Entre Les Murs

Last Wine Tasting Class

Yesterday evening we resumed our interrupted wine-tasting course. Having discussed reds and whites in the first two classes, this final one presented a variety of other wine-making techniques. We started with champagne, which we already knew a little about, then learned about the "vins jaune", the "vins liquoreux", the "vins doux naturel", and finally a unique wine made from sun-dried grapes.

A vin jaune is one in which a crust of yeast is allowed to form on top in the cask. It ages very slowly (six years and three months, to be precise) with results of a very strong flavour and deep colour.

The vins de liquoreux are wines in which the juice has been concentrated by the botrytis (the "noble rot" as vintners are fond of referring to it). This being a French course, the example of this that we tasted was a Sauternes, although there are many good German wines of this sort.

The vins doux naturel are fortified wines, such as port, where alcohol has been added to stop the natural fermentation and preserve the natural sweetness of the grape. French examples are Banyouls, and the one we tasted in class, Mas Amiel.

The final wine offered for tasting was remarkable for it's thick brown colour and strong pruney nose: Bodegas Toro Albalá. It is made by the "methode classique", i.e. nothing unusual in the wine-making itself; but it is made with sun-dried grapes, so not surprisingly it smelled and tasted a lot like raisins. It also had the most alcohol of the lot, at 17%.

posted 25.6.06