Straw wine
Encyclopedia
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
made from grapes that have been dried to concentrate their juice. The result is similar to that of the ice wine
Ice wine
Ice wine is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a more concentrated grape must to be pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a smaller amount of more...
process, but suitable for warmer climates. The classic method dries clusters of grapes on mats of straw in the sun, but some regions dry them under cover, some hang up the grapes, and the straw may be replaced by modern racks. The technique dates back to pre-Roman times, and most production of these wines has been in Northern Italy and the French Alps. However producers in other areas are now starting to experiment with the method.
Straw wines are typically sweet to very sweet white wines, similar in density and sweetness to Sauternes
Sauternes (wine)
Sauternes is a French sweet wine from the Sauternais region of the Graves section in Bordeaux. Sauternes is made from Sémillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscadelle grapes that have been affected by Botrytis cinerea, also known as noble rot. This causes the grapes to become partially raisined,...
and capable of long life. The low yields and labour-intensive production method means that they are quite expensive. Around Verona red grapes are dried, and are fermented in two different ways to make a dry red wine (Amarone
Amarone
Amarone della Valpolicella, usually known as Amarone, is a typically rich Italian dry red wine made from the partially dried grapes of the Corvina , Rondinella and Molinara varieties. The wine was awarded Denominazione di Origine Controllata status in December 1990...
) and a sweet red wine (Recioto della Valpolicella).
History
There are references to golden sweet wines in the Mediterranean during Phoenician times. A dried grape wine known as the Cypriot Manna was described in 800 BC by the Greek poet Hesiod.The first description of the production of a raisin wine comes from Columella in the first century AD, writing about the Passum
Passum
Passum was a raisin wine apparently developed in ancient Carthage and transmitted from there to Italy, where it was popular in the Roman Empire. The earliest surviving instruction constitutes the only known Carthaginian recipe...
wine made in ancient Carthage. The modern Italian name for these wines, passito, echoes this ancient word. Perhaps the closest thing to passum is Moscato Passito di Pantelleria
Pantelleria
Pantelleria , the ancient Cossyra, is an Italian island in the Strait of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea, southwest of Sicily and just east of the Tunisian coast. Administratively Pantelleria is a comune belonging to the Sicilian province of Trapani...
from Zibibbo, a variety of the ancient muscat grape, produced on Pantelleria, an island in the Strait of Sicily (50 miles from Tunisia) opposite to where Carthage used to be.
Austria/Germany
Strohwein or Schilfwein is an AustrianAustrian wine
Austrian wines are mostly dry white wines with some luscious dessert wines made around the Neusiedler See. About 30% of the wines are red, made from Blaufränkisch , Pinot Noir and locally bred varieties such as Zweigelt...
wine term in the Prädikatswein category which designates a straw wine, a sweet dessert wine
Dessert wine
Dessert wines are sweet wines typically served with dessert.There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal, as opposed to the white fortified wines drunk before the meal, and the red fortified wines drunk after it...
made from raisin
Raisin
Raisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world. Raisins may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking and brewing...
-like dried grape
Grape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
s. Stroh is German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
for straw
Straw
Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
, while Schilf means reed
Reed (plant)
Reed is a generic polyphyletic botanical term used to describe numerous tall, grass-like plants of wet places, which are the namesake vegetation of reed beds...
.
The minimum must weight
Must weight
Must weight is a measure of the amount of sugar in grape juice , and hence indicates the amount of alcohol that could be produced if it is all fermented to alcohol, rather than left as residual sugar...
requirements for Strohwein or Schilfwein is 25 degrees KMW, the same as for Austrian Beerenauslese
Beerenauslese
Beerenauslese is a German language wine term for a dessert wine-style late harvest wine. Beerenauslese is a category in the Prädikatswein category of the Austrian and German wine classifications, and is a category above Auslese. Beerenauslese wines, often called "BA" for short, are usually made...
