol, by elevating the alcohol level in the fermenting must to a poisonous level to the yeast by adding grape spirit. This process, known as mutage in , contributes to producing .

SWEETNESS INDUCED BY NATURAL CONCENTRATION METHODS: The dehydration of grape berries before takes two main forms depending on the climate in which these grapes are grown in the first place. In Europe, when grown in the warm and dry climate of the Mediterranean, the grapes are picked slightly unripe then air-dried for the making of dried-grape wine , whereas when grown in the cold marginal climate of central and northern Europe, the grapes are simply left on the vine to hang, gradually desiccating until long after harvest is declared, for the making of late-harvested-grape wine .

DRIED-GRAPE WINE: Often known as raisin wine , dried-grape wine is called Passito in (its stronghold), Vin de Paille or Vin Paillé in France, and Strohwein in Germany and . The English-speaking New World eventually emulated the style, known there as . These wines are made by picking the grapes slightly unripe to preserve maximum acidity then air drying them, either fast, in direct sunshine (around the Mediterranean historically, notably in Andalucía and on the islands of and Santorini), or far more slowly, under cover (notably in northern Italy and in France). (The faster the process is, the more dry-fruity the aromas, the least fresh and tartaric the acidity, and ultimately, the least complex the resulting wine, for speed bypasses the slow microbiological developments within the grapes that are the essence of quality sweet wines. In , drying facilities, complete with temperature control and wind machines, have become the norm because of the dampness of the local climate. But still, wine made from grapes dried under cover, even that way, is likely to exhibit more finesse than wine made from sundried grapes – and in that configuration, drying ovens will never prove a viable alternative to sun- drying. Nevertheless, fine examples of sundried-grape wines are produced, like Passito di Pantelleria, still made today according to the most ancient technique ever devised to produce a sweet wine: that used for the making of the Passum of Antiquity. Since the middle ages, grapes concentrated by natural methods are pressed directly, but to make Passum, the raisins would be softened by soaking them into a dry wine base, thereby facilitating the extraction of sweetness at pressing. That technique echoes in other contemporary styles of sweet wines, notably in Tokaj, , and Constantia, South Africa).

Just by reading the EU definition of wine , one would think that dried-grape wines do not qualify as wine, for they are not made from freshly picked grapes, but from grapes pressed after having undergone air-drying, long after they were first picked. Dried-grape wine being the most ancient type of sweet wine, I take it that tradition overrules regulation in a technocratic mind.

LATE-HARVESTED-GRAPE WINE: Delaying the picking of the grapes so that they gradually desiccate on the vine is a method so archetypal of Alsace, Germany and the ex Austro-Hungarian Empire that it was made a particular feature of their respective appellation systems. Late-harvested-grape wines come in a variety of styles, but rely on a core phenomenon: the metabolic transformation that occurs within the grape berries from the time they are cut away from any source of nourishment as the plant enters dormancy (it is that exact same metabolic transformation, as mentioned above, that is triggered in drying grapes from the time they are severed away from the vine to be made into dried-grape wine). We distinguish four different styles of late-harvested-grape wines: late-harvest wine is the purest expression of that metabolic transformation, while botrytised, ice and passerillé wines are derivations of that primordial style as the elements impact externally onto the golden, slightly translucent and shrivelled berries.

Late-harvest wine is made out of these golden grapes, the development of which is the result of that internal process “alone”. The concept derives from the Alsatian category that was created by the so-called Hugel’s Law in the early 1980s (a simplified version of the German prädikat system of 1971). Concentration is achieved over a relatively short hangtime of a few weeks hence it is minimal, making for wines that range from rich but bone-dry to medium-dry only. (Late-harvest wines can sometimes be medium-sweet when a degree of botrytis affects the odd bunch. From one country to the other, wine regulations either exclude or embrace botrytis as a feature of the late-harvest style hence a degree of simplification applies in the context of this presentation. Also, to the annoyance of many uninformed consumers, wine authorities have often not made the labelling of the degree of sweetness in such wines compulsory. One does therefore not know what they are buying. A universal indicator modelled on the IRF’s Taste Profile would prove very handy).

Botrytised wine is made when, because of damp conditions, these golden grapes, with longer hangtime, become affected by a fungus called , better known as . This style is always sweet, for botrytis further dehydrates the grapes, down to raisin in some extreme cases. The fungal activity goes hand in hand with the production of metabolites, which hinder fermentation even more so than high sugar and alcohol levels, but make for the most complex, textured and long-lived wines. For that reason, botrytised wine is said to be the king of sweet wines. This style of wine was probably first developed in Hungary, then Germany, but found its ultimate expression in . (Usually, In California, New Zealand and the Riverina wine region of Australia, botrytis infection occurs through deliberate inoculation to ensure an annual outbreak. But even more radically, artificially induced noble rot is used in the comfort of the winery for the production of some Californian examples. The method involves spraying spores cultured in a laboratory onto grapes picked ripe and healthy then subjecting these grapes to weeks of alternately humid and warm conditions).

Ice wine is the concentrated version of a late-harvest wine, as frost takes hold of the golden grapes in naturally freezing conditions. Water in the grapes is turned into ice crystals, and as these cristals are left behind in the press, the resulting juice, ever so concentrated, makes for the cleanest style of sweet wine, eminently sweet (without the texture of a botrytised wine, but elegant) and enlivened by sky-high acidity; a key combination in wines reputed “indestructible”. It is hard to know if is the true king of sweet wines, for its short history, just half a century old, does not give enough hindsight into its ageing potential. Germany and Austria produce fabulous examples known as Eiswein, Luxembourg very small quantities of Vin de Glace, but Canada, where freezing conditions are more consistent year on year, has now become the true home to this style, known there as Icewine. (In countries where the climate is too mild to naturally produce ice wine, either the style is not recognised as a national wine style, like in South Africa, or, rather controversially, it is artificially produced in the comfort of the winery by using Cryo- extraction, like in California, but also New Zealand and Australia. Cryogenic extraction was first developed in Sauternes to salvage crops from grey rot on wet and produce botrytised wine against the odds. The reason why the Canadian wine industry trademarked their natural style as Icewine was to stand out against that wave of fake wines. At least, in Tasmania, tank-frozen are labelled as Iced Riesling, which suggests the helping hand of modern technology in the winery. But beware, for most of the time, a wine labelled as Ice Wine will not have been made from late-harvested grapes naturally frozen on the vine, but from grapes picked fresh –more often than not- then frozen in a tank. These wines do not compare in terms of quality, but since the method yields more than ten times as much wine, using it is a no-brainer commercially speaking).

Passerillé wine is made when these golden grapes become desiccated to raisin in dry breezy conditions over a long period of time. This wine, achieved through a process known as passerillage in France, is the on-the-vine version of a dried-grape wine. Passerillé wine, often considered on bad vintages as a failed botrytised wine in Germany or a failed Icewine in Canada, comes into a style of its own in Gascony. Historically, the method was also responsible for the making of the only wine able to compete with the Hungarian and the Cotnari from north Romanian Moldovia as the favourite wine of the kings and emperors of Europe: Constantia from the Cape in South Africa. Its resurrected version, Vin de Constance, is labelled as Natural Sweet Wine , which does not mean that it is a natural wine over all the other styles of natural wines mentioned above, but simply that it is, under law, a passerillé wine as opposed to a botrytised wine. The terminology must also not be confused with Vin Doux Naturel , which also translates from French into English as “Natural Sweet Wine”, for VDN is a type of fortified wine, not a natural wine. (Australia has developed a speciality of their own that emulates the long-lost stem twisting technique practiced by the Greeks in ancient Crete. The simplified version is known as “Cane Cut”, for it involves artificially inducing the passerillage of the grapes by severing the fruiting cane near harvest time).

RISK + LOW YIELDS = EXPENSIVE: Unusually damp conditions can prove devastating in the making of natural wines from dehydrated grapes. Humidity hinders the drying process and promotes the development of rot hence the occasional off flavours in some dried-grape wines from northern Italy. Excess humidity can indeed turn noble rot into grey rot, the malignant form of botrytis, and go as far as spoiling entire crops in the Sauternais. Probably as devastating is heavy rain round harvest time, as it dilutes the concentrated juice in the berries, thereby ruining every chance of producing a sweet wine from late-harvested grapes. The main worry with long hangtime in terms of potentially losing a crop (forget grey rot and freak weather conditions!) is that it gives plenty more opportunities to birds to feed onto the delicious golden grapes.

And when harvest is successful, the situation is not less hazardous to winemakers than it is to winegrowers. Harvesting is often selective, which means that it has to be done manually by skilled pickers, sometimes berry by berry, at tremendous cost. In the case of ice wines, pickers must harvest at the coolest of the night, in darkness, and winemakers must vinify in as freezing- cold a winery so that the frozen berries do not melt and turn into unworkable mush. Regardless of the natural concentration method used, the process needs time, and vinification cannot start before late in the season, at its coolest, hence the must needs heating up to kick start fermentation in countries with a more marginal climate. As if fermentation wasn’t prone enough to sticking! The must is indeed sometimes so sugar-rich that it can become the most hostile environment imaginable to yeasts, and even more so when botrytis is involved. Therefore, the fermentation process cannot but be slow: 30 days long on average, but up to a staggering three years or more in the extreme case of Vinsanto in Tuscany, for instance.

The key for quality natural wines lies in low yields, from which dehydration takes away even more juice. That smaller volume of production means a reduced source of income as a result (one of the many negative factors a producer needs to consider before venturing into the production of such sweet wines, with no certainty of a qualitative end-result or of any result at all for that matter!). And as we saw, the constant care needed to grow and pick grapes then make wine by using natural concentration methods implies an endless list of additional costs. Such sweet wines always come at a price, first in the shape of high stress levels for the producer, for this type of winemaking isn’t for the faint-hearted, then that of a hefty price tag to match for the consumer.

SWEETNESS PRESERVED BY MUTAGE: Wines can be made sweet in the simplest and cheapest way by mutage, a fortification technique that takes two forms (A third form sees grape spirit added to wines after the fermentation process is complete, but results in dry styles such as and dry Madeira):

- Either the grape spirit is added to the must prior to fermentation. It is questionable as whether this type of fortified wine, known as Vin de Liqueur in France, and more generally by the French term Mistelle, or the Spanish term Mistela, is wine. Indeed, none of its final alcohol is the result of the fermentation process so central to the EU definition of Wine. It might explain why so many producers cunningly claim that they add the grape spirit once the fermentation process has just started .

- Or the grape spirit is added to the must in the middle of the fermentation process. This is the way sweet fortified wines as we know them best are produced, not only the iconic Port and sweet Madeira wines, but also the French Vins Doux Naturels of the Midi. “Naturel”? There is nothing natural in that process of making a wine sweet by adding spirit to it. Fortified wines are not natural wines, but the sweetness is as found in the grapes when picked fresh, so fair enough! Since the style relies on the pure yummyness of the fruit, one can say that this somewhat “winery” type of sweet wine is truly terroir-driven.

BALANCE IN NATURAL WINES, A REFLECTION OF THE TERROIR: As mentioned at the beginning, quality sweet wine is the most sophisticated expression of the terroir and always reflects its origin. But natural wines exhibit balance as an extra guarantee of quality. They should feel fresh and cleansing on the palate rather than cloying and hot in alcohol, and to that effect, sweetness, acidity and alcohol have to be in balance. The various natural concentration methods used to dehydrate grapes were adopted in synergy with the local climates so that balance is almost always guaranteed in any given appellation.

In hot climates, grapes reach maturity at high sugar levels to the expense of acidity hence grapes destined for drying are picked early to preserve their acidity. It is especially important since, amongst the many metabolic transformations that happen within the grapes from the time they are cut away from any energy supply from the plant, either after dormancy with long hangtime or throughout the drying process from picking, one sees malic acids turn into sugar in a process known as gluconeogenesis. It explains why sugars seem to concentrate twice as much as acids as the grapes desiccate. Therefore, when making a dried-grape wine, early picking helps achieve optimum balance between acid and sugar levels in the must. Picked at full maturity, grapes would yield a sweet wine with very low acid levels, high sugar levels, and such high alcohol levels that it would feel hot, flabby and too sweet (at a same level of sweetness, for alcohol tastes sweet on its own, the more alcoholic a wine, the sweeter it feels on the palate) .

In the moderate climate of Bordeaux, grapes reach perfect balance when ready for picking at harvest time. The subsequent acidity/sweetness unbalance that results from gluconeogenesis with long hangtime is more than reversed by the fungal activity as botrytis feeds on sugar as it develops. Balance is struck again at the end of the fermentation process thanks to the fact that it is the botrytis metabolites that will stop the fermentation process before the yeasts have time to potentially exhaust more sugars.

Finally, in more marginal climates, grapes struggle to reach maturity hence long hangtime helps bring extra sweetness into the grapes, more in balance with their naturally high acidity. When the grapes are picked on the date harvest is declared, the resulting wine is often so sour that sweetness needs adding in the shape of süssreserve to re-balance it. In such cold climate wines, any extra sweetness, either natural or added, can sometimes prove hardly perceptible, for high acidity levels mask sweetness (to a same level of sweetness, the more acidic a wine, the dryer it feels on the palate) . Ice wine feels particularly cleansing. This can be explained by the fact that it is traditionally made from grapes with no botrytis and only fermented to a low level of alcohol. Glycerol is a by-product of both the fermentation process and the fungal activity of botrytis. Glycerol and alcohol, both lacking in ice wine, contribute to the mouthfeel, but also add to the sensation of sweetness (to a same level of sweetness, for glycerol tastes sweet on its own, the more glycerol in a wine, the sweeter it feels on the palate). But don’t be fooled, for what ice wine lacks in terms of potency and texture, it makes up tenfold in terms of sweetness and acidity, the sky- high levels of which are the direct result of the natural concentration process with the strongest dehydration power of all: natural freeze concentration.

Just for your information: glycerol, alcohol and sugar levels in wine, in their infinite combinations, generate the sensation of viscosity one perceives on the palate. Contrary to popular belief, the tears and legs running down the side of the glass after the wine was swirled are not a measure of viscosity but the sign of high alcohol evaporation in a multi- component liquid mixture. Viscosity and body could be a same thing if acidity, an additional contributing factor in the body, did not alter the perception of viscosity. Sauternes and ice wine count amongst the most and least viscous wines respectively, but both are equally balanced, as they exhibit matching acidity and sweetness levels , hence these wines are as close in terms of body as they are far apart in terms of viscosity.

FORTIFIED WINES MAKE UP FOR UNBALANCE WITH FRUIT EXPRESSION: Fortified wines are mostly made in winegrowing areas with a hot climate from grapes picked at full maturity when acidity levels are low and sweetness levels are high. Fortified wines are therefore intrinsically unbalanced; an unbalance made even more obvious by the extra sweetness brought about by high alcohol in the shape of fortifying grape spirit. Moreover, they are simple in character (mistelle –VdL- even more so than Vin Doux Naturel -VDN) for complexity if partly brought about by the fermentation process. Fermentation sees yeasts metabolise sugars into a great variety of types of alcohols (grape spirit, in contrast, concentrates as much pure ethanol as possible through the distillation process), but also, though less well-known, it multiplies the types of acids in the must, from the simple combination of malic and tartaric acids in grape juice to far many more in wine (starting with the additional succinic acid). Both acids and alcohols combine into volatile aromatic compounds called esters in a process known as esterification (the greater the variety of acid and alcohol types in a wine, the greater the number of volatile compounds they combine into, and the more complex the wine’s aromatic makeup) . Mistelle is simple grape juice with grape spirit added to it, and in that sense, it is the least complex sweet wine of all, mainly relying on the natural pungency and sweetness of the grape from which it is made to appeal. Indeed, on the palate, VdL feels more like a sweet, grape-flavoured spirit than a wine hence the term “liqueur” I take it.

VDNs, for they are the result of a partial fermentation process only interrupted by the addition of grape spirit, are more integrated, complex and textured. But all in all, both VdLs and VDNs need to be chilled to offset their high sugar and alcohol contents in order to be thoroughly enjoyed. Every other type of sweet wine has good enough acidity to be enjoyed even when not chilled (ice wine especially can prove thirst quenching at room temperature).

GRAPE VARIETIES: A contribution to balance and quality in sweet wine that one must point out is that brought about by the grape variety chosen for its making. That choice also seems to reflect the demands of the wine style made in a given climate, for it feels like traditional grape varieties truly belong to their .

To make dried-grape wines in a hot climate, for some sweetness is lost to early picking, naturally sugar-rich varieties such as , or Pedro Ximénez are favoured, especially since they are traditionally sun-dried. That speedy dehydration process does indeed limit the extent of the gluconeogenesis. The phenomenon is more thorough in grapes dried more slowly under cover hence more acidic and less sugar-rich varieties such as in the Veneto or in Tuscany are favoured. Since fortified wines rely on the natural lusciousness and perfume of the grape variety they are made from, naturally sugar-rich varieties like and the very perfumed Muscat are favoured.

In the temperate climate of Bordeaux, since botrytis metabolises the compounds responsible for the natural perfume of aromatic grapes, the neutral Sémillon is favoured, while a little Muscadelle can be added to restore some aroma. There lies probably the superiority of Sauternes over German and Austrian single , for in the later, when aroma is lost to botrytis, it is lost for good. Blending is also a useful tool in a climate subject to vintage variations, for a proportion of can eventually be used to boost acidity levels in Sauternes. Tokaji is also blended so as to keep sweetness, acidity and concentration of fruit in balance.

In cold climates, acidity is lost to long hangtime, hence the need for grape varieties naturally high in acidity, such as Riesling in Germany, Austria and Alsace, or in the . In Alsace, what Gewurztraminer lacks in acidity, it makes up with its aromatic intensity of perfume and spice.

SWEETNESS CONCENTRATED THROUGH EXTENDED OXIDATIVE AGEING: Once vinified, one can safely say that the average sweet wine will have reached its final sweetness level. Even when aged a few years in wood, it is very unlikely that the level of residual sugars in a sweet wine is going to change dramatically until it is bottled. The purpose of ageing a sweet wine in a single cask (static ageing) is to alter its aromatic profile through oxidation, not to concentrate it. For example, Rivesaltes, in the Roussillon region, is mostly drunk young, as every other fortified wine produced in the French Midi, but can sometimes be aged into a style indicated on the label as “ambré” for the whites (as the golden colour of the young wine will have turned darker into amber with oxidative ageing) and “tuilé” for the reds (as, in the process, the purple colour of the young wine will have turned lighter into the tawny shade of colour of the terracotta roof tiles used locally). In both instances, the purpose of the static ageing process is to turn the primary fruit aromas of a young wine into a bouquet of spicier, more dry-fruity and developed tertiary aromas. Maximum deliberate oxidation into the rather sour and nutty character known as rancio is achieved by leaving the wine to age outdoors in the punishing sunshine of the South of France. Wines made that way carry their own appellations, as in Rasteau Rancio AC and Banyuls Rancio AC. In France, the rancio style is proof that static ageing aims at altering aromas and flavours, not at concentrating a wine. Indeed, in order to acquire that rancio character, the wine is aged in a hermetical container made of glass (e.g. the “Touries”, glass demijohns used at Mas Amiel in the making of the Rivesaltes “hors d’âge”) hence the heating process, a sort of mini estufagem, goes with no evaporation and therefore no concentration.

One way to naturally concentrate a wine is through extended ageing in wood. The extreme length of the oxidative ageing process will have opposite effects on a wine’s sweetness level depending on whether that wine is stable or not (susceptible to ferment again or not in other words).

The Tuscan Vin Santo is the most radical example of concentration of a natural wine through extended oxidative ageing. But that concentration through static ageing in wood translates into a decrease in residual sugar levels. Indeed, since the wine is stored in the winery loft, where it is subjected to alternately cold winter then hot summer conditions, it ferments again with every new warmer season, turning more residual sugars into alcohol in the process, down to a rather dry Madeira-like style of wine. As the wine evaporates, the cask is not refilled, and that static ageing on results in the development of a marked rancio character. But since fermentation is reductive, a degree of freshness of fruit, enhanced by the concentrated acidity, is also preserved hence the most singular style of wine.

The only reliable way other than sterile filtration one can use to stabilise a wine and preserve its sweetness is fortification. Indeed, by adding grape spirit, one kills the yeasts, thereby preventing the occurrence of a second fermentation. Therefore, when aged extendedly in wood, fortified wines will concentrate both sweetness and acidity at the same time. Total concentration is taken to the next level through dynamic ageing in Andalusia, in the Iberian Peninsula, and Rutherglen, in the north of Victoria, Australia. There, the wines are subjected over decades to a very sophisticated oxidative ageing process that takes the shape of a system of interconnected casks called a . The fresh wine of the latest vintage enters the top of the pyramidal system, gradually blending with older wines as wine is drawn from the bottom casks for bottling. The wine, when bottled, includes traces of the wine that was first made when the solera was created, sometimes more than a hundred years before. For that reason, the solera system is also known as fractional blending system, and only yields non vintage wines. A Solera will have a more or less intense power of concentration depending on how hot the environment in which it sits is. The very hot and dry conditions in Andalucía are tempered by sheltering the solera into the coolness of a stone-built warehouse, so that the wine concentrates to a moderate rate over a long period of time, whereas the baking desert conditions in Rutherglen are intensified by housing the solera in a shed made of corrugated iron, thereby purposely heating up the wine and turning the maturation system into an hybrid between an Andalucian solera and a Madeiran estufa. That way, concentration is optimised over a much shorter period of time. Both Sherry and Rutherglen appellations accommodate a series of age-dated styles. As they age and concentrate, Sherry, PX and Moscatel de Jerez go from standard to VOS then VORS over 30 years, while Rutherglen Muscat wines go from standard to Classic, Grand then Rare over a shorter period of 20 years. Every additional year spent in the solera makes the wine ever more rancio.

