wein.plus
Attention
You are using an old browser that may not function as expected.
For a better, safer browsing experience, please upgrade your browser.

Log in Become a Member

Vin doux naturel

Vino dolce naturale (I)

The sweet, fortified dessert wine has a very old history, originating in the French region of Roussillon in the eastern Pyrenees. The invention can be traced back to the famous doctor and scholar Arnaldus de Villanova (1240-1311), who experimented with brandy and wine production on the estate of the Knights Templar around the year 1285. He discovered that spriting (adding alcohol) stops fermentation and preserves residual sugar in the wine. This was the birth of the VDN and this wine was already very popular in the Middle Ages. When the Kingdom of Mallorca (today Roussillon) became part of France in 1659, Sun King Louis XIV (1638-1715) served this wine to his guests in Versailles. The philosopher Voltaire (1694-1778) and the later US president Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) also raved about it.

Production method

The designation or production methods of the VDN were first legally protected in 1872. In 1936, these wines received the AOC classification. The individual areas are spread over the départements of Aude, Hérault, Pyrénées-Orientales and Vaucluse in the south of France as well as on the island of Corsica. The two main varieties Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains and Muscat d'Alexandrie are permitted, as well as Macabeo, Malvoisie du Roussillon (Torbato), Grenache Blanc (Garnacha Blanca), Grenache Gris (Garnacha Roja) and Grenache Noir (Garnacha Tinta). The other regulations concern must weight (at least 252 g/l), maximum yield (30 hl/ha and less), alcohol content (at least 15 to 18% vol), residual sugar (at least 45 to over 100 g/l for some varieties), vinification and minimum ageing (up to 30 months barrel ageing).

It is the cellar master's responsibility when the pure, tasteless wine spirit is added to the fermenting must. For the best wines, the wine spirit is poured over the grape mash (mutage sur grains); the mash fermentation can last up to four weeks. Only then is the mash pressed. Traditional vin doux naturel are aged in large 600-litre wooden barrels, where they are deliberately exposed to oxidation. This is done in the open air, where they are subjected to large temperature fluctuations. Since 1975, the new type of vintage (in Banyuls they are called Rimage) has been produced from particularly good vintages. These mostly deep red wines are bottled early and age like great red wines. They have an intense cherry and berry aroma.

Appellations

The appellations in the Roussillon region (with 90% of French VDN production) are Banyuls, Maury, Muscat de Rivesaltes and Rivesaltes, where these wines are made in red and white varieties with different grape variety blends or pure varietals. The best VDNs are the reds made from Grenache Noir, which can be stored for up to 20 years or longer. In the Languedoc region, VDNs are produced in four appellations, the best known being Muscat de Frontignan, classified as the first AOC. From the southern Rhône, two VDNs come from the appellations Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise and Rasteau. A must that has already been enriched before fermentation begins is called vin de liqueur.

Vin doux naturel and Vin naturellement doux

The term "vin doux naturel" (naturally sweet wine) is, strictly speaking, wrong, because spriting is an "artificial intervention", which actually contradicts "natural". However, "naturally sweet" refers to the fact that no sweetening was done with appropriate means. Incidentally, the term is also used in other countries, including Greece for the sweet wines Samos and Vinsanto. Other terms used here are "Vin doux" (Spriten after a short fermentation) and "Vin naturellement doux" (without Spriten - i.e. a "real" naturally sweet wine).

Voices of our members

Roman Horvath MW

wein.plus is a handy, efficient guide to a quick overview of the colourful world of wines, winegrowers and grape varieties. In Wine lexicon, the most comprehensive of its kind in the world, you will find around 26,000 keywords on the subject of grape varieties, wineries, wine-growing regions and much more.

Roman Horvath MW
Domäne Wachau (Wachau)

The world's largest Lexicon of wine terms.

26,367 Keywords · 46,924 Synonyms · 5,323 Translations · 31,701 Pronunciations · 201,865 Cross-references
made with by our author Norbert F. J. Tischelmayer. About the Lexicon

EVENTS NEAR YOU