, and these regulations are part of the Austrian wine law
Wine law
Wine laws are legislation regulating various aspects of production and sales of wine. The purpose of wine laws includes combating wine fraud, by means of regulated protected designations of origin, labelling practices and classification of wine, as well as regulating allowed additives and...
. The grapes are furthermore required to be dried for a minimum of three months, either by laying the grape bunches on mats of straw or reed, or by hanging the bunches up for drying by suspending them from pieces of string. However, if the grapes have reached a must weight of at least 30 ºKMW (same must weight as a Trockenbeerenauslese
Trockenbeerenauslese
Trockenbeerenauslese is a German language wine term for an intensely sweet dessert wine-style wine....
) after a minimum of two months, the grapes are allowed to be pressed
Wine press
A wine press is a device used to extract juice from crushed grapes during wine making. There are a number of different styles of presses that are used by wine makers but their overall functionality is the same. Each style of press exerts controlled pressure in order to free the juice from the fruit...
at this earlier time.
Strohwein and Schilfwein are treated as synonyms by the wine law, and the choice between them therefore depends on local naming tradition rather than the specific material used for the drying mats for a specific batch of wine.
The Strohwein Prädikat exists only in Austria, not in Germany
German wine
German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of the German wine production is situated in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where 6 of the 13 regions ...
.
Croatia
The raisin wine most commonly seen in CroatiaCroatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
is Prošek
Prošek
Prošek is a sweet dessert wine that is traditionally from the southern area of Dalmatia, Croatia. It is made using dried wine grapes in the passito method. Good quality Prošek is usually much more expensive by volume than other wines due to an average of seven times more grapes being needed to...
which is traditionally from the southern area of Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
. It is made using dried wine grapes in the passito method. There are only a few commercial producers as it is typically a homemade affair.
Czech Republic
Slámové víno is the CzechCzech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
term for straw wine that, under Czech wine
Czech wine
Wine in the Czech Republic is produced mainly in southern Moravia, although a few vineyards are located in Bohemia. However, Moravia accounts for around 96% of the country's vineyards, which is why Czech wine is more often referred to as Moravian wine ...
law, is classified as a Predicate wine (Czech: Jakostní víno s přívlastkem). Czech regulations require the harvested grapes to come from a single wine sub-region
Appellation
An appellation is a legally defined and protected geographical indication used to identify where the grapes for a wine were grown; other types of food often have appellations as well...
, the grapes must be dried for at least three months either on straw or reed mats or hung in a well-ventilated space, and the must weight is required to reach at least 27 °NM on the Normalizovaný moštomer
Normalizovaný muštomer
Normalizovaný moštoměr is a scale used in the Czech Republic and Slovakia for measuring the sweetness of wine must. 1 °NM indicates 1 kg of sugar in 100 litres of must....
scale. Straw wine in the Czech Republic is typically made from white grapes that are well-ripened and undamaged.
France
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
, Savagnin
Savagnin
Savagnin or Savagnin Blanc is a variety of white wine grape with green-skinned berries. It is mostly grown in the Jura region of France, where it is made into the famous vin jaune and vin de paille.-History:...
and the red grape Poulsard
Poulsard
Poulsard is a red French wine grape variety from the Jura wine region. The name Ploussard is used mainly around the town of Pupillin but can appear on wine labels throughout Jura as an authorized synonyms...
. Vins de paille are also made from Marsanne
Marsanne (grape)
Marsanne is a white wine grape, most commonly found in the Northern Rhône region. It is often blended with Roussanne. In Savoie the grape is known as grosse roussette...
in Hermitage
Hermitage AOC
Hermitage is a French wine Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée in the northern Rhône wine region of France south of Lyon. It produces mostly red wine from the Syrah grape; however, small quantities of white wine are also produced from Roussane and Marsanne grapes...
, and from Riesling
Riesling
Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...
in Alsace
Alsace wine
Alsace wine or Alsatian wine is produced in the Alsace region in France and is primarily white. These wines, which for historical reasons have a strong Germanic influence, are produced under three different Appellations d'Origine Contrôlées : Alsace AOC for white, rosé and red wines, Alsace Grand...