SWEET WINES AND FOOD: Even though it is not the fashion, late-harvest wines can be matched with food, for they are on the dryer side, with at most the juicy little sweetness of their fruit character.

As for the sweeter styles, they are often described as dessert wines (nicknamed pudding wines in England or Stickies in Australia and New Zealand), for they are typically served with dessert. In relation to food, there is no simple definition for sweet wines. If any distinction is ever made, it is between dessert wines (meaning sweet wines made by natural concentration methods and served during the meal) and fortified wines (drunk dry before a meal, like Sherry, or sweet after a meal, like Port and Madeira). In that configuration, a VDN like Beaumes-de-Venise is regarded as an honorary .

Sweet wine is traditionally served with a starter of foie gras, but in my opinion, it compromises the enjoyment of dryer styles later on in the meal. Fine dining restaurants now introduce a sweet fruit paste, often made from dried figs, to bring sweetness to the dish and allow the dinner to accompany it with a wine that is rich rather than sweet.

Despite the name, dessert wines are often best appreciated on their own, or simply with fresh fruits or bakery sweets. As for fortified wines, they come into their own with a simple accompaniment of dried fruits and nuts.

Vin Santo is often served as “Cantucci e Vin Santo”, paired with almond or hazelnut Cantucci biscuits, traditionally dunk into the wine, while Recioto di is drunk with Pandoro, Verona’s version of Panattone.

The red Recioto della Valpolicella stands up to bitter chocolate better than most wines, to the possible exception of Passito di Pantelleria. The latter is one of many Muscat wines in which Sicilians traditionally dunk a “Biscoti di San Martino”, a very hard fennel-based biscuit baked especially on Saint Martine’s Day.

One often considers sweet wines as a vehicle for meditation, often sipping at their drink while letting their stream of consciousness wander then vanish within the curls and wreaths of cigar smoke (the idea makes Clubland’s cigar-smoking heydays seem so romantic retrospectively).

DRIED GRAPE WINES

The Grand Patriarch of all sweet wines, with references showing this technique to be in use not centuries ago but millennia, is made from air-dried grapes. The production technique is associated with most of the celebrated wines of antiquity, and dried-grape wines are still particularly resilient close to their origins, notably in Italy. These wines cover a variety of generally intense, complex wines, mostly sweet (though dry examples are also produced), made from partially raisined grapes hence they are often called raisin wines.

Grapes with maximum extract and sugars are required, which normally entails restricting yields. Such grapes may be picked either before, at, or after full ripeness. Those who pick slightly before full maturation claim that the grapes are less prone to rot and have thicker skins, enhanced resistance during drying, and higher acidity. All these qualities favour aroma, freshness, balance and longevity. As for the grapes which remain on the vine, not yet ready for harvest, they grow more concentrated, which is an extra bonus in favour of wine quality.

Only the ripest, healthiest grapes are generally picked, which today means a pre-selection by experienced pickers (often at a cost). Healthy grapes are vital since any incipient mould or rot soon spreads during the drying process. Skins must remain intact, to which end the grapes may well be laid in small trays for transportation to the winery. The bunches should be “spargolo”, loose rather than compact, so that air circulates around the individual berries during the all-important drying process.

An early technique no longer used nowadays, which consisted of twisting the stems of grape bunches to deprive them of sap so that they would raisin on the vine (the Australian cane cut technique achieves the same result), may have originated in Crete, but vinification techniques for dried grape wines, which involve picking then drying the grapes, were perfected in Ancient Greece.

The first description of how to make wine from dried grapes is provided by Hesiod, in the 8 th century BC. His “Works and Days” describes how grapes should be dried in the sun “for ten days and nights” and then in the shade for a further five, before fermenting the wine in jars. This technique was responsible for the famous wines of the islands (Chios, Lesbos and Thasos) which were highly praised in Greek literature, notably by Homer. Classic writers describe them as being more enjoyable with age, thereby giving clear evidence of the longevity which only dried-grape wines could provide for late consumption and trade before the invention of stoppered bottles.

Coincidental with the rise of the Greek city states was the emergence of the most adventurous traders of the Mediterranean: the Phoenicians. They exported the wines of Lebanon, along with the winemaking techniques of Canaan, along the littorals of North Africa and to Spain, Sardegna, and Sicilia. One of the colonies was , founded in 814 BC, where in about 500 BC, Mago wrote his sensational work on agriculture. Columella, 1 st century AD, relying on a long-lost translation by Decimus Silanus, gives the only surviving quotation of a fragment of the Punic farming manual by Mago, in which a recipe for the making of the “Passum” summarises the Greco-Roman understanding of dried-grape vinification. Grapes would be picked slightly unripe round mid August, then dried in the sun for 20 to 30 days, by which time freshly picked overripe grapes would be pressed into a juice to soak and ferment the died grapes into. Hardly any more improvement to that recipe is to be found in later roman quotations by Cato, Pliny, Horace or Virgil.

On the island of Pantelleria, in the Sicilian Channel, not far from the site of Carthage, a dried- grape wine called Passito (a name most probably derived from the word “passum”) is still made by using a very similar technique. Pantelleria wines are often nicknamed Zibbibo after the grape of the same name from which they are made; an ancient Muscat grape variety better known as Moscato di Alessandria. Zibbibo is a derivation of the Arabic word Zibib, meaning simply “Grape”. Don’t we say that the origin of every grape variety can be traced back to a Muscat parentage? It would make Moscato Passito di Pantelleria the surviving example of an immemorial tradition that even finds an echo in Greek mythology. Bacchus, the wine god, is said to have taken residence on the island, for he was taken by the quality of its wines. Most significantly, the goddess Tanit, disguised as a cupbearer, stole the heart of Apollo by pouring him out the fermented must from the grapes of Pantelleria instead of the customary beverage of the gods. Since then, Pantelleria has been able to boast that it is the source of a wine that is capable of substituting for the divine Ambrosia. Giacomo Casanova, the famous Latin lover, would also pour his female conquests a glass of the legendary Passito di Pantelleria to have them surrender to his lust more easily. Most producers on Pantelleria are small family-run estates, but the island’s proximity to Sicily attracted some of the largest Marsala houses, such as Donnafugata and Carlo Pellegrino. Ben Ryé, Donnafugata’s Passito di Pantelleria, echoes the Arabic name once given to the island, Bent El Rhia or “child of the wind”, and is a constant reminder of the dominant Arabic influence in terms of language, food and architecture on the island, as well as of the harsh conditions that yield this miraculous wine.

Paris Sigalas bottles a style of wine known as Mezzo, traditional to the Greek island of Santorini, which is also made very much in the Passum style. But Santorini is mostly famous for its Vinsanto, made exclusively from sundried and Aïdani grapes. Surprisingly, few dried-grape wines can be found in modern Greece. Let’s face it, the dried grape wines of Santorini, made in the Venetian style of the middle ages, are debased descendants of the classical prototypes, as is the of Cyprus, now a fortified wine. The rich wines of Sámos emerged from the replanting of the island in the 16 th century, then were whipped out by phyllorera in 1892, from which date the were replanted again with Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains “only”. Nectar, the oldest wine crafted by the island’s cooperative monopoly created as recently as 1934, is the only dried-grape wine still produced on the island, and represents but a tiny proportion of a production virtually dominated by fortified wines.

Nowadays, dried grape wines are most famously associated with the sweet wines of northern Italy. They are made by using techniques that were developed from the Middle Ages. It was relatively common for these wines to be made from grapes dried on the vine cut away from the flow of sap by having their stems twisted, or “torcolato” as they say in Italy. Torcolato is the name of a modern Passito made by Fausto Maculan in the hills, along the Strada or “Wine Road” in the Veneto, from partially dried, though not in fact twisted, Vespaiola grapes. Stem-twisting has become extinct as drying facilities, more practical, are now favoured to the costly manual process. But stem twisting was the main technique used in the region from 1204, when Venice conquered Crete, the stronghold of this classic heritage. From then on, there seems to have been a revival of dried-grape winemaking throughout the Venetian Empire, not just in Veneto but in what is now Slovenia and Croatia also.

These wines were the direct result of fermenting the must of dried grapes, in contrast to the Antic Passum style, which was the result of fermenting dried grapes soaked into fresh grape must. The word “Passito” has come to describe every style of dried-grape wine in Italy, regardless of the vinification technique used, either in the antic Passum style of the south or in the medieval style of the north. To be called Passito, an Italian sweet wine only needs to be made from grapes that have undergone a preliminary drying process: “appassimento”.

Sweet winemaking in northern Italy might have been perfected in the Middle Ages, but the “Vinum Reticum” of Verona, praised by Pliny in the first century AD, was presumably the ancestor of the modern Recioto and Amarone. Latter, in a letter written in the 5 th century AD, Cassiodorus, the learned minister of Theodoric, describes a sweet from Verona that is very reminiscent of a Recioto di Soave. According to his description, this wine is from grapes grown on “domestic pergolas” then hung in sheltered rooms during the winter months. Once dry, the grapes are made into a “beautiful, clean white wine that looks as if it were obtained from lilies”. Recioto di Soave, made from the Garganega grape variety, is most definitely the rarest Passito made in the Veneto. The most famous dried-grape wines of the region are those made from the black grape varieties and Rondinella, Recioto della Valpolicella being the sweet version and Amarone della Valpolicella the dry version.

The grapes in the Veneto are dried under cover as opposed to those of the islands of Pantelleria and Santorini, which are dried in the sun. Sun-drying can be up to eight times as fast as drying under cover, but this can result in excessive colour, caramelised flavours, and loss of aroma, bypassing some of the microbiological transformations which are the essence of fine dried-grape wine. Since the technique is detrimental to wine quality, purists reject the use of drying ovens.

The drying of the grapes destined to be made into wine on a commercial scale takes place in a winery loft, where windows may be open to let in plenty of air (essential against the development of rot and mould). Bunches are hung up vertically (on hooks, or on long strings), or arranged horizontally on neutral, bone-dry materials. Straw is now rarely used because of its attractions for mice, and since slats are expensive, cane and rush mats and bamboo racks became popular in much of Italy. Wire mesh, nylon nets, and fruit boxes were 20 th century developments. Today, in zones where dried grapes constitute an important factor in the local wine economy, purpose-built plants are being created complete with temperature control and wind machines, especially in the Veneto. In the early 90s, an accelerated Euro- technique was authorised experimentally by EU authorities, which involves drying bunches in a single layer at between 30 and 35°C under a flow of warm air.

The duration of the drying process is dictated by the grape variety, the type of wine required, and the micro-climatic conditions during drying. Sugar-rich Greek grape varieties such as Muscat, Aleatico and Malvasia require less time than more northern varieties. Three weeks may suffice for a Muscat whereas a Veronese variety such as Garganega for a white Recioto or Corvina for a red Recioto or an Amarone will need three to four months, and even up to six months in some cases. Ideally, considerable flows of dry air are needed to optimise the drying process. Humidity is such a problem in valley sites that drying facilities are being moved to higher altitudes. Excessive heat or cold is generally regarded as negative.

The main effect of drying grapes is loss of water and the consequent concentration of sugars. The relationship between water loss and sugar gain is relatively direct so that a loss of a third from grapes picked at 12° Baumé would result in a wine of 16 % abv (if all the sugar was fermented out). Depending on the wine style desired, the loss of grape weight by evaporation varies between 10 and 60%, with the norm for Passiti being somewhere in the region of 35 to 40%, so the potential alcohol is raised by just over a third.

Other components behave less predictably. The total acidity in grapes undergoing 40% dehydration rises not by 40% but by around 25%. Acids and other organic components undergo various transformations, and there may be development of certain aromas and loss of others in the process. The longer the drying period, the greater the biological change of organic substances and resultant wine quality.

Grapes drying in the sun in southern Italy, on the island of Pantelleria.

Grapes drying under cover in Northern Italy; In fruit boxes in the Veneto or hanging from the rafters in Tuscany.

Noble rot may develop on the grapes during the dehydration process but it is not desired by most practitioners, particularly those making the dryer styles of dried-grape wines such as Amarone. A further problem is insect infestation, particularly of bees, wasps and hornets.

Crushing and pressing should ideally be as gentle as possible. Gravity, but certainly not centrifugation, may be used to clarify white must, As for red wines, stems may be totally or partially removed.

The concentration of the must of raisined grapes is such that it slows fermentation process. The effect is accentuated in cooler climates, especially where the long drying period may mean that the grapes are crushed in midwinter when the ambient temperature is naturally low. Therefore, In Italy, fermentation usually takes place in wood and may need to be started by heating the must or by adding specially cultured local yeasts able to work at lower temperatures and an alcoholic strength beyond 15%abv, as required in the making of Amarone especially.

Nowadays, many producers use and, increasingly, refrigeration to stop fermentation. Once the wine has been racked off its lees, the leftover pomace can be used to enrich straight Valpolicella in a style called Ripasso. In , dried grapes may be added intact to a finished wine to achieve a similar effect: the so-called Governo process.

Dried-grape wines may be divided into two categories when it comes to ageing: those in which the fresh primary aromas are retained and those in which primary aromas are sacrificed to the development of a more complex bouquet. The former category includes most wines based on aromatic varieties such as Muscat, Brachetto, Aleatico, and Riesling, as well as sweet wines where the emphasis is on fruit, such as Recioto di Soave. All these wines are subjected to what is called protective winemaking techniques. Protective winemaking is a feature that the dried-grape wines from the Veneto and the Mediterranean islands have in common, for they are not traditionally aged in wood. If traditional Amarone and Recioto della Valpolicella are the result of prolonged , frequent racking, and ageing in large, old for years, there has been a movement away from such classic styles since the 80s, towards more fruit-driven modern styles.

On the other hand, oxidative ageing is a particular feature of Vin Santo. Vin Santo, which translates as “Holy Wine”, is essentially produced in Tuscany (though versions exist in other parts of Italy) where it survives as an apparently unbroken tradition practiced by anyone who grows grapes as an obeisance to the tradition of offering a sweet wine to guests as a gesture of esteem. Vin Santo is made from the local white Trebbiano and Malvasia grapes left to dry hanging from the rafters in the hottest and best ventilated part of the peasant home. The red grape is alternatively used to produce a wine called “Occhio di Pernice”, or eye of the partridge.

The most specific feature of Vin Santo is its very developed aromatic character derived from a unique oxidative ageing process. The wine is aged in small cigar-shaped barrels, the so-called caratelli, which can hold between 50 and 300 litres. These barrels are sealed then left in the loft of the winery in a space called the “Vinsantaria”. There, the wine matures for up to 10 years, over which period it partially evaporates. But the is never topped up, resulting inevitably in ullage and oxidation. Oxidation gives the wine its characteristic amber colour and a nutty character known as rancio. This ageing process encourages re-fermentation every year with the new hot season, gradually exhausting the remaining unfermented sugars. Being reductive, fermentation restores some, freshness. Nowadays, many producers keep their Vin Santo in the cellar, where more constant temperatures contribute to preserving both sweetness and freshness. Depending on how it is made, Vin Santo comes in a bewildering range of styles, from ultra-sweet to bone-dry, resembles dry Madeira at its driest.

Delicious Vin Santo is made, but many examples are crippled with faults, particularly an excess of volatility. Dried-grape wines tend to be naturally high in volatile acids (a direct consequence of combined high sugar and acid levels), especially when botrytis-affected grapes are used. Volatile acidity in such wines may well exceed legal levels, sometimes entailing the use of sulphur dioxide additives to unacceptably high levels also. Many argue that high levels of volatile acidity are essential to the quality of these wines and some maintain that fake “Passito” wines can be exposed precisely by their exhibiting improbably low levels of acetic acid. Producers who manage to produce traditional yet fault-free Vin Santo include Avignonesi, Capezzana, Fontodi, Isole e Olena, Poliziano, San Giusto a Rentennano, and Selvapiana.

Trentino also produces its own version of Vin Santo, the so-called Vino Santo, made from the grape. It is nevertheless very different in style. The barrels are indeed regularly topped up, which translates into a much lesser impact of the oxidative ageing process onto the aromas and flavours of the wine.

A marked rancio character due to extended oxidative ageing is also typical of the straw wines made across the Alps. If Vin de Paille was commonplace in 19 th century France, only rare examples are still produced, only on the ripest vintages, in the commune of Hermitage in the Northern Rhône Valley, in the Côtes du Jura, and in the Corrèze, or alternatively in Alsace (where producers experiment with the Riesling grape). They are made as curiosities by two or three main producers in each region in quantities so tiny that they rarely reach the market. Average yields are minuscule once the grapes have been raisined, resulting in wines that are luscious to the extreme, incredibly long-lived and quite delicious. Every Vin de paille is consequently very expensive and invariably sold in half bottles.

For much of the 20 th century, no Vin de Paille was made in Hermitage. But Gérard Chave revived the practice in 1974, using healthy, not late-picked grapes dried on straw in an attic. He has since been followed by Chapoutier and others.

In the Jura, producers usually dry their , or grapes in boxes rather than on straw. Although quality examples are produced in L’Etoile, Vin de Paille is most common in Arbois, where the famous Caves Henri Maire produce a wide range of wine styles that not only includes Vin de Paille, but also . The latter dry and nutty speciality is aged under voile, like and Fino Sherry, to which Vin Jaune is somewhat similar in style, though Manzanilla and Fino are fortified wines, which is not the case of Vin Jaune.

In the south of the Corrèze, straw wines are known as “Vins Paillés”. They are made out of the white Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc or the red and grapes between the communes of Meyssac and Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne in the valley of the Dordogne. A “Syndicat Viticole du Vin Paillé de la Corrèze”, created towards the end of the 20 th century, now gathers just under 20 dedicated producers.

In early 14 th century , dried-grape wines were in great demand and are mentioned again in mid 17 th century, but like in France, the tradition survives only as a curiosity today. In northern and central Italy, other survivors include: of Romandolo (produced in Friuli as well as in the Veneto), the generally overrated of Friuli, the remarkable Rosenmuskateller of Trentino-Alto Adige, Sforzato or Sforsat of Vatellina, Albana passito from Romagna, and Sagrandino passito from Umbria. In the south and islands, examples of this renascent tradition are too numerous to mention in detail but include a range of wines based on Moscato, Aleatico, Malvasia and Nasco grapes, not to mention Vecchio Samperi, the rare unfortified wine in the style of Marsala from de Bartoli.

In Spain, the most notable surviving derivatives of an old tradition of dried-grape wines are the Andalucian specialities of Jerez, Montilla and Málaga, though these richer styles are no longer pure dried-grape wines but fortified wines. Elswhere in Spain, the tradition is almost extinct. Hungary might still be famous for its botrytised wines, but the only notable remains of the once roll-call of dried-grape wines from the old Austro- Hungarian Empire are a few straw wines (Strohwein) and reed wines (Schilfwein) in Austria.

LATE-HARVESTED-GRAPE WINES

Many sweet wines are made by simply leaving the grapes on the vine to hang after harvest is declared, delaying their picking as long as possible so that they over-mature, gradually desiccate and concentrate their sugars. Late-harvested-grape wines can be found in the new world, but they are more specifically associated with Alsace, Germany, and the ex Austro-Hungarian Empire. These winegrowing regions, where the climate can be so marginal that grapes sometimes struggle to reach full maturity, have brought an extra dimension to their respective appellation systems by linking the production of their highest quality wines to a minimum (level of sweetness in the grape must before fermentation) [see table]. In Germany, the minimum must weight required varies depending on the region of production ( the colder the region, the lower the minimum must weight ) or the grape variety used ( the more naturally sugar-rich the variety, the higher the minimum must weight ). The natural sweetness of a grape variety is also a driving factor in Alsatian wine law. Vineyards in Tokaj are so prone to noble rot that the quality of a wine is determined by the level of botrytis development rather than a minimum must weight, though some would argue that noble rot is a common factor in achieving optimum sweetness in the grapes in Alsace, Germany and Austria as much as in Hungary.

Germany links quality to minimum levels of sugar in the grapes when picked: is the oldest Riesling Estate in the world, with a harvest recorded as far back as in 817. Since 1720 only Riesling is cultivated on its top-graded vineyards in the Rheingau. Legend tells us that the first ever botrytised wine was produced there, starting with a Spätlese in 1775 then an in 1787. The first ever wine from frozen grapes, or Eiswein, seems to have also been produced there in 1858. These styles and all the other styles that form the full range of styles determined by how sweet the grapes are at picking (and to a certain extent, by the extent of botrytis infection) was to become the central feature of the Prädikat system eventually created in 1971. The harvest season in Germany is particularly long and the harvest itself is selective. Indeed, the harvest season can last until a month in the New Year as grapes are picked in many waves, each time requiring several harvesting baskets at a time. One specific basket will accommodate grapes at a specific level of development, having reached a given level of sweetness and botrytis, for the making of one sepcific style of wine. A single estate may decide to make up to a dozen individual styles of wine, from bone- dry to lusciously sweet.

