🍷 Vin doux naturel
French sweet wine whose fermentation is stopped with spirit, as with Port.
Vin doux naturel, or VDN, is a French sweet fortified wine. The name means naturally sweet wine. The sweetness is not added: it is kept by stopping fermentation with spirit. This step is called mutage.
While the must is fermenting and still holds a lot of sugar, the winemaker adds neutral grape spirit of about 96%. The yeast dies, fermentation stops, and the grape's natural sugar stays in the wine. Port is made in a similar way, but VDN is a separate French tradition. Alcohol is usually 15–18%. The main grapes are Grenache of various colours and Muscat.
Most of these wines come from Roussillon: Banyuls, Maury and Rivesaltes. In the southern Rhône, Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise and Rasteau are well known. Muscat VDNs are drunk young and fresh. Red Grenache VDNs often age for years in contact with air, sometimes in glass jars in the sun, and develop the nutty rancio taste. VDNs are served with desserts, chocolate and blue cheese, in small glasses.
What it includes
How it connects to Wine
🍷 Vin doux naturel → kind of → 🍷 Fortified wine → kind of → 🍷 Types of wine → kind of → 🍷 Wine
Links
- Part of
- 🍷 Fortified wine
- Where it is made
- 🗺️ French wine
- Similar and different
- 🍷 Mutage, 🍷 Banyuls, 🍷 Maury, 🍷 Rivesaltes, 🍷 Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, 🍷 Rasteau VDN, 🍷 Rancio
Frequently asked questions
What is vin doux naturel?
It is a French sweet wine whose fermentation was stopped with grape spirit. The sugar comes from the grapes.
How is VDN different from Port?
The method is similar, but VDN is a French tradition with its own grapes and regions. Most are Grenache or Muscat from Roussillon and the Rhône.
What goes with Banyuls and other VDNs?
Chocolate, desserts and blue cheese. Muscat VDNs suit fruit.
What to read next
- 🗺️ French wine — The country's wine and winemaking: regions, grapes and appellations.
- 🍷 Rancio — Wine aged for years in air and warmth, giving it a nutty, spicy taste.
- 🍷 Banyuls — A sweet red fortified wine from Grenache on the coast by the Pyrenees.
- 🍷 Maury — A sweet fortified Grenache wine from Roussillon.
- 🍷 Rivesaltes — A sweet fortified wine from Roussillon, white, amber or red.
Similar
🍷 Fondillón · 🍷 Mutage · 🍷 Rancio · 🍷 Mistelle · 🍷 Rutherglen Muscat · 🍷 Liqueur wine
⚠️ Wine contains alcohol: adults only, drink in moderation. Wine usually contains sulphites; egg white or milk proteins are sometimes used for fining — important for allergies and for vegans.