. In Corrèze
Corrèze
Corrèze is a department in south central France, named after the Corrèze River.The inhabitants of the department are called Corréziens or Corréziennes according to gender.-History:...
, it is called Vin Paillé. Traditionally the grapes are placed indoors on straw mats for up to three months, and the final wine has 10-20% residual sugar, with flavours of peaches and apricots. It is an excellent accompaniment to foie gras
Foie gras
Foie gras ; French for "fat liver") is a food product made of the liver of a duck or goose that has been specially fattened. This fattening is typically achieved through gavage corn, according to French law, though outside of France it is occasionally produced using natural feeding...
.
Greece/Cyprus
Some raisin wines are produced in Greece and Cyprus. CommandariaCommandaria
Commandaria is an amber-coloured sweet dessert wine made in the Commandaria region of Cyprus on the foothills of the Troödos mountains. Commandaria is made from sun-dried grapes of the varieties Xynisteri and Mavro. While often a fortified wine, through its production method it often reaches high...
claims descent from wine made by the Knights Templar
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon , commonly known as the Knights Templar, the Order of the Temple or simply as Templars, were among the most famous of the Western Christian military orders...
at La Grande Commanderie in Cyprus, and hence claims to be oldest named wine still in production. Commandaria is made from two indigenous grapes, the white Xynisteri
Xynisteri
Xynisteri is an indigenous white grape grown on Cyprus. 13% of Cyprus vineyards, or 500 hectares on the south slopes of the Troodos mountain range are planted with this grape variety. It is used in the production of several local wines...
and the red Mavro
Mavro
Mavro is an indigenous red grape cultivated on the island of Cyprus. The grape takes its name from its dark colour. The Italian ampelographer, Count Giuseppe di Rovasenda refers to it in 1877 as Cipro Nero ....
, an ancestor of the Négrette
Négrette
Négrette is a dark red wine grape grown primarily in South West France in the region between Albi and Toulouse. It is a direct descendant of Mavro rootstock, a grape variety cultivated extensively on the island of Cyprus.-Wine regions:...
grape known as Pinot St-George in the US.
Vinsanto, the hallmark dessert wine of the island of Santorini
Santorini (wine)
Santorini is a Greek wine region located on the archipelago of Santorini in the southern Cyclades islands of the Aegean Sea. Although wine has been produced there since ancient Greek times, when the region was known as Thíra, it was not until the Middle Ages that the wine of Santorini became famous...
, is made of the choicest Assyrtiko
Assyrtiko
Assyrtiko or Asyrtiko is a white Greek wine grape indigenous to the island of Santorini. Assyrtiko is widely planted in the arid volcanic-ash-rich soil of Santorini and other Aegean islands, such as Paros...
grapes, vinified after a few days of sundrying. It is then barreled to mature for several years, as its capacity for aging is measured in decades.
Some varieties of the famed sweet wines of Samos
Samoš
Samoš is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Kovačica municipality, in the South Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 1,247 people .-See also:...
Island are also made of sundried Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains
Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains
Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains is a white wine grape that is a member of the Muscat family of Vitis vinifera. Its name comes from its characteristic small berry size and tight clusters...
grapes.
Italy
In Italy, the generic name for these wines is passito. The method of production is called rasinate (to dry and shrivel). The Moscato Passito di Pantelleria has already been mentioned above. Other famous passitos include Vin Santo in Tuscany, Recioto around Verona, and Sciachetrà from the Cinque terreCinque Terre
The Cinque Terre is a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera. It is in the Liguria region of Italy, to the west of the city of La Spezia. "The Five Lands" is composed of five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore...
east of Genoa.