According to the 1971 wine law, German wines are classified according to the sweetness level of the grapes when picked. German quality wines are divided into two categories. The first one is the Qualitätswein category, previously known as Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete, or simply QbA. That basic quality wine category guarantees that the grapes are picked at a minimum level of ripeness in one of the 13 legally defined wine regions of Germany. But these grapes can nevertheless yield a juice that is so low in sugars that chaptalisation is required to boost the alcohol content, and so tart in acidity that Süssreserve needs adding to soften that acidity and bring it back into balance.

The other quality wine category applies to German wines of superior quality. Since August 2007, it is called the Prädikatswein category, but it was previously known as Qualitätswein mit Prädikat, or simply QmP. Every wine at this level of quality has to bear one of six Prädikats on its label, giving a clue as to what style to expect from the bottle. The grapes are picked at such minimum levels of ripeness that chaptalisation is not needed and actually prohibited. The six types of prädikatsweins described below are made from grapes picked at increasing must weights through increasingly intense selection:

Kabinett : the style is not classified as prädikatswein but as plain qualitätswein in Austria. It is made from grapes picked when the harvest date is declared, but to the condition that they are fully ripened. Consequently, they display a higher must weight than required for plain Qualitätsweins. The wine is typically crisp, light and medium-dry, though dry examples can be found, which are labelled as trocken.

Spätlese : the style translates as late harvest, for the harvest is delayed a few weeks to allow the grapes to reach a higher must weight. The wine is typically semi-sweet (sweeter and fruitier than a ), though full-bodied but dry examples can be found, which are labelled as trocken.

Auslese : the style translates as select harvest , for it is made from bunches of grapes that are selected for their advanced state of ripeness, sometimes with a degree of botrytis. The wine is typically semi-sweet, but can flirt with full sweetness. Powerful dry examples exist, which can be labelled either as trocken or Grosses Gewächs. Auslese is the prädikat which covers the widest range of styles and can potentially confuse consumers when the degree of sweetness isn’t mentioned on the label.

Eiswein : the style translates as ice wine and designates wines made by natural freeze concentration from non-botrytised grapes (traditionally). Until the early 1980s, the designation was used in conjunction with another prädikat to indicate what level of ripeness the grapes had reached when frost took hold. But Eiswein is now a prädikat in its own right. The minimum must weight required for an Eiswein is equivalent to that of a Beerenauslese. The style is always clean and sweet (though nothing as sweet as a Canadian example). ( A few esoteric German Eiswein terms include: St. Nikolauswein when harvested on 6 December; Christwein when harvested on 24 December; and Dreikönigswein when harvested on 6 January).

Beerenauslese : the style translates as select berry harvest , for it is made from grapes individually selected for their over-ripeness, most of the time derived from noble rot, known as edelfäule in Germany and Austria. BA can be made from passerillé grapes, but it is then considered as a failed botrytised wine on a lesser vintage. The style is always rich and sweet.

Trockenbeerenauslese : the style translates as select dry berry harvest , for it is made from grapes individually selected for their being shrivelled to raisin by noble rot, which only happens in exceptional vintages. The wine is always extremely rich and sweet.

One of the shortcomings of the Prädikat system is that it does not take into account the terroir. Consequently, Prädikat wines can prove very heterogeneous in terms of quality. Putting the terroir at the core of the system led to the creation of the VDP (Verband Deutscher -Qualität und- Prädikatsweingüter www.vdp.de ). This Association of German Quality and Prädikat Wine Estates was founded in 1910, making it the world oldest association of wine estates. It gathers 200 members, including producers as prestigious as Schloss Johannisberg, Dr. Loosen, Joh. Jos. Prüm and Fritz Haag. Its members only produce 2% of the wine output from grapes grown over only 4% of the area in Germany, but they bring a staggering 10% of the national wine revenue between them.

In 2001, using Burgundy as a model, the VDP established a private vineyard classification not recognised by law. A three-tier pyramid ensued which classifies wines according to their origin:

Gustweine/Ortsweine , the bottom tier, which translates as , gathers all the wines made by a winery in their house style for everyday drinking. These wines must display a distinctive varietal character if not hints of terroir. They are labelled with a winery, village or regional name.

Klassifizierte Lagenweine , the mid tier, which translates as wine from a classified/superior site , gathers all the wines produced from vineyards that would be classified as 1er Cru in Burgundy. These terroir-driven wines must be made from low yields of grape varieties typical of the region and labelled with a vineyard site name.

Erste Lage , the top tier, which translates as top site , gathers all the wines produced from the best vineyards in Germany that would be classified as Grand cru in Burgundy. These wines are made from the lowest yields of traditional grape varieties (selected by hand) then aged prior to their release onto the market. They are not actually labelled as Erste Lage wines, for the VDP vineyard classification is not recognised by German wine law, but with a vineyard site name and the registered trademark (this logo in the shape of a numeral “one” next to a stylised cluster of grapes will be either embossed on the bottle or in the background of the label). The dry examples (under 9g/l residual sugar) are designated as Grosses Gewächs , which translates as great Growth , or as the synonymous Erstes Gewächs , specific to the Rheingau, which translates as top Growth . The Erstes Gewächs designation can legally appear on the label of the top quality wines of the Rheingau, but since the Grosses Gewächs designation is not recognised by German wine law, the GG registration trademark will appear instead. Wines with a degree of natural, fruity sweetness are denoted by a prädikat, as defined by German wine law.

The bottles produced by the members of the VDP are always marked with a stylised eagle bearing a cluster of grapes ( ). The name of the association reflects the quality-oriented philosophy practiced by its members. Prior to the creation of the prädikat system in 1969-1971, the association was known as Verband Deutscher Naturweinversteigerer , as its members boasted the production of their natural wines. The wines were said to be “natural”, for chaptalisation wasn’t used in their making, thereby qualifying as non-adulteraded in their view. The designation “natür” was made illegal when non-chaptalisation became a feature of the prädikat system hence it was substituted by “prädikat” in the name of the association.

The members of the association are subjected to a compliance inspection every 5 years or so to make sure that the wines are produced according to self-imposed strict standards. The wine must be made from traditional grape varieties grown ecologically by using sustainable viticultural methods in the best terroirs. 80% of the wines are made from either Riesling or (but and are also used) grown in vineyards the soil, aspect and microclimate of which are suitable for the yielding of top quality grapes that will then be made into quality wines according to traditional methods. These self-imposed standards well exceed the minimums prescribed by law (lower yields, higher starting must weights...).

In 1992, the proudest traditional vineyards of the Danube winegrowing sub-regions of Kremstal, Traisental, Kamptal and Wagram in Austria have joined forces in the Federation of Traditional Austrian Winemakers or Traditionsweingünter Österreich (ÖTW www.traditionsweingueter.com ). The 2009 vintage saw their premium wines marketed under the “Erste Lager” classification, indicated by the logo on their labels. The new vineyard classification system is not yet recognised under law, but it is based on the Danube region’s DAC system, which means that only dry Grüner Veltliner and Riesling wines may carry that logo, which is of little interest in the context of this paper but was worth mentioning.

Alsace and its simplified version of the Prädikat system: Alsace has been the subject of many territorial disputes between France and Germany, and its language and culture owe to both origins. Late-Harvested-grape wines have always been produced there in small quantities in outstanding vintages. Alsace used to sell them labelled as Spätlese, Auslese or Beerenauslese, but in the early 1980s, a new wine law, commonly known as Hugel’s law after the name of the iconic producer who devised that simplified version of the prädikat system, gave a legal definition to only two Alsatian styles of late-harvested-grape wine; either the wine is made from grapes not or hardly botrytis-affected, thereby qualifying as Vendange Tardive (Late Harvest), a category which encapsulates the Spätlese and Auslese styles of wine, or it is made from fully botrytised grapes, thereby qualifying as Sélection de Grains Nobles or SGN s (Select Noble Berry Harvest), a category which encapsulates the Beerenauslese and styles of wine. The new law triggered a renewed interest for these styles of wine, and production has been booming since its enforcement, from only 11 producers in 1981 to over 500 at the end of the same decade. Vendange Tardive and SGN wines must be made out of one of the four noble grape varieties: Gewürztraminer (for the making of the most commonly found late-harvested varietal wine), , Riesling and Muscat (for the making of the rarest examples, only produced in exceptional vintages). The first two varieties are picked at a higher must weight, for they are naturally sugar-rich.

If SGN wines are always sweet, Vendange Tardive wines are not, potentially ranging from bone-dry to medium sweet. The authorities haven’t made the indication of the degree of sweetness on labels mandatory, which has proven frustrating and confusing to consumers. Indeed, they don’t know what to expect from their purchases and can find themselves pouring a medium wine they expected to be dry. Why simplify the prädikat system if it is not to make the consumer’s life easier?! In Germany at least, when one buys a bottle of Kabinett, Spätlese or Auslese not labelled as either Trocken (dry) or Halbtrocken (medium dry), they can presume that the respective styles come at increasing levels of sweetness. Although be careful, for if German wine styles are made from grapes at increasing minimum must weights, it does not necessarily determine the sweetness of the final wine, for a winemaker may choose to ferment the wine either fully or partially. The fact that the members of the VDP pick their grapes at a higher must weight than legally required throws even more uncertainty as to what degree of sweetness a wine is made. In Austria, no prädikatswein can legally be sweetened, but in Germany, süssreserve can be added up to spätlese level. For that reason, a German kabinett can potentially be sweeter than an Auslese, though since the fashion is to dry styles, the rare examples of sweetened prädikatsweins from Germany are now strictly targeted at the UK market.

It would be comforting to consumers if they could rely on some sort of universal indicator on the label. Such indicator could be modelled on the Riesling Taste Profile that was developed by the IRF in the US, for it is very straightforward to read and understand.

The IRF counts Schloss Johannisberg has one of its most iconic members. The members come from any of the countries where Riesling has managed to thrive, not only from the Rheingau and the Mosel, where the variety has its roots, but also from the French Alsace, Austria, New Zealand and South Africa. Riesling is a very versatile variety that can come in a great variety of styles with respective levels of richness, and since it is the fastest growing varietal white wine in the United States, the American-born foundation came up with the Riesling Taste Profile , a tool designed to help consumers work out to what degree of sweetness the wine they are buying is made. It now appears on the label of more than one million cases around the world.

The Riesling Taste Profile consists of a scale of richness ranging from Dry to Medium Dry, Medium Sweet and Sweet. A harrow points out on the scale to what degree of sweetness a consumer is likely to perceive a wine to be according to a given residual-sugar-to-acid ratio (measured in grams per liter) with the wine’s PH acting as a buffer. High acidity masks sweetness hence a wine with a higher level of acidity will feel dryer than a wine as high in residual sugars but lower in acidity, and wines with increasing levels of residual sugar but with an identical sugar-to-acid ratio will taste as dry as one another. High alkaline content in wine, mainly measured in terms of Potassium levels, lessens the perception of acidity (and therefore dryness). Indeed, alkali and acid compounds neutralize each other, thereby pushing the PH of the wine up. It is therefore through the actual PH of a wine that one gets a true sense of its acidity. A Riesling ranges from PH2.9 to PH3.4 on average. When one compares wines with a same sugar-to-acid ratio, those with a higher PH will move up the scale of sweetness while those with a lower PH will move down that scale, as shown is the table below:

Tokaji links quality to increasing levels of botrytis infection: Hungary is a bit of a special case in the scheme of things, for the wines from Tokaj, at top quality level, the so-called Különleges Min őségi Bor or Special Quality Wines, must display a degree of botrytis. These wines can be identified by their being bottled in 50cl stumpy bottles. When less than 50% of the grapes in a vineyard are botrytis-affected, it does not make economical sense to select the berries, hence all the grapes are harvested “as they come” for the making of the Szamorodni style of the same name. The sweet version (Szamorodni Édes), like a Late-Harvest wine, is amazingly juicy and much easier to match with food than the Tokaji Aszú wines we know best (for they are the only wines widely available on the UK market). A dry version (Szamorodni Száraz) can be found, which is made by ageing the wine on ullage in a cask, thereby triggering the development of a film forming and sugar, glycerine and oxygen feeding yeast to the surface. This ageing “sous voile/ under flor” is also responsible for the production of Vin Jaune in the Jura and Fino and Manzanilla in Andalusia... lovely wines, but very much an acquired taste.

When noble rot is well-developed throughout the vineyard, botrytis-affected grapes and late- harvest grapes are subjected to a selection process and picked separately. The former, the so- called Aszú grapes, are pounded into a paste, the so-called Aszú dough, while the overripe late- harvest grapes are made into a “dry” wine base. By law, 3 to 7 units of Aszú dough can be added to one unit of dry wine base to ferment (and one unit of dry wine re-fermented with 5 units of dough will yield a 5 Puttonyos Tokaji Aszú for instance). A unit of dough corresponds to 27.2 litres, the volume held in the so-called putton, a harvesting basket no longer used nowadays, while a unit of dry wine corresponds to 136 litres, the volume held by a Gönc, the traditional ageing cask in the region (nowadays, fermentation takes place in large stainless steel vats instead). The luscious free-run juice at the bottom of the vats where Aszú grapes are first stored is made into wine. This wine is mainly destined to enriching Aszú wines, but it can sometimes be bottled as the rare Natúr Eszencia, also called Nectar or Essence. Don’t you confuse this style with Aszú Eszencia, also called Essence, which is the equivalent of a 7 Puttonyos Tokaji Aszú (but never labelled as such), only produced in exceptional vintages. Aszú wines come at different levels of sweetness, but they are always sweet. A similar style is also produced in the region of Ruster, where it is known as , after the name of a prädikat specific to Austria. One could say that Aszú and Ausbruch wines are to botrytis what Passito di Pantelleria is to dried-grape wine: made like Passum according to the most ancient sweet winemaking technique, which involves softening raisins into a dry wine base to facilitate the extraction of sweetness.

Beware, for Kés ői Szüretelés ű, which translates as late harvest , designates a fully botrytised style of wine. For economical reasons, the style has been emerging over the last decades and is by no means a late-harvest wine but an Aszú wine that is released onto the market without having undergone the minimum required maturation time of two years in cask and one year in bottle. This controversial style cannot legally be bottled in a traditional stumpy bottle but in a 50cl Bordeaux bottle instead.

In Tokaj, the leftover dry wine base is often bottled and sold as a varietal wine under the lesser Min őségi Bor appellation. These wines can be identified by their being bottled into 75cl bottles and their bearing on the label the name of the grape variety they are made from (, Hárslevel ű or Sárgamuskotály/Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains). Since the grapes must be picked at Auslese level, they yield non-botrytised late-harvest wines in essence. Beware, for they are labelled as dry, medium dry, medium sweet and sweet, but they are medium dry at their sweetest.

Two styles are made the same way as a straight Valpolicella is made richer by fermenting it on the dried-grape pomace left over from the making of Amarone wines in a style called Ripasso: Fortitás, which translates as translation and translates the Aszú style by fermenting a dry wine base onto already used but still sugar-rich Aszú dough, and Mársolás, which translates as copy and copies the Aszú style by fermenting a dry wine base onto the lees of an Aszú wine. Both styles are as sweet as a 3 Puttonyos Tokaji Aszú, the latter style being sweeter than the former.

Alsace, France 1962 law Germany 1971 law Austria Tokaj, Hungary Öeschel scale = hydrometer scale measuring the KMW = scale measuring the sugar density of the grape must content of the must in percent of weight (1° KMW ≈ 5° Oe) Vin de table 3% Deutscher Tafelwein 5 regions? Österreichischer Tafelwein Asztali bor min 8.5%abv 44°-50° Oe min 10.6° KMW Vin de Pays 2% Deutscher Landwein 19 zones Österreichischer Landwein Trájbor 1982 amendment 0.5 % extra potential alcohol min 14° KMW Only Trocken or Halbtrocken in sweetness 95% Apellation Contrôlée 50% QbA from 13 enbaugebiete (AP n°) = Qualitätswein Min őségi Bor 71% White generally chaptalised 51°-72° Oe min 15° KMW allowed In 750ml bottles 6% Red and Rosé min 7%abv Kabinett(wein) Varietal Wines min 94° Oe 18% Crémant (own AC since 1976) from Trocken to Lieblich in sweetness min 17° KMW no chaptalisation Late-harvest wines in essence 5% Grand Cru from 51 GC Vinyards 45% QmP from 39 bereich = Prädikatswein Különleges Min őségi Bor 1982 Hugel’s law: min 7%abv + enbaugebiete (AP n°) In 500 ml bottles no chapatalisation but süssreserve allowed no chaptalisation and no süssreserve The grapes have to be botrytis-affected to a degree Kabinett 67°-82° Oe Vendange Tardive 95° -105° Oe Spätlese 76°-90° Oe min 19° KMW Szamorodni Száraz No enrichment = 220 -243 g/l ( Late harvest) (as it comes) ( aged under flor) Do not have to be botrytis-affected Dry/sweet devide {Auslese 83° -100° Oe min 21° KMW (Select bunch harvest meaning edelfäule –affected bunches ) no süssreserve Made when less than 50% of the grapes on the vine are botrytis-affected so as to limit cost min 5.5% abv Szamorodni Édes Beerenauslese (BA) 110°-128° Oe / min 25° KMW (55g RS/l) ≈ 13.5% abv meaning botrytis edelfäule-affected berries Sélection de Grains Nobles (Select berry harvest / ) Kés ői Szüretelés ű = satellite style Eiswein idem or SGN 110° -120° Oe (Late Harvest) not in a stumpy bottle No enrichment = 256-279 g/l (Ice wine no edelfäule but maximum sweetness through natural freeze concentration ) (50-180g RS/l) Always botrytis-affected Not Applicable Strohwein / Shilfwein Aszú wine made from strictly selected botrytis- (only produced in exceptional vintages) affected berries but not abiding by minimum “2 (raisin wines) years in wood and 1 year in bottle” ageing rule (Ruster) Ausbruch Aszúbor (botrytised raisin wine) min 27° KMW (Outbreak) Fordítás = translation (60g RS/l) (on dough) Másolás = copy (50-90g RS/l) (on lees) Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) idem 3 puttonyos (60g RS/l) ≈ 14% abv 4 puttonyos (90g RS/l) (Select dry berry harvest) min 21.5% abv potential alcohol / average 8% abv 5 puttonyos (120g RS/l) 150°-154° Oe min 30° KMW 6 puttonyos (150g RS/l) ≈ 11.5% abv These pure botrytised wines are only produced in exceptional vintages from grapes Aszú Eszencia (180g RS/l) ≈ 8.5% abv dehydrated to raisin by edelfäule (more common in Neusiedlersee, Burgenland, Austria ) = Essence ( ≈ 7 puttonyos) Natúr-eszencia (450+g RS/l) ≈ 4.0% abv = Essence or Nectar (from free run juice)

lower minimum must weight: Burgenland: Furmint (60%) Riesling Welschrieling, Hárslevel ű (30%) Muscat Riesling Chardonnay Sárgamuskotály (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains) higher minimum must weight: + other varieties Zéta (ex Oremus) Gewürztraminter Niederösterreich: Pinot Gris Grüner-veltliner , Riesling

Official EU Only very rarely do labels indicate what style BA, TBA and Eiswein are almost invariably sweet Old style: of wine on should expect in terms of sweetness hence the Prädikat is enough as an indicateion of a Royal Tokaji (Hugh Johnson) classification of in Alsace. SGNs are always sweet but late- wine’s sweetness level. But when it comes to New Style: sweetness levels: harvest wines are not, ranging from bone-dry Kabinett, Spätlese, or Auslese wines, the Prädikat Disznók ő (AXA Millésime) to medium-dry and sometimes more. The lack bears no direct relation to the sweetness of the wine Hetsz őlő (GMF and Suntory) (Residual sugar per litre = RS/l) of labeling details makes purchasing Alsace in the bottle. The sweetness level is often indicated Oremus () wines rather confusing to consumers. as Trocken or Halbtrocken, but if not, the Prädikats Hybrid Style: are quoted in “increasing” order of sweetness. Szepsy (from Royal Tokaji) Árvay (from Disznók ő)

Dry Sec Trocken Extra Trocken Száraz (extra dry = 4g RS/l) = Up to 4 g RS/l (or not exceeding 9 g/l provided Trocken that the total acidity expressed as (dry = up to 9g RS/l) grams of tartaric acid per litre is not more than 2 grams below the residual sugar content) Medium-dry Demi-Sec Halbtrocken / Feinherb Halbtrocken Félszáraz

= 4-12 g RS/l (or not exceeding 18 g/l provided that the total acidity expressed as grams of tartaric acid per litre is not more than 10 grams below the residual sugar content) Medium-sweet Moelleux Lieblich / Mild / Restsüss Lieblich Félédes

= 12-45 g RS/l

Sweet Doux Süss / Edelsüss Süß Édes

= 45+ g RS/l

Late-harvested grape wine styles in the New World: All the New World countries are now emulating late-harvested-grape wine styles, and some of these countries have created a legal framework that regulates their making and labelling. These regulations are loosely inspired by the German and Alsatian wine laws, though international agreements now prohibit New World countries from using European geographical indications (e.g. Tokay) or traditional expressions (e.g. a prädikat like Beerenauslese) to describe wine styles (at least for the wines sold onto the European market). One must say that the concept of Late Harvest is stretched to its limits in these countries. There, the style either rejects or embraces botrytis. It can also be subdivided into every style of Late-harvested-grape wine or confusingly embrace them all or part of them only.

