🍷 Straw wine

Straw wine is a sweet wine made from grapes that were dried before pressing. The name comes from an old method: bunches were laid out on straw or reeds. Later they were hung on hooks and kept in a draught.

As the berries dry, water evaporates while sugar, acid and aroma remain. The juice becomes very thick. Drying takes from several weeks to three or four months. Wine is made from this juice: it is sweet and rich, with notes of raisin, honey, dried fruit and nuts. The yield is tiny, so the wine is expensive and sold in small bottles.

Such wine is known in many countries. In France it is vin de paille from the Jura, in Italy passito and Vin Santo, in Austria and Germany Strohwein, in Greece wine from dried grapes, and in Cyprus Commandaria. Close to the same method is appassimento, where dried grapes give a dry, powerful wine.

It is one of the oldest ways to get a sweet wine without adding sugar.