Tuscany
Veneto
Recioto di Soave is the passito white wine from around Verona, made from the GarganegaGarganega
Garganega is a variety of white Italian wine grape widely grown in the Veneto region of North East Italy, particularly in the provinces of Verona and Vicenza. It is Italy's 6th most widely planted white grape...
grape used in Soave
Soave (wine)
Soave is a dry white Italian wine from the Veneto region in northeast Italy, principally around the city of Verona. Within the Soave region are both a Denominazione di Origine Controllata zone and a Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita designation known as Soave Superiore with both...
. The name comes from a local dialect word, recie meaning 'ears', a reference to this variety's habit of forming two small clusters of extra-ripe grapes sticking out of the top of the main bunch, that were preferred for this wine. It seems to be an ancient wine, in the 5th century AD, Cassiodorus refers to a sweet white wine from Verona that sounds like Recioto di Soave. The classic accompaniment is Pandoro
Pandoro
Pandoro is a traditional Italian sweet yeast bread, most popular around Christmas and New Year. Typically a Veronese product, pandoro is traditionally shaped like a frustum with an 8 pointed-star section....
, Verona's version of panettone
Panettone
thumb|200px|right|A non-traditionally shaped panettone loaf.Panettone is a type of sweet bread loaf originally from Milan , usually prepared and enjoyed for Christmas and New Year in Italy, Malta, Brazil, Germany and Switzerland, and is one of the symbols of the city of Milan. Maltese nationals are...
.
Torcolato is also passito style white wine from the region. It has a warm golden color and sweet flavor, pleasantly persistent, round and thick; it is an excellent dessert wine, one of the top national wines. It is produced in Breganze
Breganze
Breganze is a town in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is northeast of Via Roma. During World War II, the Germans were on one side of the river and the Allies were on the other, and a firefight occurred across the river.-Breganze DOC:...
,along the Strada (or Wine Road) between the Astico and Brenta
Brenta River
The Brenta is an Italian river that runs from Trentino to the Adriatic Sea just south of the Venetian lagoon in the Veneto region.During Roman era, it was called Medoacus and near Padua it divided in two branches, Medoacus Maior and Medoacus Minor ; the river changed its course in early Middle...
rivers, in the strip of land between the city of Bassano del Grappa
Bassano del Grappa
Bassano del Grappa is a city and comune in the province of Vicenza, region Veneto, in northern Italy. It bounds the communes of Cassola, Marostica, Solagna, Pove del Grappa, Romano d'Ezzelino, Campolongo sul Brenta, Conco, Rosà, Cartigliano and Nove...
and the Valdastico
Valdastico
Valdastico is a town in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is east of SP350.-Sources:*...
valley. Another match up that could be recommended is between bussolà and Verduzzo Friulano (from Friuli
Friuli
Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...
). Not to be confused with other types of Verduzzo produced in the Po Plain, this wine, produced in the Friuli hills, is sweet, full-bodied.
More famous are the passito wines made from the blend of red wine grapes typical of Valpolicella
Valpolicella
Valpolicella is a viticultural zone of the province of Verona, Italy, east of Lake Garda. The hilly agricultural and marble-quarrying region of small holdings north of the Adige is famous for wine production. Valpolicella ranks just after Chianti in total Italian Denominazione di Origine...
: 40-70% Corvina
Corvina
Corvina is an Italian wine grape variety that is sometimes also referred to as Corvina Veronese or Cruina or it is mainly known in Europe as"Cassabria". It is mainly grown in the Veneto region of northeast Italy. Corvina is used with several other grapes to create the light red regional wines...
, 20-40% Rondinella
Rondinella
Rondinella is an Italian wine grape mainly grown in the Veneto region of Italy and used in wines such as Valpolicella and Bardolino. It is often blended Corvina, whom DNA evidence has shown is a parent variety, and Molinara. The grape has rather neutral flavors but is favored by growers due to its...
and 5-25% Molinara
Molinara (grape)
Molinara is a red Italian wine grape grown primarily in the Veneto region of north eastern Italy. It adds acidity to the blends Valpolicella and Bardolino made with Corvina and Rondinella. The wine's high propensity for oxidation, coupled with its low color extract, has caused a decline in favor...