Canada: Canada strictly distinguishes between two categories of late-harvested-grape wines depending on whether the grapes are botrytis-affected or not. The wines labelled as Late Harvest , Select Late Harvest and Special Select Late harvest can only be made from botrytis-free grapes at increasing must weights as they gradually desiccate on the vine under natural conditions, up to near passerillage. That range of late-harvest styles described under Canadian Wine law can be made from grapes with long hangtime but picked early in the season when temperatures are above freezing or from grapes picked frozen but failing to meet the strict standards required for the making of Icewine hence one could argue that, in Canada, a late-harvest wine is a failed Icewine on a bad vintage.

Wines made from botrytis-affected grapes have their own category, and the way they are labelled is a play on the acronym for the iconic BA and TBA prädikatsweins: Botrytis Affected when made in the style of a Beerenauslese and Totally Botrytis Affected when made in the style of a Trockenbeerenauslese.

CANADIAN CATEGORIES OF LATE-HAVESTED-GRAPE WINES Wine styles and Labelling Minimum Degree Alcoholic Strength From grapes concentrated by long hangtime but with no botrytis Late Harvest 23 Select Late Harvest 26 Special Select Late Harvest 32 Between 7 and 20%abv Icewine 35 From grapes concentrated by the dehydrating action of botrytis Botrytis Affected (BA) 26 Totally Botrytis Affected (TBA) 34

California: In California, producers used to market their botrytised wines labelled either as Beerenauslese or Trockenbeerenauslese until the German government started complaining. At first, producers switched to labelling their wines with the acronyms BA and TBA, claiming that they stood for Botrytis Affected and Totally Botrytis Affected respectively, but in 1981, the Californian Wine Institute set industry-wide definitions for late-harvested-grape wine styles according to the must weight of the grapes when picked, very much as in the German wine law of 1971. The labelling terms are exactly the same as used in Canada to describe wines made from grapes concentrated through long hangtime but not affected by botrytis. But here, in California, is botrytis a factor in the style? nothing actually implies that botrytis must be a feature in any of the following wine styles or not:

Early Harvest: the style stands as an equivalent of a Kabinett. Note that in Germany, the coldness of the climate requires that the grapes be picked at a higher must weight than when making a lesser qualitätswein, whereas here, in California, the warm climate commands that the grapes for the making of this style be picked not as ripe as your average grapes destined for the making of a regular dry white wine.

Regular or Normal: no specific label designation will be used to connote wines made from grapes picked at a regular level of maturity.

Late Harvest: the style is equivalent to a German Auslese.

Select Late Harvest: The style is equivalent to a German Beerenauslese.

Special Select Late harvest: this style, the highest maturity-level designation, requires that the grapes be picked at the same minimum must weight as required for a German Trockenbeerenauslese.

South Africa: In South Africa, like in the US, the concept of late harvest embraces all the styles made from grapes with a long hangtime and increasingly sugar-rich as botrytis develops. One must point out the fact that when a wine is made from raisins, South African wine laws distinguish between passerillé and fully botrytised styles. The reason for that distinction lies in the fact that, legally speaking, wines made from grapes raisined on the vine by botrytis are allowed higher levels of Volatile Acidity and Total Sulphur than wines made from grapes raisined on the vine through natural air-drying or passerillage. (e.g. Vin de Constance flirts with the VA limit of 1.2g/l fixed for a passerillé wine, much under the 1.8g/l limit fixed for a fully botrytised wine ). In South Africa, the different styles of late-harvested-grape wine must exhibit a minimum alcoholic strength of 11%abv and can be labelled as follow:

Late Harvest (Laat-oes or LH ) when made from grapes with some hangtime but not affected by botrytis. The style was legally bound to exhibit between 10 and 30g/l of residual sugar, but minimum levels are no longer regulated. The style can additionally be labelled as dry or medium dry (or even medium sweet sometimes).

Special Late Harvest (Spesiale Laat-oes or SLH ) when made from grapes with a longer hang time and a degree of botrytis. The style was legally bound to have at least 30g/l of residual sugar. It is always medium-sweet, though it can sometimes flirt with full sweetness.

Natural sweet wine when made from grapes naturally raisined on the vine through passerillage (with no or little botrytis in other words). The style is always sweet.

Noble Late Harvest (Edel Laat-oes or NLH , locally known as Edelkeur ) when made from grapes shrivelled to raisin by botrytis. The style is also always sweet.

In the rest of the New World: In Latino America and the antipodes, there are no labelling restrictions written in law for the different styles of sweet wines yet. In Chile and Argentina, the winemaking influence is most definitely French, but when it comes to labelling, the standards are generally American-inspired. As for Australia and New Zealand, the South African labelling influence is strong, though fully botrytised wines are simply indicated by the grape variety plus either Botrytis of Noble as a prefix (e.g. botrytis Riesling or Noble Chardonnay).

LATE-HARVEST WINES: From the time grapes reach full maturity, thence marking the beginning of the harvest season for the making of dry wines, the vine gradually shuts down its metabolic processes as it enters a dormancy that will see it through the cold winter. Stems turn woody and leaves golden, and any fruit still attached to the vine hangs in isolation, no longer getting any nourishment from the plant, gradually desiccating while undergoing complex internal chemical transformations that will impact on the aromatic makeup of the resulting wine. One notable transformation is the gluconeogenesis process that sees malic acids turn into sugar. As a result, the acidity, as mostly the tartaric acids remain, becomes fresher and juicier, but concentrates virtually half as much as the sugars as the berries dehydrate. There are many more chemical changes happening beyond that, and the slower and longer the dehydration process, the finer and more complex the resulting wine (a rule that also applies to drying berries in the making of dried-grape wines).

In the first weeks of that process, grapes show a limited degree of dehydration until botrytis starts developing. Such grapes yield the so-called late-harvest wines, which range from bone dry to medium sweet, depending on the degree of botrytis in the bunch. When bunches are selected with no or little botrytis, they make for wines that feel rich rather than sweet (they are actually dry technically speaking). Grapes for the making of late-harvested-grape wines are picked at various intervals over months, in a series of tris. The practice is known as selective harvesting. Legally speaking, late-harvest grapes can be picked from one week after the official harvest date for the making of kabinett, but much later in practice for the making of Spätlese, until late in the season for the making of Auslese. The fourth or fifth and final tri for the making of late-harvest styles is usually picked at the end of October, on which occasion the grapes are triple selected. The last overripe and slightly botrytis- affected bunches will be made into Auslese, while the most shrivelled berries will be picked individually then refrigerated for the making of proper sweet wines later in the season. Auslese is the ultimate late-harvest wine. The wines made from individually selected botrytis-affected berries no longer qualify as Late Harvest, even though they belong to the late-harvested-grape family of wines. Simply botrytis-affected berries will be used for the production of Beerenauslese and, only in exceptional vintages, berries botrytised to raisin will be used for production of Trockenbeerenauslese.

The late-harvest style is summed up by the Alsatian Vendange Tardive category, which encapsulates the Spätlese and Auslese prädikatsweins of Germany and Austria. The quality varietal wines and szamorodni wines of Tokaji also qualify as late-harvest wines in the sense that they are rich and full of the juicy little sweetness of their fruit character rather than sweet. New World contries now emulate the style, but mind, for there, the concept is stretched to its limits. The addition of prefixes to “Late Harvest” allows the style to embrace every single style of late-harvested-grape wine, including fully botrytised wines. This reflects the fact that, if lat-harvest grapes are the result of an internal metabolic development totally unaffected by the elements, climatic conditions govern what these golden and slightly translucent and shrivelled berries are eventually going to become:

- Noble-rot-affected for the making of botrytised wines in alternately humid and dry conditions. - raisined for the making of passerillé wines in dry, breezy conditions. - Frozen for the making of ice wine when subzero temperatures catch them at any stage of their late-harvest development (though lesser vineyards plots usually not suitable for the development of botrytis are usually designated for the making of ice wines).

BOTRYTISED WINES:

Botrytised wines are those made from white grapes affected by the benevolent form of botrytis bunch rot, known in English as noble rot. Distinctively scented in youth, and with considerably more extract than most other wines, they are the most complex and long-lived of all sweet wines. The noble rot smell is often described as honeyed, but it can also have an (attractive) overtone of boiled cabbage. The risks and costs involved in making a naturally botrytised wine make it necessarily expensive to buy.

Specific white grape varieties are more prone to successfully develop botrytis than others, notably Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Furmint. Red varieties simply lose their colour as the fungus develops. The wines made out of the most aromatic varieties are marked by a loss in varietal aromas, for botrytis metabolises linalool and geraniol, the monoterpenes responsible for the distinctive aromas in such varieties.

Specific microclimatic conditions are needed for the development of botrytis (cold nights will preserve aromatics, and misty mornings will provide the humidity necessary to fungal development, while dry, sunny afternoons will guarantee that noble rot does not turn into the devastating grey rot). Humidity is such a paramount factor in the development of noble rot that vineyards for the production of botrytised wines are often peppered around rivers and lakes, like the Ciron and the Garonne in Sauternes, the Tisza and the Bodrog in Tokaj, the Layon and the Aubance in the Loire, or lake Neusiedler in Burgunland...

Producers must be willing to sacrifice quantity with no certainty of resulting quality. The maximum legally permitted yield in Sauternes may be as low as 25hl/ha, although Yquem might claim 9hl/ha, or approximately one glass of wine per vine, but wet vintages might see no viable crop harvested for the making of any wine at all.

A great deal of the cost attached to the making of such wines lies in the hiring of qualified pickers able to select the berries at optimum levels of fungal infection in a series of tris (picking passages on a vine over a period of months in the most difficult years). The first tri is generally regarded as the one that yields the highest quality of botrytised grapes. The premium examples from are actually often labelled as “Premier Tri” (first selection). The pickers must be careful not to pick the purple-green coloured grapes, known as pourri plein, for this is a stage at which botrytis feeds on sugar without concentrating the juice, hence the grapes may actually be less sugar-rich than before botrytis set in. Instead, pickers must select the fully desiccated grapes, known as confit or rôti. At this stage, the fungus has consumed even more sugar, but such is the dehydrating effect that the juice is highly concentrated and sweet. The fact that botrytis brings the sugar levels down in relation to the acidity levels, which are always lower in late-harvested grapes, helps restore balance in the must. The relatively high levels of residual sugars in botrytised wines can be explained by the fact that the fungal activity produces so many fermentation-impairing metabolites that it is them, not the sugar concentration, that will eventually prove fatal to the fermenting yeasts. The action of the fungus will notably produce glycerol, dextrin and other compounds which will contribute to the texture and desirable honey, toast and apricot profile of the wine.

Pressing botrytis-affected grapes is difficult, and contrary to general practice, the juices of the first pressing are of lesser quality than the juices of the later pressings, the latter being richer in sugars and chemical compounds derived from the fungal activity. The most raisined grapes need be pressed two to three times before yielding any juice.

Because of its chemical composition, persuading the juice of these painstakingly picked and pressed grapes to ferment is another tricky affaire. Fermentation is necessarily very slow for the must seems almost designed to inhibit yeasts, as it is high in sugars, antibiotics such as botryticine, and polysaccharides with antifungal properties, and poor in nutrients such as thiamine and ammonia.

Filtration is made impossible by the presence of the β-glucan polysaccharide in the wine. Therefore, fermentation is allowed to stop naturally or by adding SO 2. The risk of a second fermentation is high due to the high levels of residual sugars in the wine.

The wine is bottled after a minimum of two years in barrel in Sauternes and Tokaj (plus an extra one year ageing in the bottle before release in Tokaj). On the other hand, in the Loire valley and in Germany, the wine is usually bottled in the spring following the vintage, with no oxidative ageing. High levels of SO 2 are needed at bottling for the safe keeping of botrytised wine in the bottle, because botrytis metabolites have a propensity to bind with sulphur and the SO 2-resistant enzyme Laccase, a by-product of the fungal activity, increases the risk of oxidation. EU regulations consequently allow higher minimum sulphur levels in botrytised wines in order to guarantee a level of free sulphur dioxide to remain and act as an artificial wine preservative in such wines. Nevertheless, botrytised wines are capable of extremely long bottle ageing, for many decades in some cases.

History: There is no firm evidence that botrytised wines were recognised in the antiquity, for Botrytis is more suited to humid climates than to Mediterranean climates. But it is unlikely that, even in the early centuries over the millennia man has been cultivating the vine, he didn’t know of the effects –certainly the bad if not the good ones- that the process of rot could have on his crops, though the extremely unpleasant appearance of the mouldy grapes, and the difficulty with which their juices ferment, must have deterred many early winemakers.

The first wine region ever associated with this style of wine, with records dating back to as early as in 1650, is Tokaj, in north east Hungary. Abbot Maté Szepsi, priest in charge of production at the Zssuzsanna Lorántfly estate (evidence of how closely wine and religion have been entwined in century past), delayed the harvest because of the threat of attacks by the Turks. The delay allowed noble rot to develop. The botrytis-affected grapes were vinified regardless, though separately (as one would expect) and the resulting wine proved out to be much admired. The Hungarians quickly learnt that noble rot was to their advantage. Within a century, the great sweet wines of Tokaj had a place in the Russian Court, and for diplomatic purposes it was offered as gift and introduced to the French court in the early 18 th century, long before any French winegrower had recognised the existence of the beneficial properties of the noble fungus. Tokaj is still closely associated with the production of botrytised wines (So is Romania, notably in the Cotnari region), as demonstrated by the fact that the top tier of its appellation system imposes a degree of noble rot.

In Germany, the principle of picking selected bunches of grapes was understood in the 18 th century, but the widespread picking of grapes affected by noble rot dates back to about 1820. Contrary to popular belief, precisely when and where winegrowers first realised the value of noble rot in Germany is not certain, although it is thought that the style originated in the particularly suitable climate of the Rheingau. Schloss Johannisberg has certainly promulgated its own claim that, in 1775, the messenger licensed to deliver the owner’s permission to harvest, given by the distant prince-abbot of Fulda, was delayed, thereby supposedly allowing a noble rot infestation to proceed, and resulting in the first German botrytised Spätlese. And as the Hungarian found out, the result was superb; “I have never tasted a wine like it before” wrote the estate manager the following year. The relationship between Botrytis and German wines had begun, and as harvesting botrytised Riesling grapes became a desirable event, the development of the Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese categories followed, and today, Germany is the second most famous source of botrytised wines after France. Neusiedlersee in the Burgunland district of Austria is actually more successful than Germany at producing botrytised wines at the ultimate Trockenbeerenauslese level, with examples released nearly every year out of , Chardonnay and other grape varieties.

The sweet wines of Bordeaux and the Loire valley were much treasured in the Middle Ages, particularly by the Dutch, but without any mention of a specific fungus, or acknowledgement of any specific attribute. The principal French legend concerning the “discovery” of noble rot dates back to as recently as 1847, at Chateau d’Yquem (although the quality, style and youthfulness of earlier vintages of d’Yquem, such as the 1811, suggest that noble rot must have played an important part in wine production there before that date, and one must not forget that the estate was established sometime in the 12 th century). In France, Sauternes has the greatest potential for the production of quality botrytised wines, but nowadays, if one wants value for money, they can go for wines from the nearby Céron, Loupiac, Cadillac and Sainte-Croix-du-Mont. Also made from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc and Muscadelle, the wines made east of the Bordeaux region in Monbazillac and Saussignac, or further south, to a lesser extent, in Gaillac are also gtreat value for money. On the banks of the Loire river and its tributaries, sweet-wine production is more associated with passerillé wines, but long-lived botrytised wines are made “in the good years” from the Chenin Blanc grape in appellations such as Coteaux de l’Aubance, Coteaux du Layon, Chaume, Quarts de Chaume, Bonnezeaux, Montlouis and Vouvray.

Botrytised winemaking is an embryonic art in Italy, Spain and most of Portugal, where producers and consumers tend to favour either dried-grape wines or fortified wines.

Inoculation: In the New World, botrytised wines are made with increasing frequency, with examples in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and California particularly. There, the botrytis infestartion is often triggered by deliberate inoculation to ensure an annual outbreak. Nederburg Edelkeur was a South African prototype which enjoyed international acclaim in the 1970s (and Dellrust’s Jerepigo is a curious example of botrytised mistelle). In Australia, Griffith, a sub-region of Riverina, in New South Wales, was home to botrytised Pedro Ximénez as early as in the 1950s, and Riverina is now a centre for the production of relatively early-maturing examples made from the Sémillon grape, among which De Bortoli’s Noble One, first released in 1982, is the Yquem- emulated archetype that gained iconic status as the benchmark Australian sticky. More restrained and floral examples made from Sauvignon Blanc are produced in the Tasmanian river valleys. Concha y Toro has begun producing a convincing good-value example in Chile. Even England has been successful in producing botrytised wines.

Artificially-induced Noble Rot: The spread of botrytis winemaking to every wine producing country in the world is testament to how desirable bortytised wines have become. Californian winemakers have even resorted to simulating the development process of noble rot. The spores of the botrytis fungus are grown in a laboratory then spray onto freshly-picked healthy and ripe grapes. The inoculated grapes are then subjected to alternately humid and warm conditions for a couple of weeks. Noble rot invariably develops that way and the resulting grapes are eventually made into botrytised wine. The first example was made in the late 1950s by Myron Nightingale in the Livermore Valley. Its Premiere Semillon was soon followed by a series of similar wines made at Beringer in Napa.

Cryoextraction: Producers sometimes use a modern freezing concentration technique called cryoextraction. The technique was developed by Jean Merlaut of Château Rayne-Vigneau in conjunction with professors Chauvet and Sudraud of the University of Bordeaux and the newly-appointed regisseur Patrick Eymery. The technique is used in Sauternes in bad weather conditions, especially when wet at harvest time, in order to make botrytised wines against the odds. Indeed, in wet weather conditions, grapes get water-logged, thereby diluting wine quality, promoting the development of grey rot and ruining any chance of a successful crop unless cryoextraction is used. Naturally, the process has its problems and also its detractors. Some wine specialists claim that concentrating grape juice in this way only accentuates the flaws already in the wine. Nevertheless, the method is now widely used and soon extended to the production of fake Eiswein also.

PASSERILLÉ WINES: Consistent dry and breezy conditions will see late-harvest grapes desiccate on the vine without developing botrytis. As botrytis fails to develop, the grapes simply raisin in a process known as passerillage in France, and these raisins are used for the making of “Vin Passerillé”, which is, in essence, an on-the-vine version of a dried-grape wine. To be called Passerillé, the wine must be made out of grapes that have undergone the natural process of passerillage on the vine, with no twisting of the stem. “Vin de paille” is how the French call the dried-grape wines made from grapes dried to raisin off the vine. In France, wines made by twisting the stem, such as Muscat de Rivesaltes before it became a fortified wine, are no longer made. Passerillé wines are perceived as failed botrytised wines in Germany and Austria or failed ice wines in Canada, but the sweet wines of Gascony are pure examples of the style. These wines, described as moelleux in French (medium-sweet in other words), are made in Jurançon and Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh in the Madiran region from passerillé Petit Corbu and Petit Manseng grapes. They can be extremely rich and satisfying, but they are indeed typically less complex and long-lived than those made from grapes transformed by the action of noble rot or natural freeze concentration.

Some wine regions yield rather hybrid styles that are neither fully passerillé nor fully botrytised. In the Loire valley, the wines of Chaume count probably amongst the purest examples of the style. The most celebrated passerillé wines also count Sciacchetrà from the Cinque Terre, east of Genoa in Liguria, Italy; the Australian fortified wines from Rutherglen in Victoria to some extent; and most of all, the historical Constantia from the Cape, now being revived in the shape of the Natural Sweet Wine made by Klein Constantia and Groot Constantia, two fragments of the orginal estate.

Vin de Constance is made from Muscat de Frontignan (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains) grown from cuttings taken from the original vines that produced the legendary, aromatic and concentrated 18 th century dessert wine. Constantia’s fame was never matched by any other New World wine. At its height, Constantia commanded more prestige, more fabulous prices, and enjoyed more crowned patronage than the most celebrated wines of Europe, with the exception of the Hungarian Tokaji and the Romanian Cotnari.

Cane Cut Wines: Australian winemakers took on the Cane-cut viticultural technique, first developed by the Australian and Californian food industries, and turned Cane Cut wines very much into a speciality of their own. The Cane-cut technique was designed back in the 1950s to artificially produce dried- on-the-vine or DoV grapes for the production of raisins, with views to substitute mechanisation to costly manual operations and drying trays. The Cane-cut technique involves severing the fruiting cane near its base, approaching harvest time, thereby cutting water supplies and allowing the near fully matured bunches of grapes to dry while hanging from the trellis wire, down to a 25 to 35% loss in moisture after 6 weeks. The Cane-cut technique, a clever and efficient alternative to the rather labour intensive and extinct stem-twisting technique, is best understood as an artificially- induced passerillage. A number of Australian boutique wineries now produce Cane-Cut wines: the most commonly found examples on export markets are Mount Horrocks Cordon Cut Riesling from Clare Valley, made by Stephanie Toole, and Two Hands “For Love or Money” Cane Cut Semillon from the Barossa Valley, made by Matt Wenk.

