🍷 Passerillage
Drying grapes right on the vine to make them sweeter.
Passerillage means letting grapes dry on the vine. The berries stay hanging after the normal harvest time. Water evaporates from them, and the sugar and flavour become more concentrated.
The word is French. The method is old and is especially tied to south-west France. The best example is Jurançon: grapes are picked late, after they have shrivelled on the vine. Sweet wines are made from them.
Passerillage is not the same as straw wine. For straw wine, the bunches are cut and dried on mats or indoors. In passerillage the drying happens on the vine, so the method is closer to late harvest. The risk is that weather can ruin the crop: rain, rot, birds. That is why it is not done everywhere or every year. It is one way to get sweetness without adding sugar.
What it includes
Links
- Part of
- 🍷 Straw wine
- Related to
- 🗺️ French wine
- Similar and different
- 🍷 Late harvest wine, 🍷 Jurançon
Frequently asked questions
What is passerillage?
It is drying grapes on the vine before harvest so the berries become sweeter and more concentrated.
How is passerillage different from straw wine?
In passerillage grapes dry on the vine, while for straw wine cut bunches are dried separately.
Where is passerillage used?
Mainly in south-west France, for example for sweet Jurançon.
Similar
🍷 Vin de paille · 🍷 Prošek · 🍷 Strohwein · 🍷 Vinsanto of Santorini · 🍷 Passito · 🍷 Vendanges tardives