. The grapes are dried on traditional straw mats or on racks on the valley slopes.
There are two styles of red passito produced in Veneto. If fermentation is complete, the result is Amarone della Valpolicella ("Amarone
Amarone
Amarone della Valpolicella, usually known as Amarone, is a typically rich Italian dry red wine made from the partially dried grapes of the Corvina , Rondinella and Molinara varieties. The wine was awarded Denominazione di Origine Controllata status in December 1990...
" - literally "extra bitter", as opposed to sweet). Amarone is a very ripe, raisiny red wine with very little acid, often >15% alcohol (the legal minimum is 14%). Typically Amarone is released five years after the vintage, even though this is not a legal requirement. The pomace
Pomace
Pomace , or marc , is the solid remains of grapes, olives, or other fruit after pressing for juice or oil. It contains the skins, pulp, seeds, and stems of the fruit....
left over from pressing off the Amarone is used in the production of ripasso Valpolicellas. Amarone was awarded Denominazione di Origine Controllata
Denominazione di Origine Controllata
Denominazione di origine controllata is a quality assurance label for food products, especially wines and various formaggi . It is modelled after the French AOC...
status in December 1990.
If fermentation is incomplete, the result is a sweet red wine called Recioto della Valpolicella. Fermentation may stop for several reasons including low nutrient levels, high alcohol, and Botrytis
Botrytis cinerea
Botrytis cinerea is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as botrytis bunch rot; in horticulture, it is usually called grey mould or gray mold.The fungus gives rise to two different kinds of...
metabolites. Grapes dried in the valley bottoms are more prone to noble rot
Noble rot
Noble rot is the benevolent form of a grey fungus, Botrytis cinerea, affecting wine grapes. Infestation by Botrytis requires moist conditions, and if the weather stays wet, the malevolent form, "grey rot", can destroy crops of grapes...
and are favoured for Recioto, whereas grapes intended for Amarone are dried on the higher slopes to avoid Botrytis.
Recioto della Valpolicella is regarded as a good companion to chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
desserts because of the high acidity in cocoa
Cocoa solids
Cocoa solids are the low-fat component of chocolate. When sold as an end product, it may also be called cocoa powder, cocoa, and cacao....
.
South Africa
De Trafford created the first Vin de Paille to be released under the new appellation "Wine from Naturally Dried Grapes" in 1997. They use 100% Chenin BlancChenin Blanc
Chenin blanc , is a white wine grape variety from the Loire valley of France. Its high acidity means it can be used to make everything from sparkling wines to well-balanced dessert wines, although it can produce very bland, neutral wines if the vine's natural vigor is not controlled...
.
Spain
Pedro XiménezPedro Ximénez
Pedro Ximénez is the name of a white grape grown in certain regions of Spain, and also a varietal wine, an intensely sweet, dark, dessert sherry...
grapes are dried in the sun before being vinified, fortified and matured in a solera
Solera
Solera is a process for aging liquids such as wine, beer, vinegar, and brandy, by fractional blending in such a way that the finished product is a mixture of ages, with the average age gradually increasing as the process continues over many years. A solera is literally the set of barrels or other...
system like other sherries.
USA
Some California wineries are experimenting with the vin de paille style. Tablas Creek VineyardTablas Creek Vineyard
Tablas Creek Vineyard is a California wine estate producing various Rhône-style blends and varietal wine. The winery is located in the Las Tablas district west of Paso Robles in the Santa Lucia Mountains, within the Paso Robles AVA.-History:...
, in Paso Robles, make one from 100% Roussanne, one from 100% Mourvèdre, and one from a blend of Roussanne, Viognier, Grenache Blanc and Marsanne, while cult winery Sine Qua Non
Sine Qua Non (wine)
Sine Qua Non is a California cult winery known for its Rhône style blends, a tendency to avoid repetition, and a very limited production of wine that is highly difficult to obtain...
makes one from 100% Sémillon.