ICE WINES:

Ice Wine is the direct Anglicisation of the German and Austrian Eiswein, sweet wine made from late-harvest grapes picked botrytis-free when frozen on the vine and pressed so that water crystals remain in the press and the sugar content of the resulting wine is increased. This sort of true ice wine is also made in small quantities in Luxemburg, where it is known as Vin de Glace, but it has very much become a speciality in Canada, where it is known as Icewine. It is also increasingly made elsewhere, including Oregon and Michigan in the US.

But beware, for the term Ice Wine often qualifies wine made by artificial freeze concentration or cryo(genic)-extraction in regions where the weather does not permit the production of the genuine article. South Africa opted for not recognising Ice Wine as a national wine style, but California, Australia and New Zealand are no strangers to the winery wine, often made from fresh grapes rather than late-harvest grapes, which allows 13 times as much wine as under Canadian regulations to be made. This is why Canada trademarked their production as Icewine to distinguish it from the fakes of lesser quality. The winemaking consultant Andrew Hood pioneered tank-frozen Rieslings in Tasmania, but had the decency of labelling them as Iced Riesling , thereby hinting at a technological helping hand (unless I get the wrong impression!).

Eiswein designates true ice wines in Germany and Austria, where the style has its own prädikat. It is no surprise that, as is the case with botrytis, there are a number of myths and legends surrounding how the method was developed. Doubtless it was a serendipitous discovery, but just when and where it occurred is open to debate. One thing is for certain: there seem to have been little effort to systematically produce ice wine prior to the invention of the pneumatic press (any other type of press would have shattered against the ice crystals compressed into a solid block), and other portable electrical lighting equipment (for light is necessary for pickers to do their job in the dark early morning hours of harvest). Until then, eiswein production was most certainly the result of freak weather conditions. The deliberate picking of frozen grapes with any significant frequency seems to have started in the 1960s. From the 1980s, the practice became routine at the majority of top German estates where vineyards are prone to deep frost.

frost powerfully concentrates not just the sugars in the grapes, but also the acids and other extracts, and Riesling Eiswein is the most high in acidity (and often in price) of all German wines.

For best results, frost below -8°C is required (-7° only under Austrian wine law), which implies harvesting at between five and eight in the morning in the first sufficiently cold November or December days. Eiswein picked in January or even February is not uncommon, but is seldom of as high quality. Such wines from grapes harvested in a new calendar year will bear the vintage year of their growing season on the label. The grapes are collected in whole bunches, a considerably easier process than the selection of individual berries affected by the rather capricious noble rot, as required for Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese. Since 1982, eiswein has its own prädikat, with the same minimum must weight as Beerenauslese. The controversial use of semi-permeable plastic sheeting spread over the vines to protect the berries from birds and rain while waiting for a suitable deep frost has helped eiswein to be produced routinely. While a classic eiswein is traditionally made from botrytis-free grapes, this is not a legal requirement, and in fact, the use of plastic sheeting often promotes humidity and thus a low level of botrytis in the shrouded grapes.

Icewine, made in British Columbia, Québec, and particularly Ontario, is Canada’s version of eiswein and the crown jewel of its wine industry. Inninkillin, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, under the direction of the Austrian-born winemaker Karl Kaiser, was the first winery to commercially produce Canadian icewine in 1984 (though the wine, made from the hybrid Vidal, was then labelled as eiswein). The international breakthrough came in 1991, when Inniskillin’s 1989 Vidal Icewine won the Grand Prix d’Honneur at Vinexpo. In 1993, only 72,000 half litre bottles of icewine were produced, but by 2004, annual production had grown to more than 800,000. Each half bottle would retail at more than C$50. By the early 2000s, Canada was established as the largest ice wine producer in the world. Alongside Inniskillin, Pelee Island and Hillbrand were among the pioneering producers. Pillitteri Estates emerged in the 2000s as the world’s largest ice wine producer, and Royal De Maria can boast the most pricy example with their 2006 Chardonnay Icewine.

The word “Icewine” has been trademarked by the Canadian Vintners Quality Alliance, or VQA, which imposes the most stringent standards of ice wine production in the world, notably in terms of minimum must weight. The must weight must indeed be at least 35° Brix, which represents a much higher minimum natural sugar level than legally required anywhere else:

MINIMUM MUST WEIGHT REQUIREMENTS Canadian Icewine 35° Brix 153° Oe German Eiswein Varies depending on wine zone and grape variety 110-128° Oe Austrian Eiswein 25° KMW 125° Oe Luxemburgian Vin de Glace 120° Oe

Since 1997, all grapes used for VQA Icewine have to be grown and processed in British Columbia. They must be grown and pressed within a recognised viticultural Area and cannot be processed but by VQA member wineries or Ontario grape growers registered as VQA processors (strict monitoring systems are in place). Icewine must be a varietal wine made from vinifera grape variety or the French hybrid Vidal. The grapes must be naturally frozen on the vine then picked below -8°C then kept frozen till pressing. No artificial freezing equipment can be used during transportation, pressing or vinification (even cold stabilisation prior to bottling is prohibited). No artificial concentration technique is allowed either. Both the alcohol and residual sugar (min 125 g/l) must come from the natural sugars in the grapes hence no enrichment is allowed, either in the shape of chaptalisation prior to fermentation or sweet reserve at bottling.

The sky-high acid and sweetness levels in ice wine suggest that it should be very long-lived, if not indestructible. Just how ice wine performs with long cellaring, however, is not yet clear. 1962 was the first commercially successful vintage in Germany, and Canada is virtually a newcomer on the scene, so there are no ancient examples in existence to assess.

FORTIFIED WINES

Fortification is the practice of adding grape spirit to wine to ensure microbiological stability, thereby adding alcoholic strength and precluding any further fermentation. The principle behind this addition of alcohol is that most strains of bacteria and yeast are rendered impotent, unable to react with sugar or other wine constituents in solutions beyond 16 to 18%abv, depending on the strain of yeast.

The stage at which “neutral” grape spirit is added has enormous implications in terms of the sweetness of the style of fortified wine the process contributes to producing. The earlier it is added in the course of the fermentation process, the sweeter the resulting wine. Adding grape spirit to unfermented grape juice results in the sweetest style of fortified wine, like Pineau des Charentes, the famous sticky sweet Vin de liqueur. Adding spirit mid way through the fermentation process results in a sweet fortified wine, like Port. Adding grape spirit after the wine has fermented fully to dryness results in the third style of fortified wine, which is dry, like Sherry.

Fortified wine made by adding grape spirit to unfermented grape must: When grape spirit is added to grape must before the juice begins to ferment, the resulting wine is known as mistelle in France or mistela in Spain. Wines made that way have an alcoholic strength of between 16 and 22%abv, but display no secondary products of fermentation such as glycerol or succinic acid, and consequently have a thin texture, a simple character, and need be chilled to be fully enjoyed, for otherwise they can prove rather spirity.

In France, Mistelles take the shape of a variety of local specialities labelled as “Vin de Liqueur” (VdL). Beware, for the term Vin de Liqueur has also been adopted by EU authorities to encompass all fortified wines, though most professionals understand Vin de Liqueur as being a mistelle in contrast to “Vin doux Naturel” (VDN), the Port-style of fortified wine. Pineau des Charentes is the best known Vin de Liqueur in France. It is produced in the Cognac region out of the same white grape varieties as used in the making of Cognac when white, or alternatively out of the same black grape varieties as grown in the neighbouring Bordeaux region when “rosé”. It is produced by adding unaged Cognac to fresh grape must, resulting in the most agreeable beverage, with a sweet attack and a surprisingly clean, dry finish. As most mistelles, it can be released young, or occasionally aged, in what case it is labelled as “Vieux”. Floc de Gascogne is a similar product made in the Armagnac region. A Vin de Liqueur can also be made by fortifying grape must with Marc, a coarser brandy distilled from grape pomace rather than wine as in Cognac and Armagnac. A famous example is the Macvin du Jura. The style is often labelled under the generic term Ratafia, as in Ratafia de Champagne and Ratafia de Bourgogne. They are made by fortifying the juice of local white or black grape varieties with Marc de Champagne or Marc de Bourgogne respectively. Cartagène du Languedoc can be made by using either type of grape spirit, while Rinquinquin is a peach-infused example made in Provence (but since it is questionable as whether mistelle is wine or not, let’s forget about the many fruit-flavoured examples that could take us too far away from the realm of winemaking!).

Mistela is mainly used as some sort of “sweet reserve” in the making of sweetened Sherry-style wines in Andalusia, though some examples can sometimes be bottled for release on the local market. They are a fresher alternative to the “vino dulce natural”, the luscious VDNs often made from dried grapes that are the mainstay of Spanish sweet winemaking. Indeed, it is an almost invariable rule that anywhere hot enough to produce good fortified wine is too hot to provide the ideal climate for its consumption. In the Levante, mistela comes as a style in its own right, where it is made from the Moscatel de Alejandría grape variety and labelled as Moscatel de Valencia.

The Portuguese Jeropiga is what the South African speciality known as Jerepigo, Jerepiko or Jerepico, made from either white or black grape varieties, takes its inspiration from.

After Europe was struck by the outbreak of phylloxera in the mid 19 th century, many French producers settled in Greece to produce the wines the market had suddenly become very short of. The impact of that is still felt today, as demonstrated by the adoption of the French AC system in Greece and the fact that France still remains the biggest export market for such wines as those of Sámos in the Aegean for instance. When the island of Sámos itself was affected by phylloxera in 1892, economics dictated the replanting program, and the profitable Moschato Aspro, known locally as Moschoudi, but better known as Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, came to represent 97% of the island’s vineyard area. By the early 1900s, Muscat de Sámos could claim to be Greece’s most famous wine (after retsina), though almost all exports of Sámos wine were Vin de Liqueur, which one could argue that it is not wine at all. In 1934, to put an end to disagreements between growers and traders triggered by a severe drop in prices during the world wine glut between the two World Wars, the Greek government established one single Co-op monopoly in charge of the island’s wine industry: the Union of Viticultural Cooperatives of Samos, or ΕΟΣΣ . Vin Doux, their young Vin de Liqueur, remains the most popular wine from Sámos (Anthemis is the aged version of the same wine).

Grand Cru is the Union’s Vin Doux Naturel, the archetypal fortified wine style that most people know as Port-style wine.

Fortifided wine made by adding grape spirit to partially fermented grape must: Vins Doux Naturel translates from French into English as Natural Sweet Wine. These local specialities labelled as VDNs and made from Muscat and Grenache in the south of France (the so-called Midi, stretching from the Roussillon to the Rhône Valley via the Languedoc), might well be considered as unnaturally sweet altogether. The sweetness is indeed not the result of the inability for yeasts to convert sugars into alcohol in an excessively sugar-rich environment anymore, as in dried-grape and late-harvested-grape wines, but that of artificially arresting the fermentation process by mutage, the process of poisoning fermenting yeasts by adding grape spirit to level beyond 15%abv.

The Greeks, happily ignorant of distillation, already knew how to make a wine sweet by adding concentrated must to a poisonous level to the yeast. But almost as soon as the technique of distillation was introduced into Western Europe and mutage proved to have the power to stop fermentation also and preserve the sweetness so prised by our forebears, mutage took over. The Catalan alchemist Arnaldus de Villanova (Arnaud de Villeneuve) of the then flourishing medical school of Montpellier University perfected the process and, in 1299, was granted the patent from the king of Majorca, then ruler of Roussillon. From then on, the Roussillon became the centre of Vin Doux Naturel production in France.

Essentially, in the mind of the British, the archetypal wine made sweet this way is Port, though Port was created nearly 400 years later than Vin Doux Naturel. VDN, like Port and similar styles like sweet Madeira and Vino Dulce Naturale in Andalucia, see grape spirit added when the fermenting must has just reached 6%abv in alcohol. The spirit added to a VDN is 95%abv in alcoholic strength. It might be considerably stronger than that added to Port, traditionally 77%abv in alcoholic strength, but since it only constitutes between 5 and 10% of its final volume, typically resulting in wine at just over 15%abv, a VDN will contain less alcohol and less added water than Port. Indeed, the added spirit usually represents 20% of the final volume of Port, making it 20%abv in alcoholic strength on average.

The grape spirit added to such wines, mostly distilled in a continuous still, have a more or less neutral character depending on their purity (their final alcoholic strength in other words). The spirit used for the making of Port wines is only 77%abv, and contributes the most pungent floral notes to the final wine. At the time when Port Shippers had to do with what they were given by the Casa do Douro, who had the monopoly on sourcing and distributing the fortifying spirit, undesirable aromas could be departed to the wine. But nowadays, Port Shippers can source their own aguardente. Fortifying grape spirit, regardless of whether it is used for the making of a VDN or any other Port-style wine, can be sourced outside the area of production, notably from one of the three biggest wine lakes in Europe: France, Spain or Italy.

A young VDN, like Port, tastes relatively simply of grapes, sugar, and alcohol (although since some fermentation has usually taken place, it may contain a more interesting array of fermentation products, and therefore be altogether more integrated and complex than a Vin de Liqueur. VDNs are nevertheless best enjoyed chilled, especially the young Muscat wines, so as to offset their high sugar and alcohol contents.

In the Languedoc, VDNs are designed to be drunk young, and to that effect they are made out of the Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains grape in one of four appellations: Muscat de Frontignan (which also lends its name to the grape variety itself), Muscat de Lunel, Muscat de Mireval, and Muscat de Saint-Jean-de-Minervois (exceptionally located far away from the coast, but benefiting from the cooling effect of altitude instead, as grapes are grown high at the topmost of the hills). These wines produced in the “Département de l’Hérault” vary in colour from golden to almost rosé, and are marked by a dried-fruit character reminiscent of sultana.

In the 1970s, the similar and often finer Muscat made in the Côtes du Rhône village of Beaumes-de-Venise enjoyed renown on an international scale. This is probably because it is fresher and not as sweet as its Languedoc-Roussillon counterparts, and much easier for non-natives to appreciate than the other VDN appellation produced in the southern Rhône: Rasteau. The VDNs of Rasteau are Grenache-based and bottled either fresh and fruity while still retaining a vibrant purple colour, or after a minimum of two years in cask, over which period they develop a tawny colour and a more developed character. When the wine is aged outdoors in full sunshine to maximise oxidation, the resulting wine is bottled under its own appellation: Rasteau Rancio. This deliberate oxidative process brings a slightly sour edge to the more caramel, coffee and walnut-rich flavours of the wine (the so-called rancio character). If the wines of Beaumes-de-Venise are close in style to the fresh Muscats of the Languedoc, the wines of Rasteau have more in common with the wines of the Roussillon.

The best VDNs of the Roussillon, similarly to Rasteau, owe their complex flavours necessarily to ageing, either in cask, demijohn or bottle. The best examples of Grenache are produced in Banyuls, where Grand Cru level wines must have spent a minimum of 30 months in cask. Like in Rasteau, a Banyuls Rancio appellation exists for wines held in glass demijohns and deliberately left outside to oxidise in full sunshine. Maury, a smaller appellation in the mountains, produces similar wines to Banyuls.

The vast costal appellations of Rivesaltes and Muscat de Rivesaltes are much more varied and sometimes traduced. Muscat de Rivesaltes is by far the biggest Muscat appellation in France, with 70% of the national production, and unlike the four Muscat appellations of the Languedoc, its wines are made from the mainly, with only some superior Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains blended to it to bring some finesse. Much of it is of decidedly ordinary quality, though Domaine de Cazes and Domaine des Chênes produce some great bottling. On the other hand, the Rivesaltes appellation can be a blend of every colour of Grenache with the two Muscats, as well as with Maccabéo and Torbato (locally known as Malvoisie du Rousillon). Varietal wines are allowed, from the golden Maccabéo to a Grenache Noir that can be anything from crimson to deep chocolate brown depending on its élevage: vinified “en blanc” like a white wine or macerated on its skins for maximum extraction, aged in stainless steel or in wood, sometimes exposed to the punishing sun of the Roussillon to maximise its rancio character. As for Grand Roussillon, it is a largely theoretical VDN appellation designed as a lesser Rivesaltes.

Non-vintage-dated VDNs are common, particularly among the Muscats of the Languedoc, into which a little of the previous year’s output may be blended so as to smooth out vintage variations. It is common in the Roussillon, however, to find indications of age and vintage dates, although most VDNs are ready to drink when just released onto the market.

Much better known than VDNs, but still made according to the same principals, is Port. The many fortified wines of Australia, California and South Africa that emulate the style of the famous wine of the Douro are not allowed to label themselves as Port (at least they cannot legally be sold on the EU market labelled as such). Port wines are made from a great variety of fermented together hence one would argue that grape varieties do simply not matter in Port winemaking. The noblest black grape varieties used for the making of Port include , , , , Tinta Roriz and . Small quantities of rosé and White Port are made. Rosé Port emerged since the creation of the style at Croft in 2008. It is made by the saignée method out of the same varieties as for red Port. As for white Port, it is dominated by the Malvasia Fina grape variety. Port wines come in a variety of styles that can be split into two main categories: the Ruby styles, including Vintage Port, the deep ruby colour of which is preserved by minimum exposure to oxygen, either through minimum oxidative ageing in large vats or through early bottling, and the Tawny styles, the tawny colour of which is the result of extended oxidative ageing is small casks called pipes [see Port document for more details].

The juicy Mavrodaphne de Pátras, named after the black grape variety it is made from, is also a Port-style wine, and one of the only sweet fortified wines from Greece to enjoy some international notoriety. Some good examples have a real ageing potential in the bottle.

In Port winemaking, since high levels of alcohol prove too powerful a solvent of harsh tannins, maceration on the skins cannot carry on after fortification has taken place, hence maximum extraction of colour and soft tannins must be achieved over the short period of time that precedes fortification (typically two to three days). Treading the grapes in a lagar, a shallow fermenting trough, either by using human workforce or piston technology, is the historical solution that was adopted in the Douro. To the contrary, Grenache being very low in tannin and anthocyanins (the colour pigments in the grapes), long maceration on the skins after fortification is necessary in Banyuls, Maury and Rasteau for the making of the best quality and deepest coloured wines.

Moscatel de Setúbal is made just south of Lisbon, and its particularity, in contrast to any other Muscat style around the Mediterranean, to the exception of the fortified Passito di Pantelleria examples labelled as liquoroso, is that the pungent Muscat of Alexandria is left to macerate on its skins for five to six months after fortification, thereby imparting a taste of fresh dessert grapes and giving Setúbal its intense fruit Character.

Debased forms of some of the dried-grape wines of Antiquity are still produced today. They are now fortified and aged in solera (a series of interconnected casks that sees wines from different vintages gradually blend, hence the resulting wines are always non vintage).

The most legendary example is Commandaria of Cyprus, made from the (red) Mavro and the (white) Xinistery grape varieties. Commandaria is most probably a descendent of the Nama described by the poet Hesiod as long ago as 800 BC, before it was eventually taken on by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem in their chief feudal holding: the Grand Commandery (from which the wine takes its contemporary name).

Andalusia is the source of other notable examples in the Jerez, Montilla-Moriles and Málaga appellations. These wines are made from sundried Pedro Ximénez, or PX, and Moscatel de Alejandría. Montilla is the source of the best quality PX wines, with a licence to provide the neighbouring DOs with supplies of grapes, especially for the making of sweeteners needed for the production of Olorosso Dulce in Jerez (a blend of bone-dry Oloroso and sticky-sweet PX). Oloroso Dulce is the best quality sweet wine produced in the region, altogether more balanced and less cloying than the lusciously, if no sickeningly sweet PX (the only real gastronomic application of PX is as an alternative to chocolate sauce on top of vanilla ice cream... yummy, yummy!). That influence of Montilla is reflected in the name Amontillado given to a style of Sherry that translates virtually as “Montilla-ed”.

In the same vein as these fortified derivations of ancient styles of dried grape wines is the luscious Rutherglen Muscat, made in northern Victoria, in Australia. The Brown Muscat, a dark-skinned mutation of the Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains, is left to desiccate to raisin on the vine in the desert-like conditions of the region rather than picked then dried off the vine, but the wine achieves a far deeper concentration and complexity because the wine is aged in a system that is a hybrid between the solera of Andalucia and an estufagem of Madeira. The fractional blending system of ageing is indeed housed in a shed made of corrugated iron, thereby heating the wine and acceleration the concentration and oxidation of the wine. wines made by adding grape spirit to fully fermented grape must: Sherry-style wines see grape spirit added only after they have been fully fermented to dryness. Sherry and Montilla (perceived as being a cheaper version despite of its intrinsic qualities) are wines made from the grape. Fino is the lightest coloured style, for its ageing under flor preserves the pale lemon green colour of the wine. The flor is made of a film of yeast that feeds on glycerol, oxygen and nutrients in the wine, thereby making it cleaner looking as it ages further (Vin Jaune in the Jura and Szamorodni Száraz in Tokaj are made in the same way). Manzanilla is a specific appellation for Palomino wines aged under flor in Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Its wines have an extra saltiness to them, which is brought about, not by the proximity of the sea, but by the fact that milder weather conditions keep the flor healthier and more active all year long, thereby allowing the film-forming yeast to purify the wine more thoroughly, with no hint of oxidation. Amontillado is the amber version of a Fino, as the wine gradually oxidises as the flor dies back after a number of years (from a minimum of three years to up to seven years). Since flor does not develop at a higher level of alcohol, Fino, Manzanilla and Amontillado are fortified to a 15%abv alcoholic strength, while the other styles of Sherries are fortified to a higher level, around 18%abv.

