Vin de paille: sweet wine from grapes dried on straw
Vin de paille means straw wine, and the name tells you how it is made. At the start of harvest the best bunches are picked out and left to dry for at least six weeks, often three to five months, in dry, well ventilated rooms. They used to be laid on beds of straw. Today they are more often set on racks or in perforated crates, or hung from wires. The grapes lose water, and their sugar, acidity and aroma become concentrated.
Pressing takes place between Christmas and the end of February. A hundred kilos of dried grapes give barely 20 litres of juice, often with more than 300 grams of sugar per litre. Fermentation is natural and slow and stops somewhere between 14 and 18.5 per cent alcohol, after which the wine usually spends around three years in small oak casks. So vin de paille is not a fortified wine: no spirit is added, and both its sweetness and its strength come from the grapes alone. That is what sets it apart from Macvin, the other sweet speciality of the Jura.
Jura straw wine: grapes, taste and producers
In the Jura, vin de paille is made under the Arbois, Côtes du Jura and L'Etoile appellations from Chardonnay, Savagnin and the pale red Poulsard, with some Trousseau in places. Quantities are small, and the wine is nearly always bottled in 37.5 cl halves. The colour runs from gold through amber to mahogany. On the nose you find dried and candied fruit, fig, quince, prune, honey and caramel, sometimes with a hint of tea or spice. The palate is rich and sweet, held up by fresh acidity.
From Arbois come Domaine Rolet Père et Fils and Domaine de la Tournelle, whose Vin de Paille A l'aube 2009 already has bottle age. The Côtes du Jura is represented by Domaine Pignier, with a 2018 from Savagnin, Chardonnay and Poulsard, and by Domaine Jean-Luc Mouillard, with a 2020.
Straw wine beyond the Jura: Rhône, Corrèze and California
The method is older and more widespread than the Jura. In Hermitage in the northern Rhône, small amounts of vin de paille are made from Marsanne and Roussanne, while in Corrèze the wine is called vin paillé and is lighter, at about 12 to 13 per cent alcohol. Austria has its own Prädikat for Strohwein or Schilfwein, for which the grapes must dry for at least three months, and in Italy the technique is known as passito.
The name is used in California too. Sine Qua Non made To The Rescue as a vin de paille: a Roussanne 2006 from the Eleven Confessions Vineyard, dried on straw mats, and a Grenache 2007, both with around 290 grams of residual sugar and both in 37.5 cl bottles.
Vin de paille with food, and how to serve it
Serve vin de paille chilled, at 5 to 8 °C, but not ice cold. It works as an apéritif and with foie gras, and it is very good with blue cheese and other strong cheeses. At dessert, try an apricot or nut tart, chocolate desserts or dry biscuits. A half bottle goes a long way, since a small glass is enough. For more sweet wines, browse our dessert wine selection.
Vin de paille FAQ
Is vin de paille a fortified wine?
No. No alcohol is added. The sweetness and the alcohol both come from the dried grapes and a long, natural fermentation.
What is the difference between vin de paille and vin jaune?
Vin jaune is a dry white wine from Savagnin, aged for six years and three months in barrel under a veil of yeast. Vin de paille is sweet and made from dried grapes.
How long can vin de paille age?
A long time. Its high sugar and acidity let a good vin de paille develop for well over ten years.
Why is vin de paille sold in half bottles?
Because the dried grapes yield so little juice. That makes the 37.5 cl half bottle the usual format.