Barboursville Vineyards
Barboursville Vineyards
Barboursville Vineyards is a winery located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the unincorporated town of Barboursville, Virginia. It is located within both the Virginia and Monticello viticultural areas.-History:...
in Virginia produces a straw wine in the Italian passito style, based on Moscato Ottonel and Vidal grapes. Potomac Point Winery, also in Virginia, produces a straw wine based on the Petit Manseng grape.
In Texas, it was illegal to make wine from dried grapes until 1999, when following pressure from Shawn and Rocko Bruno, who wanted to recreate the raisin wines of their Sicilian heritage, the Alcoholic Beverage Code was amended.
Ravines Wine Cellars in the Finger Lakes produces a vin de paille from Chardonnay grapes. The cool climate of the Finger Lakes gives the grapes a good acidity like the Jura region of France.
Denmark
A single Danish winery, Vester Ulslev Vingaard, has made wine from dried grapes since 2007. The varieties used are Léon Millot and Regent. The grapes are dried for 3 - 4 weeks using forced ventilation. During that time the grapes lost between 25 and 30 % of their weight, the remaining juice being similarly more concentrated. The wines produced are red, dry wines with a level of alcohol of around 13 %. In 2010, which was a difficult wine year in Denmark resulting in low sugars in the grapes heat was used for the drying process and the reduction in weight amounted to 50 %. The wine produced in 2010 had a level of alcohol up to 14 %. Vester Ulslev Vingaard sees the use of dried grapes as a means to make more powerful wines in a cool climate and also, as in 2010, a means to redress deficits in concentration and sugars in bad seasons. In 2010 a double-fermented (ripasso-method) wine was also produced using the pomace of the first wine.Straw wine in popular culture
- In The Silence of the Lambs (novel)The Silence of the Lambs (novel)The Silence of the Lambs is a novel by Thomas Harris. First published in 1988, it is the sequel to Harris' 1981 novel Red Dragon. Both novels feature the cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, this time pitted against FBI Special Agent Clarice Starling.- Plot summary :The novel takes...
, Hannibal Lecter eats the census taker's liver with fava beans and a "big AmaroneAmaroneAmarone della Valpolicella, usually known as Amarone, is a typically rich Italian dry red wine made from the partially dried grapes of the Corvina , Rondinella and Molinara varieties. The wine was awarded Denominazione di Origine Controllata status in December 1990...
", rather than a ChiantiChiantiChianti is a red Italian wine produced in Tuscany. It was historically associated with a squat bottle enclosed in a straw basket, called a fiasco ; however, the fiasco is only used by a few makers of the wine now; most Chianti is now bottled in more standard shaped wine bottles...
as in the film version.
See also
- Vin de Paille
- Vin SantoVin santoVin Santo or Vino Santo is a style of Italian dessert wine. Traditional in Tuscany, these wines are often made from white grape varieties such as Trebbiano and Malvasia, though Sangiovese may be used to produce a rosé style known as Occhio di Pernice or eye of the partridge...
- Late harvest wineLate harvest wineLate harvest is a term applied to wines made from grapes left on the vine longer than usual. Late harvest is usually an indication of a sweet dessert wine, such as late harvest Riesling. Late harvest grapes are often more similar to raisins, but have been naturally dehydrated while on the vine...
- Dessert wineDessert wineDessert wines are sweet wines typically served with dessert.There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal, as opposed to the white fortified wines drunk before the meal, and the red fortified wines drunk after it...
- Sweetness of wineSweetness of wineThe subjective sweetness of a wine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount of sugar in the wine to be sure, but also the relative levels of alcohol, acids, and tannins. Briefly: sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness; acids and bitter tannins counteract it...
External links
- "Vin de Paille: A Dessert Wine Making Technique for the Obsessed" from the Tablas Creek Vineyard blog