Oloroso is one of these other styles, which is characterised by its being oxidised from the start, while Palo Cortado it a wine that held the promise of becoming a Fino but turned out to develop oxidatively like an Oloroso.

Sherries are all bone-dry in style. Sweet Sherries are the result of a subsequent addition of a sweetening agent, either RCGM in the case of commercial styles such as Croft Original and Bristol Cream, which are mainly designed to be sold on the UK market. Oloroso Dulce is the best quality of sweetened Sherry, made as a blend of bone dry Oloroso and fortified sundried PX. Mistela can also be added to some extent to Amontillado wines, resulting in a medium dry style. This is the style of wine consumers are served when ordering a Medium Sherry, and, since all Sherries are naturally bone dry in style, when one asks for a Medium Sherry, they condemn themselves to be served a commercial example, not a fine Amontillado.

Madeira is a bit of a hybrid style, for the dryer examples are made in the Sherry style and the sweeter ones in the Port style. Madeira is made to increasing levels of sweetness depending on the grape variety it is made from: dry when made from the Sercial grape variety, medium dry from Verdelho or the rarer Terrantez or Bastardo grape varieties, medium sweet from Bual/Boal, or sweet from Malmsey/Malvasia. The black grape variety Tinta Negra Mole can take on any of the characteristics of the noble grape varieties mentioned above depending on where and at which altitude it is grown. The stage of the fermentation process at which grape spirit is added perfects the final style of wine made from Tinta Negar Mole. The name of this lesser varietal, contrary to that of the noble varietals, never appears on labels. The degree of sweetness, when mentioned alone, is an indicator that the wine was made from Tinta Negra. But bear in mind that Tinta Negra is by far the most widely planted grape variety on the island, representing 90% of the vineyard area, while all the noble grape varieties put together only amount to a mere 10% [see Madeira document for more details].

The best examples of Madeira wines are aged statistically in old wooden casks in the heat of sundrenched lofts so has to develop a rancio character. The process is known after the name of the racks on which the casks are resting: Canteiro. Vintage Madeira must legally undergo extended ageing by the canteiro process (no less than 20 years in cask prior to some time in glass carboys called garrafoes). Vintage Madeira is one of the very few wines that come of age too late to be given to a godchild on their 21th birthday. The ageing process can be accelerated by artificially heating the wine through a process known as estufagem (stewing in tanks) for the making of nearly 90% of all Madeira wines. Having been deliberately oxidised through thorough oxygenation and heating, Madeira wines are virtually indestructible, even after the bottle has been open for months.

Conclusion: This overview of the different sweet winemaking processes cannot go without a fair degree of simplification and caricature. One always wants things to fit profiles and tick boxes in a comforting quest to grab a firm understanding of their environment. Nature and human genius have combined to provide us with that kaleidoscopic world of sweet wines; a varied selection of eminently technical wines, the character of each one of which reflects an origin. Quality sweet wines are indeed wines of typicity, with the hand of man as the main factor into the equation of their respective terroirs. Some styles might sometimes overlap, thereby blurring boundaries and making them difficult to categorise, but sweet wines are always surprising and a source of endless pleasures. So, start on a journey of discovery.

Tutored Tuesday 9th November 2010

SWEET WINES “Various ways of achieving sweetness into wine”

Speaker: Eric LAGRE Sommelier

SWEET WINE TASTING Tutored by Eric LAGRE Tasting notes by Eric LAGRE, Magda KOTLARCZYK and Anja BREIT WSET Diploma Graduates

NARRATIVE

Scharz, Riesling Auslese, 2007, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany, Weingut Sybille Kuntz Tokaji Szamorodni Édes, 2003, Mad, Hungary, Bodvin (Orosz Gábor) First step towards selective harvesting Vs harvesting “as it comes”; though both wines would qualify as Late Harvest in Alsace for they are made from grapes with long hangtime but not or little Botrytis-affected. The concentration in residual sugars is therefore minimal and the richness is no more than that of the juicy little sweetness of the fruit, making for tartaric and thirst quenching, dry to medium sweet wines. In that sense, these wines are easier to match with food than proper sweet wines. Try the Riesling with roast Pork and the sweet Szamorodni with rabbit stew; yummy! It is a shame that the sweetness level is often not indicated on the labels of such wines. The sweetness often takes consumers by surprise to their utmost annoyance.

Riesling Beerenauslese, 1999, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany, Weingut Sybille Kuntz Riesling Eiswein, Maxim Grünhäuser Absberg , 2002, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany (Carl Von Schubert) Both these styles are the most extreme forms of late-harvested grape wines traditionally found in Germany. Feel how noble rot brings extra viscosity to the fully botrytised Beerenauslese, while the Eiswein is altogether much cleaner with its crisp acidity, fresh fruit and light texture. Both wines compete for the title of “King of Sweet Wines”, for both styles have the greatest potential for complexity and ageing in the bottle.

Cordon Cut Riesling, 2009, Mount Horrocks, Clare Valley, South Australia (Stephanie Toole) Ben Ryé, 2008, Passito di Pantelleria, Sicily, Italy, Donnafugata (Stefano Valla) Both these “dried grape wines” show the two opposite developments of sweet winemaking over the ages. Cane-cut wine, made from grapes dried on the vine, is the most modern style of sweet wine produced to this date, whereas the Passito, the making of which involves picking the grapes, sun-drying them then diluting their concentrated sweetness into a dry wine base, follows the most ancient winemaking recipe ever devised to make a wine sweet; that used for the making of the Passum of Antiquity. They both exhibit a very satisfying richness but they are nothing as fine, complex and age-worthy as the two previous German examples.

Vin Doux, 2008, Vin de Liqueur, Samos, Greece, Union of viticultural cooperatives of Samos Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, 2009, Vin doux Naturel, Domaine de la Pigeade (Thierry Vaute) Vin Doux is probably the most iconic Vin de Liqueur in the world, while Beaumes-de-Venise is the only Vin Doux Naturel from the French Midi to have achieved international notoriety (especially here in the UK). Subtlety is not the main feature of the mistelle, for it is sticky sweet and far less complex, textured and integrated than the VDN. Partial fermentation might have brought something more to the VDN, but both wines are intrinsically unbalanced and rely on the pure Turkish-delight yumminess of the pungently perfumed Muscat grape they are made from to appeal. They need to be served chilled to offset their sweetness and alcohol and be enjoyed.

Grand Rutherglen Muscat, NV, Victoria, Australia, Campbells Oxidative ageing has the potential to concentrate both sweetness and acidity, as in this 15 Year Old Rutherglen Muscat. Thanks to the ageing process, the wine is lusciously sweet but has nothing cloying about it. It is all smoothness and pungency of Muscat aromas. The complexity of this wine only calls for superlatives. Most of all, it is its extra rancio character that gives this wine the edge.

Tutored Sweet Wine Tasting Tuesday 9 th November 2010 Speaker: Eric LAGRE, Sommelier

TASTING LIST

Scharz, Riesling Auslese, 2007 Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany, Weingut Sybille Kuntz (Markus Kuntz-Riedlin)

Tokaji Szamorodni Édes, 2003 Mad, Hungary, Bodvin (Orosz Gábor)

Riesling Beerenauslese, 1999 Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany, Weingut Sybille Kuntz (Markus Kuntz-Riedlin)

Riesling Eiswein, Maxim Grünhäuser Absberg, 2002 Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany (Carl Von Schubert)

Cordon Cut Riesling, 2009 Mount Horrocks, Clare Valley, South Australia (Stephanie Toole)

Ben Ryé, Passito di Pantelleria, 2008 Sicily, Italy, Donnafugata (Stefano Valla)

Vin Doux, Vin de Liqueur, 2008 Samos, Greece, Union of viticultural cooperatives of Samos

Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, Vin doux Naturel, 2009 Domaine de la Pigeade (Thierry Vaute)

Grand Rutherglen Muscat, NV Victoria, Australia, Campbells Wine: Scharz, Auslese Vintage: 2007 Style: Late-harvest wine made from selected overripe bunches (little botrytis) Origin: Niederber-Helden, Lieser, Mosel Producer Weingut Sybille Kuntz (Sybille Kuntz and Markus Kuntz-Riedlin winemakers) Capacity: 750ml Merchant: O.W. Loeb Wholesale: £22.92 DPD ex VAT Grape Variety: Riesling Alcohol: 13%abv Total Acidity: 7.7 g/l PH: 3.2 Residual Sugar: 29 g/l

The estate is planted with Riesling vines, part of which is between 60 and 90 years of age and ungrafted. The vines are grown on steep slopes of traditional slate soil and managed so as to produce a great quality of fruit by limiting yields. To that effect, the grower practices shoot thinning in May (so that the most fruitful shoots benefit from maximum nutrition from the plant), leaf removal in June (to an optimum fruit to leaf ration of 6 to 7 leaves per shoot so that the fruit fully ripens as it is exposed to maximum sunlight) then green harvesting in August (when only two bunches of grapes per shoot are left hanging so that optimum concentration is achieved). Like anywhere in Germany when making prädkatsweins, selective harvesting is the norm, which means that grapes are picked in several waves (tris) from late September/early October to as late as December (and even in the first month of the New Year, at which date Eiswein can still be made). A week from the declaration of the harvest, the grapes for the making of Kabinett are picked from the youngest vines in the sites most prone to botrytis (usually the humid bottom part of the slope), for otherwise, they would be bound to rot with longer hangtime. Until the last week of October, riper, botrytis-free grapes for the making of Spätlese are selected in sites also susceptible to rot, but from older vines, between 40 and 60 years of age. Over that period, the grapes that are slightly botrytis-affected, are put aside in a series of four to five tris for the making of Auslese. The last bunches are harvested from older vines that yield as little as 25hl/ha. The slightly botrytis-affected grapes picked in the course of that series of tris are fermented slowly then the resulting blend is matured on lees till filtration in February then bottling at the end of June.

Appearance: This white looks clear and bright. It is medium lemon yellow in colour, with a gold tinge to the core and a watery rim. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean. It has a medium intensity of developing aromas, both fruity and floral, with a strong mineral character. The petroleum and rubber aromas, so typical of a developing Riesling, marry well with the red apple lifted by lemon and lime. The richness of the wine, with hints of exotic fruit such as papaya and mango, is made fresher by floral notes of white lilies and honeysuckle.

Palate: This medium-plus bodied wine is medium sweet; a sweetness that feels like no more than the juicy little sweetness of its fruit character, made so fresh by medium plus acidity and strong chalky minerality. The wine exhibits a medium intensity of red apple as well as apricot and peach flavours. Notes of exotic fruits like pineapple are rather unripe. That feature is enhanced by a zesty lemon and lime fruit and vegetal notes of blanched almonds and fresh ginger. It results in a “bitter-lemon” overall effect that lingers in a finish of medium plus length.

Assessment of Quality: This Auslese is very good. The rich fruit character, rather complex, is in balance with the acidity, made even fresher by a strong mineral character. With such a quality German Riesling, still full of youth, it is often advisable to decant the wine so that it opens up and yields all that it has got to offer.

Wine: Tokaji Szamorodni Édes Vintage: 2003 Style: wine made from unselected clusters with minimum botrytis Origin : Tokaji Édes Fehér Borkülönlegesség (Tokaj Sweet Wine Speciality) Mád, Tokaj, Hungary Producer: Bodvin (Orosz Gábor winemaker) Capacity: 500 ml Importer: Malux Foods Wholesale: £9.70 Retail: £15.90 from “The Theatre of Wine” in Greenwich Grape blend: Furmint, Hárslevel ű, and Sárgamuskotály (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains) Alcohol: 13.5%abv Total Acidity: 5.6 Residual Sugar: 46.8 g/l

Sweet Szamorodni is a form of late-harvest wine made from grapes with little botrytis. When Botrytis affects less than 50% of the grapes in a vineyard, it does not make economical sense to practice selective harvesting hence every bunch is picked “as it comes” (the literal translation of the name of this style of wine from Tokaj). The grapes were harvested from 5 to 10 November. Since the ripening season was exceptionally hot and dry in 2003, hardly any botrytis developed and record-high must weight was achieved. The wine is fermented and matured on its lees in old barrels for two years then racked into ageing barrels for a further period of maturation of three years and a half before bottling.

Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright, though a slight orange tinge to the core makes the medium gold colour slightly dull. The narrow rim is watery. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean. It is developing and has a medium plus intensity of overripe fruits, somewhat stewed, such as yellow plum (Mirabelle), banana and other exotic fruits. The richness of aromas, with notes of dried apricot, is enhanced by a scent of candle wax, honey, caramel and sweet spices like tobacco leaf. Some freshness is brought about by aromas of freshly squeezed orange juice mixed with fennel and yellow flowers.

Palate: This medium-plus bodied wine proves to be only medium sweet despite the promises of the rich overripe nose. The acidity is just medium and the alcohol is medium plus, but the wine manages a cleansing effect thank to the medium intensity of its juicy yellow plum and pear fruit character. Notes of orange peel, lemon thyme and tea leaf gradually give a slightly bitter edge to the juicy finish of medium length of this wine as they appear.

Assessment of Quality: This wine is good. The fruit character is fairly simple but fresh and not without charm. It is that freshness of fruit character on the palate that brings a sensation of balance, despite the fact that the acidity is only medium in comparison to a fairly high alcohol level.

Wine: Beerenauslese Vintage: 1999 Style: Wine made from selected botrytis-affected grape berries Origin: Niederberg-Helden, Lieser, Mosel Producer: Weingut Sybille Kuntz (Sybille and Markus Kuntz Riedlin winemakers) Capacity: 375 ml Merchant: O.W. Loeb Wholesale: £41.67 Grape Variety: 100% Riesling Alcohol: 11.5%abv Total Acidity: 6.5 g/l Residual Sugar: 100 g/l

Towards the end of October, botrytis is widespread, and the last selection of overripe bunches of grapes destined for the making of Auslese marks the beginning of strict berry selection for the making of the truly sweet wines of Germany. Strict selection means that pickers must use three harvesting baskets at a time: the first one for the slightly botrytis-affected overripe bunches for the making of Auslese, the other for the fully-botrytised individual berries for the making of Beerenauslese, and the last one for the single grape berries botrytised to raisin for the making of Trockenbeerenauslese (only in exceptional vintages). The botrytised berries are selected in a series of tris from the oldest vines, between 60 and 90 years old, near the top of the slope, where a combination of good ventilation and good aspect is the key to avoiding grey rot from spoiling the crop. The present wine is a fully botrytised wine; the most complex, textured and long-lived style of sweet wine.

Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright. It is deep gold in colour with an amber tinge to the core and a narrow lemon yellow rim. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean. It is developing and has a pronounced intensity of orange marmalade character mixed with some waxiness and a well-integrated petroleum-like minerality. The richness of the fruit character exhibits notes of pine resin, dark Black Forest honey and caramel, as well as white pepper.

Palate: This medium to medium-plus bodied wine is sweet. That uncertainty in relation to the body of the wine comes from the fact that, yes, it has a medium plus intensity of rich fruit character, but it combines levels of alcohol and acidity that are only medium minus for the former but medium plus for the later. The acidity is made even fresher by strong minerality. Consequently, the wine feels lighter than it probably is. It tastes like hard candied honey, maple syrup and caramel. Lemon, lime and bitter orange bring some zest to very ripe exotic fruit flavours of pineapple and mango, and even dried fruit flavours of apricot and currants. The richness is enhanced by sweet spices. That complexity of flavours lasts in the long length of the finish.

Assessment of Quality: This botrytised wine is outstanding. The very rich fruit character of this wine is kept in balance by a high acidity and a fresh minerality. Since the sweetness is not cloying, the wine can yield its complexity as one appreciates its long finish. The wine is so cleansing that it drinks rather well and is unlikely to sicken the drinker with its richness.

Wine: Eiswein, Maximin Grünhäuser Absberg Vintage: 2002 Style: Ice Wine made from grapes naturally frozen at subzero temperatures Origin: Grünhäuser, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer (Ruwer), Germany Producer: Carl Von Schubert Merchant: O.W. Loeb Wholseale: £75 DPD ex VAT Grape Variety: 100% Riesling Alcohol: 7.5%abv Total Acidity: 13 g/l Residual Sugar: 193 g/l

Eiswein is the concentrated version of a late-harvest wine, as frost takes hold of the golden grapes in natural freezing conditions. Water in the grapes is turned into ice crystals, and as they are left behind in the press, the concentrated juice makes for the cleanest style of sweet wine, eminently sweet (without the texture of a botrytised wine, but elegant) and enlivened by sky-high acidity. What makes ice wine feel so cleansing is that it is traditionally made from grapes with no botrytis and only fermented to a low level of alcohol. Glycerol is a by-product of both the fermentation process and the fungal activity of botrytis as it develops on the grapes. Glycerol and alcohol, both lacking in ice wine, contribute to the mouthfeel, but also add to the sensation of sweetness. But don’t be fooled, for what ice wine lacks in terms of potency and texture it makes up tenfold in terms of sweetness and acidity, the sky-high levels of which are the direct result of the natural concentration process with the strongest dehydration power of all: natural freeze concentration.

Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright. It is mid-amber in colour with a green-tinged rim. Some bubbles from dissolved CO 2 stick to the bottom of the glass. Legs and tears appear to the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean. It is developing and has a medium-plus intensity of orange marmalade, lemon sherbet and maraschino cherry, coupled with more developed dried fruit aromas of raisin and fig. The nose also displays well-integrated petroleum, rubber-like minerality. A scent of yellow flowers cuts right through and brings about a real sense of freshness.

Palate: This wine is sweet but has such low alcohol and is made so fresh by high acidity and clean minerality that one would call it medium-bodied. It exhibits a pronounced intensity of acidulated dark plums and currants, sherbetty lemon and lime, and freshly squeezed orange and apple juice. Floral notes of honeysuckle add to a complexity of flavours that carries through in a very long length.

Assessment of Quality: This outstanding wine only calls for superlatives. It combines richness and freshness. The fruit displays an incredible concentration that is always kept in balance with sky-high acidity. It is complex and thirst-quenching, even at room temperature.

Wine: Cordon Cut Vintage: 2009 Style: passerillage artificially induced by the cane cut technique. Origin: Clare Valley, South Australia, Australia Producer: Mount Horrocks (Stephanie Toole winemaker) Capacity: 375 ml UK Agent: Liberty Wines Wholesale: £12.64 DPD ex VAT Retail: £22.95 Grape Variety: Riesling Alcohol: 11.5%abv Total Acidity: 8.6 g/l PH: 3.27 Residual Sugar: 135 g/l

Mount Horrocks wines are made by restricting the production to approximately 4,500 cases per annum in order to achieve maximum quality and single vineyard expression. Stephanie Toole describes her wines as “essentially handmade food wines with an emphasis on structure as well as generous fruit flavours”. All grapes are 100% estate-grown in one of the three vineyards that constitute the 10ha holding in the Clare Valley. The grapes for the making of this wine were hand-picked from the Mount Horrocks single vineyard in Auburn. “Cordon Cut” refers to a unique, risky process that involves cutting the canes when the grapes are ripe, allowing the remaining fruit to concentrate and raisin naturally on the vine (a form if induced passerillage). The juice is fermented till the desired level of sweetness is reached then filtered to stabilise it at bottling.

Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright. It is lemon yellow in colour, with tints of gold to its core and a medium watery rim. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean. It has a medium intensity of developing aromas. If it was not for these dusty and stony notes over which I am torn, not knowing whether to call them mineral or slightly reductive (probably due to the use of the stelvin ), one could call the wine youthful. The wine is full of pear, peach and overripe apricot, with overtones of lemon, lime and pink grapefruit, and subtle herbal undertones of nettle, reminiscent of detox tea, and camomile.

Palate: This medium-plus bodied wine is sweet. It exhibits medium acidity, medium minus alcohol, and a medium intensity of lemon and lime sherbet, candied pineapple and pear drop, with hints of overripe apricot and melon. There is a grassy edge to the fruit character that lingers in a medium length.

Assessment of Quality: The wine is good. This modern style from the New World is definitely well made; probably made by using new winemaking techniques (stainless, long fermentation with cold ferments and so on and so forth...). Despite its lowish alcohol, the wine feels overly sweet. The medium acidity does not help bring enough freshness. Only the acidulated fruit character brings some dynamic to the palate (has the wine been acidified in any way?).

Wine: Ben Ryé Vintage: 2008 Style: Dried grape wine in the Passum style of Antiquity Origin: Passito di Pantelleria DOC bottled in Marsala, Sicily, Italy Producer: Donnafugata (Stefano Valla winemaker & Carlo Ferrini consultant) Capacity: 375 ml UK Agent: Liberty Wines Wholesale: £21.24 DPD ex VAT Retail: £36.50 from Harrods Grape Variety: 100% Zibibbo (Muscat of Alexandria) Alcohol: 14%abv Acidity: 7.16 g/l PH: 3.82 Residual Sugar: 203 g/l

In the week of 17 August, the clusters are harvested ripe though fresh and healthy (so as to retain maximum acidity and produce as little cloying as possible a sweet wine). They are then sundried on mats for 20 to 30 days. The slower ripening grapes are picked in the week of 20 September, chilled, pressed then made into a dry wine base. The dried grapes are added to that wine base at intervals during fermentation. The wine remains in stainless steel for four months then the final blend is aged in the bottle for six months prior to its release on the market. This wine carries the “Passito di Pantelleria DOC” appellation, but the wine regulations allow traditional Marsala producers such as Donnafugata and Pellegrino to bottle their wines away from the island of Pantelleria in their Sicilian home.

Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright. It has a medium amber colour, made slightly dull by tints of orange to the core. The rim is green-tinged. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean despite the fact that a bit of volatility tingles the nose (a feature that is nothing unusual in wines with a high sugar and acid content). It exhibits a medium plus intensity of developing aromas that have a grapey and floral overtone. The Seville orange, damson and apricot fruit character is slightly stewed, with a salted caramel, sweet spiced and slightly herbal edge to it.

Palate: This full-bodied wine is sticky sweet, with a medium plus acidity and medium plus alcohol. It exhibits a medium plus intensity of overripe apricot, damson plum, bruised apple and pear, quince and grape jelly. Currant and juicy bitter orange bring some zest, while caramel and sweet spices bring some extra richness to a rather complex Moscato di Alessandria (often blamed for yielding the simplest styles of Muscat). That complexity has time to express itself in the medium plus length of the finish.

Assessment of quality: The wine is very good. The overripe character of the wine reflects the hot climate of its origin hence a fairly high alcoholic strength to match. This rich and potent wine still manages to stay in balance with the acidity, probably because the aromas and flavours have a fresh and juicy rather than dried fruit character.

Wine: Vin Doux Vintage: 2008 Style: Vin de Liqueur made by fortifying unfermented fresh must Origin: Samos AC, Greece Producer: ΕΟΣΣ (Union of Viticultural Cooperatives of Samos) Capacity: 375 ml UK Agent: Eclectic Wines Wholesale: £3.04 DPD ex VAT Retail: £5 from “The Theatre of Wine” in Greenwich Grape variety: 100% Moschoudi (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains) Alcohol: 15%abv Total Acidity: 4.5 g/l PH: 3.45 Residual Sugar: 200 g/l

The grapes for the making of this wine are grown in semi-mountainous conditions on relatively small terraces. They are picked ripe and healthy, destemmed then pressed into a sweet juice. That juice is fortified with grape spirit to 15%abv before or upon commencement of fermentation, thereby killing the yeasts and stabilising the wine. The wine is clarified by centrifugation, cold stabilised then left to settle in stainless-steel tanks till bottling.

Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright. It is medium gold in colour, with a slight old gold tinge to the core and a watery rim. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean and exhibits a medium intensity of youthful and heady aromas, as the ethanol, disguised as white pepper, tickles the nose. The nose is dominated by the grapeyness of the Muscat. But one can also smell aromas of peach, ripe Charentais melon and banana, plus strong floral notes of honeysuckle and roses.

Palate: This medium-bodied wine is sweet and fortified to a low level of alcohol. It has got a medium minus acidity and a medium intensity of ripe fruit, rather grapey. The floral overtones of the fruit character makes for something quite reminiscent of Turkish delight.

Assessment of quality: The wine is good. The sweetness is not in balance with the lowish acidity, but compliments well the Turkish-delight-like character of the wine... simple but so satisfying. It is incredible value for money and brings you sunshine in the glass.

Wine: Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise Vintage : 2009 Style : Vin Doux Naturel made from fresh must fortified in the course of fermentation Origin : Beaumes-de-Venise, Southern Rhône Valley Producer : Domaine de la Pigeade (Thierry Vaute winemaker) Capacity : 750 ml UK Agent : O. W. Loeb Wholesale: £11.00 DPD ex VAT Grape Variety: Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains Alcohol: 15%abv Total Acidity: 2.79 g/l PH: 3.74 Residual Sugar:110 g/l

The estate is a firm believer in “culture Raisonnée”, and for 30 years now, chemicals are only used as a last resort. The grapes are picked manually then selected a second time on a bench in the winery. They are destemmed, crushed then cold-macerated on the skins at 3°C for maximum extraction of aromas and flavours. After that, the grapes are pressed. The juice is cold-fermented to retain maximum freshness and integrity of fruit. The fermenting must is ultimately fortified to 15%abv, resulting into a wine just in excess of 100g/l residual sugars.

Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright. It is pale lemon yellow in colour, with a narrow watery rim. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean and exhibits a medium intensity of youthful aromas. It is slightly waxy. It does not yield much on the nose apart from a delicate grapeyness, pear and yellow apple, lemon and grapefruit, with notes of white flowers and rose water... an artificial edge to the fruit, a bit like bubblegum, is the result of cold fermentation.

Palate: This medium-minus bodied wine is sweet and fortified to a low level of alcohol. It has got a medium minus acidity and a medium intensity of much more delicate and integrated Turkish- delight-like flavours than the Vin Doux de Samos.

Assessment of Quality: The wine is good. It is by far more delicate, elegant and balanced than the Vin Doux de Samos. It is simple in character, and if anything, a bit too reminiscent of aftershave, but once again great value for money. A pleasure to drink very chilled.

Wine: Grand Rutherglen Muscat Vintage: NV fractional blending of different vintages in a solera type of ageing system Style: Fortified passerillé wine aged oxidatively for 10-15 years. Origin: Rutherglen, Victoria, Australia Producer: Campbells (Colin Campbell winemaker) Capacity: 375ml Importer: Awin Barratt Siegel, Wine Agencies Wholesale: £24.45 DPD ex VAT Retail: £27.30 from Four Walls Wine (online) / £37.50 after delivery Grape Variety: Rutherglen Brown Muscat (Muscat Rouge à Petits Grains) Alcohol: 17.5%abv Total Acidity: 6 g/l PH: 3.65 Residual sugar: 236 g/l

The Muscat of Rutherglen is considered the “world’s richest wine”. It is even richer at this level of quality. The fruit is left to ripen and desiccate on the vine in the desert conditions of the region. The process is known as “passerillage” in France. The grapes are picked as late as possible to ensure the necessary high degree of lusciousness. The juice is fermented for as long as the high sweetness level of the juice allows, which is never very long, then it is fortified with neutral grape spirit. The fortified wine is aged in a fractional blending system that is an hybrid between an Andalusian solera and a Madeiran estufa. Very hot conditions result in high evaporation and fruit concentration hence the wine turns stewed and rancio in character. The base of the blend dates back to the 1950’s. Only the best wines are used at this level of quality and only small amounts are drawn, not before the blend is at least 10 to 15 years of age.

Appearance: This “white” wine looks clear and bright. It is medium brown in colour, with a green tinge to the rim. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: This deliberately oxidised wine smells clean and has a pronounced intensity of aromas. It is dry- fruity, with aromas of fig, date and raisin, but freshened up by a juicy dark plum fruit and a strong mint and eucalyptus leaf character (probably a hint of volatility only natural in rancio wines); the strong scent of chocolate actually brings something of “After Eight” to the wine. It also exhibits some toffee, a slight maltiness, and loads of sweet spices.

Palate: This full-bodied wine fortified to a medium level of alcohol is lusciously sweet but velvety. The acidity is only medium but enlivened by a minty character. The wine exhibits a pronounced intensity of dark plums and dark cherries, acidulated dried fruits like currant and cranberry, but also fig, raisin and date. Some orange peel brings a bitter twist. Sweet spices, plus chocolate, toffee and coffee beans mixed in a mocha-like character, yield their complexity is the long, everlasting length of the finish.

Assessment of quality: The wine is outstanding. It is very rich but never cloying. Fruit, acidity and sweetness feel in perfect balance, and the wine, incredibly concentrated and complex, is utterly integrated, though it reveals itself in layers, always surprising, and never getting lost in its round, smooth, velvety texture.

Tutored Wine Tasting Wednesday 9th November 2011

SWEET WINES “Various ways of achieving sweetness into wine”

Speaker: Eric LAGRE Sommelier

SWEET WINE TASTING Tutored by Eric LAGRE Tasting notes by Eric LAGRE, Magda KOTLARCZYK and Anja BREIT WSET Diploma Graduates

NARRATIVE

Riesling Zilliken, 2008, VDP Qualitätswein (QbA), Saar, Germany, Fortsmeister Geltz Zilliken (Hanno Zilliken) Tokaji Szamorodni Édes, 2003, Mád, Hungary, Bodvin (Orosz Gábor) First step towards selective harvesting Vs harvesting “as it comes”; though both wines would qualify as Late Harvest in Alsace for they are made from grapes with long hangtime but not or little Botrytis-affected. The concentration in residual sugars is therefore minimal and the richness is no more than that of the juicy little sweetness of the fruit, making for tartaric and thirst quenching, dry to medium sweet wines. In that sense, these wines are easier to match with food than proper sweet wines. Try the Riesling with roast Pork and the sweet Szamorodni with rabbit stew; yummy! It is a shame that the sweetness level is often not indicated on the labels of such wines. The sweetness often takes consumers by surprise to their utmost annoyance.

Riesling Beerenauslese, 1999, Mosel, Germany, Weingut Sybille Kuntz (Markus Kuntz-Riedlin) Riesling Eiswein, Maximin Grünhäuser Absberg, 2002, Ruwer, Germany (Carl Von Schubert) Both these styles are the most extreme forms of late-harvested grape wines traditionally found in Germany. Feel how noble rot brings extra viscosity to the fully botrytised Beerenauslese, while the Eiswein is altogether much cleaner with its crisp acidity, fresh fruit and light texture. Both wines compete for the title of “King of Sweet Wines”, for both styles have the greatest potential for complexity and ageing in the bottle.

Ben Ryé, 2008, Passito di Pantelleria, Sicily, Italy, Donnafugata (Stefano Valla) Vin de Constance, 2004, Constantia, South Africa, Klein Constantia Estate (Adam Mason) Both wines are dried-grape wines (even though the Constantia is a type of Late-harvested grape wine). Adam Mason takes his inspiration from Tokaji Aszú. Tokaji Aszú, Vin de Constance and Ben Ryé all use the same technique of soaking the raisins into a wine base to facilitate the extraction of sweetness and render fermentation possible. Tokaji Aszú is made from grapes raisined by noble rot and Constantia by passerillage, as opposed to Ben Ryé, made from grapes sundried to raisin in the pure winemaking tradition of the Passum of Antiquity according to which Passito di Pantelleria is still made today. Note how the passito is not as fine as the Natural Sweet Wine. Since sun-drying is faster than passerillage, the process by-passes the microbiological development within the grapes that is the essence of quality sweet winemaking. Moreover, Muscat of Alexandria is always more grapey and less fine than Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains. Nevertheless, both wines exhibit a very satisfying richness and balance. But despite their respective intrinsic qualities, they are not as complex and age worthy as the two previous German examples.

Vin Doux, 2008, Vin de Liqueur, Samos, Greece, Union of Viticultural Cooperatives of Samos Muscat de Beaume de Venise, 2008, Vin doux Naturel, Domaine Durban (Jean-Pierre Leydier) Vin Doux is probably the most iconic Vin de Liqueur in the world, while Beaumes-de-Venise is the only Vin Doux Naturel from the French Midi to have achieved international notoriety (especially here in the UK). Subtlety is not the main feature of the mistelle, for it is sticky sweet and far less complex, textured and integrated than the VDN. Partial fermentation might have brought something more to the VDN, but both wines are intrinsically unbalanced and rely on the pure Turkish-delight yumminess of the pungently perfumed Muscat grape they are made from to appeal. They need to be served chilled to offset their sweetness and alcohol and be enjoyed.

Vinsanto del Chianti Classico, 1999, Monti in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy, Podere il Palazzino (Alessandro Sderci) Noe, Age-Dated, 30 Year Old Pedro Ximénez, Jerez, Andalusia, Spain, Gonzalez Byass Oxidative ageing is not or little used for maturing sweet wines, but when used extendedly, it impacts tremendously on the richness and complexity of the wine. Extended maturation in wood acts as a natural concentration technique, though it has the power to either reduce or concentrate sweetness in wine, depending on how stable that wine is in the first place. Vinsanto is a natural wine matured in small casks in the vinsantaria, a loft subject to temperature variation. With every new warm season, the wine ferments again and more residual sugars are turned into alcohol, making for a dryer style each time. The reductive effect of the fermentation process somewhat counterbalances the very oxidative effect of ageing on ullage, which makes for a wine both rather fresh in fruit and nutty in character. Fortification is the only stabilising process when it comes to preventing re-fermentation of the . Being fortified, the stable PX concentrates all its solids, sugars and acids, while developing an extreme rancio character and a much more dried or stewed fruit compared to Vinsanto.

Tutored Sweet Wine Tasting Wednesday 9 th November 2011 Speaker: Eric LAGRE, Sommelier

TASTING LIST

Riesling Zilliken, 2008, VDP Qualitätswein (QbA) Saar, Germany, Fortsmeister Geltz Zilliken (Hanno Zilliken)

Tokaji Szamorodni Édes, 2003 Mád, Hungary, Bodvin (Orosz Gábor)

Riesling Beerenauslese, 1999 Mosel, Germany, Weingut Sybille Kuntz (Markus Kuntz-Riedlin)

Riesling Eiswein, Maximin Grünhäuser Absberg, 2002 Ruwer, Germany, Carl Von Schubert

Ben Ryé, Passito di Pantelleria, 2008 Sicily, Italy, Donnafugata (Stefano Valla)

Vin de Constance, 2004 Constantia, South Africa, Klein Constantia Estate (Adam Mason)

Vin Doux, 2008, Vin de Liqueur Samos, Greece, Union of Viticultural Cooperatives of Samos

Muscat de Beaume de Venise, 2008, Vin doux Naturel Domaine Durban (Jean-Pierre Leydier)

Vinsanto del Chianti Classico, 1999 Monti in Chianti, Tuscany, Italy, Podere il Palazzino (Alessandro Sderci)

Noe, Age-Dated, 30 Year Old Pedro Ximénez Jerez, Andalusia, Spain, Gonzalez Byass Wine: Zilliken, VDP Qualitätswein (QbA) Vintage: 2008 Style: Wine from fresh grapes with a degree of hangtime Origin: Saarburg, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer (Saar), Germany Producer Weingut Forstmeister Geltz Zilliken (Hanno Zilliken winemaker) Capacity: 750ml Merchant: O.W. Loeb Wholesale: £9.42 DPD ex VAT Grape Variety: 100% Riesling Alcohol: 10%abv Total Acidity: 7.8g/l PH: 3.1 Residual Sugar: 41.7g/l

The estate is located in the small town of Saarburg (Saar area) in the Mosel wine-growing region in Germany. It was the family estate of Ferdinand Geltz (1851-1925), the senior forestry officer of the Prussian king. Today it is owned by his grandson Hans-Joachim Zilliken, simply addressed as Hanno. The estate is a member of the VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitäts-Weingüter) and of the Winzervereinigung Pro Riesling associations. The holding totals 11 hectares, with vineyards in Bockstein (Ockfen) and Rausch (Saarburg), exclusively planted with Riesling. The average age of the vines is 30 years, and yield is restricted to 50 hl/ha. Even though enrichment was made legal by German wine law in 1971 for the making of Qualitätswein, the members of the VDP are reluctant at the idea of using chaptalisation (used prior to fermentation to boost alcohol levels) or Süssreserve (used prior to bottling to add sweetness and bring the naturally high acidity in balance), for they take pride in producing natural wines. Alternatively, they pick their grapes at much higher must weights than legally required. For the making of this wine for instance, the grapes are picked at a light Spätlese must weight of around 76° Oe, when as little as 51°Oe would have done at this level of quality. Here, a little chaptalisation was applied to bring creaminess and improve the mouthfeel. The cellar is located on three levels, down to nine metres below the manor house, and provides an environment with a constant temperature of 10°C and virtually 100% humidity: ideal conditions for the wines to ferment and mature in traditional oak barrels. This qualitätswein is a blend of wines fermented slowly in this naturally cold environment. Cold and high residual sugar levels contribute to naturally stop the fermentation process and preserve a degree of residual sweetness. The final assemblage aims at striking the right balance between concentration of juicy fruit and freshness of acidity and minerality.

Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright. It is pale gold in colour, with a narrow watery rim. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean and displays a medium to medium plus intensity of youthful aromas that combine zingy lemon, lime and pineapple to juicy peach. Light puff-pastry-like notes combine with fruit aromas in an effect very reminiscent of apple and pear pie. The overall freshness of the wine on the nose is enhanced by strong mineral notes of slate and stroke flint.

Palate: In view of the technical description, the wine cannot be but medium sweet, but the freshness of fruit, strong minerality, high acidity and low alcohol all contribute to the sweetness being perceived as no more than medium dry (a sensation of dryness that long bottle-ageing will reinforce). The wine is medium-bodied and has a medium intensity of fruit that comes across as slightly richer on the palate than on the nose. The stone fruit character is spiced with honey and freshened up by notes of honeysuckle and white flowers. The tropical lime and pineapple fruit is ripe but still juicy and zesty. The medium plus finish opens with sweet, juicy nectarine then ends with distinctive notes of tarter green apple.

Assessment of Quality: The wine is very good, especially when one considers that it is the entry level example from the estate. This superbly well-crafted, elegant wine of terroir strikes a perfect balance between concentration of complex fruit aromas and flavours and freshness of acidity and minerality.

Wine: Tokaji Szamorodni Édes Vintage: 2003 Style: wine made from unselected clusters with minimum botrytis Origin: Tokaji Édes Fehér Borkülönlegesség (Tokaj Sweet Wine Speciality) Mád, Tokaj, Hungary Producer: Bodvin (Orosz Gábor winemaker) Capacity: 500 ml Importer: Malux Foods Wholesale: £9.70 Retail: £15.90 from “The Theatre of Wine” in Greenwich Grape blend: Furmint, Hárslevel ű, and Sárgamuskotály (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains) Alcohol: 13.5%abv Total Acidity: 5.6 Residual Sugar: 46.8 g/l

Sweet Szamorodni is a form of late-harvest wine made from grapes with little botrytis. When Botrytis affects less than 50% of the grapes in a vineyard, it does not make economical sense to practice selective harvesting hence every bunch is picked “as it comes” (the literal translation of the name of this style of wine from Tokaj). The grapes were harvested from 5 to 10 November. Since the ripening season was exceptionally hot and dry in 2003, hardly any botrytis developed and record-high must weight was achieved then. The wine is fermented and matured on its lees in old barrels for two years then racked into ageing barrels for a further period of maturation of three years and a half before bottling.

Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright, though a slight orange tinge to the core makes the medium gold colour slightly dull. The narrow rim is watery. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean. It is developing and displays a medium plus intensity of overripe fruits, somewhat stewed, such as yellow plum (Mirabelle), banana and other exotic fruits. The richness of aromas, with notes of dried apricot, is enhanced by a scent of candle wax, honey, caramel and sweet spices like tobacco leaf. Some freshness is brought about by aromas of freshly squeezed orange juice mixed with fennel and yellow flowers.

Palate: This medium-plus bodied wine proves to be only medium sweet despite the promises of the rich overripe nose. The acidity is just medium and the alcohol is medium plus, but the wine manages a cleansing effect thank to the medium intensity of its juicy yellow plum and pear fruit character. Notes of orange peel, lemon thyme and tea leaf gradually give a slightly bitter edge to the juicy finish of medium length of this wine as they appear.

Assessment of Quality: This wine is good. The fruit character is fairly simple but fresh and not without charm. It is that freshness of fruit character on the palate that brings a sensation of balance, despite the fact that the acidity is only medium in comparison to a fairly high alcohol level.

Wine: Beerenauslese Vintage: 1999 Style: Wine made from selected botrytis-affected grape berries Origin: Niederberg-Helden, Lieser, Mosel, Germany Producer: Weingut Sybille Kuntz (Sybille and Markus Kuntz Riedlin winemakers) Capacity: 375 ml Merchant: O.W. Loeb Wholesale: £41.67 Grape Variety: 100% Riesling Alcohol: 11.5%abv Total Acidity: 6.5 g/l Residual Sugar: 100 g/l

Towards the end of October, botrytis is widespread, and the last selection of overripe bunches of grapes destined for the making of Auslese marks the beginning of strict berry selection for the making of the truly sweet wines of Germany. Strict selection means that pickers must use three harvesting baskets at a time: the first one for the slightly botrytis-affected overripe bunches for the making of Auslese, the other for the fully-botrytised individual berries for the making of Beerenauslese, and the last one for the single grape berries botrytised to raisin for the making of Trockenbeerenauslese (only in exceptional vintages). The botrytised berries are selected in a series of tris from the oldest vines, between 60 and 90 years old, near the top of the slope, where a combination of good ventilation and good aspect is the key to avoiding grey rot from spoiling the crop. The present wine is a fully botrytised wine; the most complex, textured and long-lived style of sweet wine.

Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright. It is deep gold in colour with an amber tinge to the core and a narrow lemon yellow rim. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean. It is developing and has a pronounced intensity of orange marmalade character mixed with some waxiness and a well-integrated petroleum-like minerality. The richness of the fruit character displays notes of pine resin, dark Black Forest honey and caramel, as well as white pepper.

Palate: This medium to medium-plus bodied wine is sweet. That uncertainty in relation to the body of the wine comes from the fact that, yes, it has a medium plus intensity of rich fruit character, but it combines levels of alcohol and acidity that are only medium minus for the former but medium plus for the later. The perception of acidity is made even fresher by strong minerality. Consequently, the wine feels lighter than it probably is. It tastes like hard candied honey, maple syrup and caramel. Lemon, lime and bitter orange bring some zest to very ripe exotic fruit flavours of pineapple and mango, and even dried fruit flavours of apricot and currants. The richness is enhanced by sweet spices. That complexity of flavours lasts in the long length of the finish.

Assessment of Quality: This botrytised wine is outstanding. The very rich fruit character of this wine is kept in balance by a high acidity and a fresh minerality. Since the sweetness is not cloying, the wine can yield its complexity as one appreciates its long finish. The wine is so cleansing that it drinks rather well and is unlikely to sicken the drinker with its richness.

Wine: Eiswein, Maximin Grünhäuser Absberg Vintage: 2002 Style: Ice Wine made from grapes naturally frozen at subzero temperatures Origin: Grünhäuser, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer (Ruwer), Germany Producer: Carl Von Schubert Merchant: O.W. Loeb Wholseale: £75 DPD ex VAT Grape Variety: 100% Riesling Alcohol: 7.5%abv Total Acidity: 13 g/l Residual Sugar: 193 g/l

Eiswein is the concentrated version of a late-harvest wine, as frost takes hold of the golden grapes in natural freezing conditions. Water in the grapes is turned into ice crystals, and as they are left behind in the press, the concentrated juice makes for the cleanest style of sweet wine, eminently sweet (without the texture of a botrytised wine, but elegant) and enlivened by sky-high acidity. What makes ice wine feel so cleansing is that it is traditionally made from grapes with no botrytis and only fermented to a low level of alcohol. Glycerol is a by-product of both the fermentation process and the fungal activity of botrytis as it develops on the grapes. Glycerol and alcohol, both lacking in ice wine, contribute to the mouthfeel, but also add to the sensation of sweetness. But don’t be fooled, for what ice wine lacks in terms of potency and texture it makes up tenfold in terms of sweetness and acidity, the sky-high levels of which are the direct result of the natural concentration process with the strongest dehydration power of all: natural freeze concentration.

Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright. It is mid-amber in colour with a green-tinged rim. Some bubbles from dissolved CO 2 stick to the bottom of the glass. Legs and tears appear to the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean. It is developing and has a medium-plus intensity of orange marmalade, lemon sherbet and maraschino cherry, coupled with more developed dried fruit aromas of raisin and fig. The nose also displays well-integrated petroleum, rubber-like minerality. A scent of yellow flowers cuts right through and brings about a real sense of freshness.

Palate: This wine is sweet but has such low alcohol and is made so fresh by high acidity and clean minerality that one would call it medium-bodied. It exhibits a pronounced intensity of acidulated dark plums and currants, sherbetty lemon and lime, and freshly squeezed orange and apple juice. Floral notes of honeysuckle add to a complexity of flavours that carries through in a very long length.

Assessment of Quality: This outstanding wine only calls for superlatives. It combines richness and freshness. The fruit displays an incredible concentration that is always kept in balance with sky-high acidity. It is complex and thirst-quenching, even at room temperature.

Wine: Ben Ryé Vintage: 2008 Style: Dried grape wine in the style of the Passum of Antiquity Origin: Passito di Pantelleria DOC (bottled in Marsala, Sicily, Italy) Producer: Donnafugata (Stefano Valla winemaker & Carlo Ferrini consultant) Capacity: 375 ml UK Agent: Liberty Wines Wholesale: £21.24 DPD ex VAT Retail: £36.50 from Harrods Grape Variety: 100% Zibibbo (Muscat of Alexandria) Alcohol: 14%abv Acidity: 7.16 g/l PH: 3.82 Residual Sugar: 203 g/l

In the week of 17 August, the clusters are harvested ripe though fresh and healthy (so as to retain maximum acidity and produce as little cloying as possible a sweet wine). They are then sundried on mats for 20 to 30 days. The slower ripening grapes are picked in the week of 20 September, chilled, pressed then made into a dry wine base. The dried grapes are added to that wine base at intervals during fermentation. The wine remains in stainless steel for four months then the final blend is aged in the bottle for six months prior to its release on the market. This wine carries the “Passito di Pantelleria DOC” appellation, but the wine regulations allow traditional Marsala producers such as Donnafugata and Pellegrino to bottle their wines away from the island of Pantelleria in their Sicilian home.

Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright. It has a medium amber colour, made slightly dull by tints of orange to the core. The rim is green-tinged. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean despite the fact that a bit of volatility tingles the nose (a feature that is nothing unusual in wines with a high sugar and acid content). It exhibits a medium plus intensity of developing aromas that have a grapey and floral overtone. The Seville orange, damson and apricot fruit character is slightly stewed, with a salted caramel, sweet spiced and slightly herbal edge to it.

Palate: This full-bodied wine is sticky sweet, with a medium plus acidity and medium plus alcohol. It exhibits a medium plus intensity of overripe apricot, damson plum, bruised apple and pear, quince and grape jelly. Currant and juicy bitter orange bring some zest, while caramel and sweet spices bring some extra richness to a rather complex Moscato di Alessandria (often blamed for yielding the simplest styles of Muscat). That complexity has time to express itself in the medium plus length of the finish.

Assessment of quality: The wine is very good. The overripe character of the wine reflects the hot climate of its origin hence a fairly high alcoholic strength to match. This rich and potent wine still manages to stay in balance with the acidity, probably because the aromas and flavours have a fresh and juicy rather than dried fruit character.

Wine: Vin de Constance Vintage: 2004 / 2005 Style: Natural Sweet Wine resulting from passerillage on the vine Origin: Constantia, South Africa Producer: Klein Constantia Estate (Adam Mason winemaker ) Capacity: 500 ml UK Agent: Berry Bros & Rudd Wholesale: £26.30 DPD ex VAT Retail: £38.85 from Berry Bros & Rudd Grape Variety: 100% Muscat de Frontignan (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains) 2004 2005 Alcohol: 14.20%abv 12.28%abv Total Acidity: 8.7 g/l 7.5 g/l PH: 3.51 3.45 Residual Sugar: 130 g/l 157 g/l

Since they are subjected to the elements as they over -mature on the vine, the grapes often display a degree of botrytis, though never in excess of 5%, especially with Adam Mason’s new approach , very much inspired by selective harvesting and the true mastery of sweet wine making he witnessed in Tokaj. Since he took over winemaking at the e state in 2004, the grap es are picked in three waves (tris ). Grapes are first picked mid February at 25 to 28 Brix from the plots that are more prone to rot . The wine is barrel fermented to 30-40g/l residual sugar and 14%abv on average then refri gerated and put aside. From mid February to mid March, the grapes that are shrivelled to raisin but non-affected by botrytis are hand-selected berry by berry at 50 to 60 Brix. The raisins are stored in stainless -steel tanks equipped with sieves so as to drain the juices, w hich are so sweet (up to 750g/l) that they are hardly fermentable ( this intensely sweet juice is comparable to the Hungarian Natúr Eszencia in concentration, and it is similarly used as a sweetener later in the winemaking process). Lastly, the remaining bunches are harvested towards the end of March and sometime s as late as early April. A degree of botrytis might have affected the grapes by then, which only adds complexity, quality an d lon gevity to the final wine (Vin de Constance is definitely a Passerillé wine , not a botrytised wine ). Once drained, the raisins are soaked into the base wine for several days in order to soften, thereby facilitating the extraction of the sugars, flavour s and other extracts at pressing. The nectar obtained is fermented in a combination of stainless steel tanks and 500 litre wooden barrels. The wine is bottled after a total period of maturation of four years. The combination of high alcohol and residual sugar levels acts as a natural preservative, making for a wine that is capable to age ing gracefully for at least two decades from the time it is bottled.

In 2004, favourable weather conditions accompanied Adam Mason’s first vinification of Vin de Constance. The focus on fruit expression and elegance pays homage to Constantia’s glorious past. In 2005, perfectly timed rain at the end of January was balm to the devel oping grapes. It prevented excessive shrivelling and enabled full flavour development.

Notes for the 2005 Vintage Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright. It is mid -gold in colour with an orange tinge to the core. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean. It exhibits a pronounced intensity of rich, jammy fruit aromas such as dried peach and apricot and other exotic fruits like mango and pineapple, plus candied orange peel and yellow plum preserve. That richness is freshened up by a sc ent of yellow flowers. One can perceive a bit of caramel, but the wine is fruity rather than spicy.

Palate: The wine is lusciously sweet, but high acidity cuts right through. That feeling of freshness is enhanced by medium alcohol. The wine is medium -plu s bodied and has a pronounced intensity of candied lime and orange citrus fruit, dried apricot and more tropical mango and pineapple. The wine has wild honey, caramel and cinnamon spice, but it is enlivened by juicy peach and yellow plum fruit and playful salty notes.

Assessment of Quality: The wine is outstanding. It is incredibly rich, concentrated and complex but never cloying thank s to some fresh, juicy fruit notes. The richness is kept in perfe ct balance by high acidity and rather moderate alcohol; just delightful.

Wine: Vin Doux Vintage: 2008 Style: Vin de Liqueur made by fortifying unfermented fresh must Origin: Samos AC, Greece Producer: ΕΟΣΣ (Union of Viticultural Cooperatives of Samos) Capacity: 375 ml UK Agent: Eclectic Wines Wholesale: £3.04 DPD ex VAT Retail: £5 from “The Theatre of Wine” in Greenwich Grape variety: 100% Moschoudi (Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains) Alcohol: 15%abv Total Acidity: 4.5 g/l PH: 3.45 Residual Sugar: 200 g/l

The grapes for the making of this wine are grown in semi-mountainous conditions on relatively small terraces. They are picked ripe and healthy, destemmed then pressed into a sweet juice. That juice is fortified with grape spirit to 15%abv before or upon commencement of fermentation, thereby killing the yeasts and stabilising the wine. The wine is clarified by centrifugation, cold stabilised then left to settle in stainless-steel tanks till bottling.

Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright. It is medium gold in colour, with a slight old gold tinge to the core and a watery rim. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean and exhibits a medium intensity of youthful and heady aromas, as the ethanol, disguised as white pepper, tickles the nose. The nose is dominated by the grapeyness of the Muscat. But one can also smell aromas of peach, ripe Charentais melon and banana, plus strong floral notes of honeysuckle and roses.

Palate: This medium-bodied wine is sweet and fortified to a low level of alcohol. It has got a medium minus acidity and a medium intensity of ripe fruit, rather grapey. The floral overtones of the fruit character makes for something quite reminiscent of Turkish delight.

Assessment of quality: The wine is good. The sweetness is not in balance with the lowish acidity, but compliments well the Turkish-delight-like character of the wine... simple but so satisfying. It is incredible value for money and brings you sunshine in the glass.

Wine: Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise Vintage : 2008 Style: Vin Doux Naturel made from fresh must fortified in the middle of the fermentation process Origin : Beaumes-de-Venise, Southern Rhône Valley Producer : Domaine de Durban (Jean-Pierre Leydier winemaker) Capacity: 375 ml supplyer : Berry Bros & Rudd Wholesale: £7.20 DPD ex VAT Grape Variety: 100% Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains Alcohol: 15.28%abv Total Acidity: 2.6g/l tartaric, 0.13 volatile Residual Sugar: 112g/l

The fresh and healthy grapes are picked by hand in sites relatively high in altitude hence a maximum level of acidity. The clusters are cold macerated for 4 to 5 days for maximum extraction of flavour compounds. After that, the juice is cold fermented at a temperature of 15°C so as to preserve maximum integrity and freshness of fruit. When the fermenting must reaches 7 to 10%abv and a density of approximately 1050, the fermentation process is stopped by adding 5 to 10% of grape spirit, 95%abv in strength. This Beaumes-de-Venise is then left to macerate on its skins for a total of ten days before pressing. It is racked into concrete vats, in which it is left to settle for 6 months prior to bottling.

Very typically, the mutage process results in a wine with a minimum legal alcoholic strength of 15%abv and a level of residual sugars of 100g/l, the same as in Rivesaltes, where the fruit tends to be much riper, but much less sweet than in the Languedoc, where a Muscat must exhibit at least 125g/l of residual sugars. The fact that Beaumes-de-Venise is probably the most refreshing example of VDN in the French Midi has contributed a great deal to its success on the international market, though one must bear in mind that 70% of all French Muscat wines are produced in the Roussillon.

Appearance: This white wine looks clear and bright. It is lemon yellow in colour with a watery rim. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine is clean, though it is so spirity that, in combination with the fruit character, it smells a bit like some detergent or aftershave (on the night of the tasting, it even smelt like dish water; no offense!). The wine exhibits a medium intensity of youthful aromas. The yellow grape and white peach aromas are overwhelmed by the strong flowery scent of rosewater and honeysuckle.

Palate: This medium-bodied wine is sweet and only medium in acidity. It is so ripe and flabby that it feels spirity on the palate, despite having only been fortified to a low level of alcohol. The wine has a medium intensity of fruit, spiced with caramel and honey, and rather bitter on the edges. The finish is medium minus and rather simple in character, if not simply sweet.

Assessment of Quality: Foolishly, we tasted the wine after the outstanding Vin de Constance, which gave it little chance to shine. The wine is nevertheless good, though not very exciting and not justifying its price tag. One must acknowledge that Vin de Liqueur and Vin Doux Naturel are sweet wine at its simplest and cheapest. All in all, the wine lacks concentration and complexity and is rather flabby and simply sweet. The alcohol is out of balance with a rather bitter fruit.

Wine: Vinsanto del Chianti Classico DOC Vintage: 1999 Style: Dried grape wine made in a series of natural stop/start fermentations Origin: Monti in the heartland of Chianti, Turscany, Italy Producer: Podere il Palazzino (Alessandro Sderci winemaker) Capacity: 375ml Supplier: Justerini & Brooks Wholesale: £18.41 DPD ex VAT Grape Variety: Malvasia Brianca di Toscana + Trebbiano Toscano Alcohol: 15%abv Total Acidity: 6.9g/l tartaric, 1.6g/l volatile PH: 3.71 Residual sugar: 167.9g/l

For the production of this Vinsanto (literally “ Holy Wine”), the grapes are picked healthy and fresh in late September (so as to prevent bunch rot from developing and preserve maximum acidity, thereby making for a non-cloying wine) then the clusters are hung from iron hooks in a well- ventilated room. There, they are allowed to wither slowly till December. Once the grapes have reached 32 degrees of potential alcohol, they are pressed then the resulting must undergoes a series of natural stop/start fermentations in used 125 litre chestnut barrels for 5 years. These cigar- shaped casks called Caratelli are kept in the Vinsantaria during the entire process. There, in the winery loft, every new warm season triggers a re- fermentation and concentrates the wine further. While the acidity level increases, the sweetness level decreases as more residual sugars are turned into alcohol. The fermentation process being reductive, it partially counterbalances the oxidative impact of ageing on ullage, resulting in a unique character that combines clean, ripe fruit and extreme nuttiness.

Appearance: This white wine is clear and bright. It is deep gold in colour with a red copper tinge to the core. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The nose is so reminiscent of that of a Boal! Like the , it smells clean, though some volatile acidity is perceptible, which is not unusual in high sugar and acid wines aged oxidatively. Anyway, that volatility takes the shape of rather attractive notes of white pepper, peppermint and camomile. The wine is fully developed and exhibits a medium plus intensity of brown sugar, wild honey, candied orange peel and currants. But the main feature of the wine is its nuttiness, with rather dry notes of walnut and roasted almond. That dry rancio character is enhanced by a scent of tar. One can also pick on some curry spice and rice pudding aromas.

Palate: The wine is lusciously sweet, but high acidity cuts through the richness. High alcohol is a contributing factor in the perception of this wine as medium-plus bodied, but since the wine tastes ever so fresh and cleansing, on could be forgiven for call it medium-bodied. It exhibits a medium plus intensity of peach nectar, enriched with wild honey, but enlivened by sherbetty orange and lemon citrus fruit and flowery notes of fruit blossom. The Christmas mix of nuts is as complex as that of an old Sercial though the wine feels far juicier and fresh on the palate that any type of Madeira wine. That nutty complexity develops into notes of curry spice in a near everlasting finish.

Assessment of quality: The wine is outstanding. It is Complex, beautifully poised and stunningly elegant. The fresh juiciness of the fruit harmonises well with the warmth of the nutty character. Balance would be the key word. That Vinsanto seems rather great value for money.

Wine: Noe, Pedro Ximénez Viejo Vintage: Age-Dated (more than 30 years Old = VORS) Style: Fortified dried grape wine aged oxidatively in a solera Origin: Jerez, Andalusia, Spain Producer: González Byass Capacity: 375ml Supplier: Justerini & Brooks Wholesale: £14.48 DPD ex VAT Grape Variety: Pedro Ximénez (PX) Nectar Noe Alcohol: 15.5%abv 15.5%abv Total Acidity: 2.9g/l 5.3g/l (VA must be inferior to 0.8g/l) PH: 4.6 3.85 Residual sugar: 370g/l over 400g/l

Sherry is known for its wines made from the Palomino grape, fortified after full fermentation to dryness (“Vinos Generosos”, which come into a variety of bone dry styles, from Manzanilla to Fino, Amontillado, Palo Cortado and Oloroso, in increasing order of oxidative character). These wines are also enjoyed sweetened at Christmas (“Vinos Generosos de Licor” such as Bristol Cream and Croft Original Pale Cream or one of the many Medium Sherries available on the market). But VDNs or “Vinos Dulces Naturales” are also produced from overripe or sundried grapes like Pedro Ximénez (PX) or Moscatel. PX makes for the sweetest style of Sherry. When made from overripe grapes, a PX contains a minimum of 180g/l residual sugars, which is very sweet, but Gonzalez Byass produces two examples from sundried grapes that reach staggering sweetness levels: Nectar and Noe. The latter is actually the aged version of the former. The wine is indeed first aged in the Nectar solera for an average of 9 years then either bottled under the Nectar brand name at a lever of residual sugars of 350g/l or transferred to the Noe solera to mature further until it is at least 30 years old. By the time it is bottled, Noe will have concentrated its solids, nearly doubling its acidity and exhibiting residual sugar levels well in excess of 400g/l, up to a legal limit of 500g/l. The wine is made from grapes grown in the Esteve vineyards, in the Upper-Jerez area. The clusters are dried in the sun on esparto grass mats for a few days according to a traditional pasificacíon (raisining) process known locally as Soleo (sunning). The raisins are then gently pressed to obtain a juice that is so sweet that it only manages to ferment to a mere 5% alcoholic strength (in that sense, it is better understood as a fortified “Dried Grape Wine”, for the main reason why it is fortified to a minimum of 15%abv is to stabilise it and allow extended oxidative ageing in wood with no risk of second fermentation). Both the Soleo process and the extended oxidative ageing make for an extremely rancio style, and PX, like Palomino and Moscatel, might be a white grape variety, but it yields the darkest (almost black and opaque) style of wine in Jerez.

Appearance: This “white” wine looks clear and bright. It is medium brown in colour with a green tinge on both the core and the rim. Legs and tears appear on the side of the glass.

Nose: The wine smells clean, though some volatile acidity, which takes the shape of attractive menthol and white pepper notes, is noticeable. The wine exhibits a fully developed bouquet of pronounced intensity. One can smell a combination of raisin, prune, fig and Christmas spices very reminiscent of mincemeat. Chocolate and coffee combine in a mocha effect, though the blend is so nutty that one would say that it is more like Ovaltine. The nose is indeed full of walnut and roasted almonds and hazelnut.

Palate: This full-bodied wine is lusciously sweet to the extreme. Its concentrated richness is nevertheless underlined by the freshness of freshly squeezed orange juice and zingy currants, which, combined to medium plus acidity and fortification to a low level of alcohol makes for the silkiest, most velvety texture. The wine exhibits a pronounced intensity of dried fruits and orange peel, enriched with burnt caramel, molasses, and spiced with coffee and chocolate. The nutty character on the palate has the sweet edge of fresh hazelnut and Cashew nut.

Assessment of quality: The wine is very good. It is more rich than complex. In that sense it is a bit of an acquired taste. So attractive at first, the wine soon becomes sickly sweet. It is actually not marketed as a sipping wine but rather as an alternative to chocolate sauce, miraculous when poured over vanilla ice cream.