Reviews

Recipe for immortality
«Gastronom» №01(96) January 2010

Sweet wines cannot be rushed, neither in vinification nor in aging.

Drinking them is an unhurried process, too. Each sip offers an amazing richness which needs time to be appreciated.

Harvest for sweet wines is often picked last, as late as Christmas time, and occasionally cut bunches are left to wither till spring. Their juice is fermented very slowly. If dry wines require two to three weeks, fermentation of sweet wines may last a year or more. They are also champions in longevity. Best dry whites can keep several decades in bottle, reds may last for about a century, whilst dessert easily survive 5-6 human generations. Because of this wonderful feature they are sometimes described as immortal.

Unlike others, sweet wines have several production seasons. Mid and late autumn is the time for late harvested wines, from German auslese to vendange tardive in Alsace and late harvest in the New World. Grapes are picked later than usual, when they have accumulated high sugar levels. The most concentrated wines are made from botrytis affected grapes. Famous Sauternes, Tokaji Aszu and some German wines are made in this fashion. When winter comes, winemakers turn grapes, frozen on a vine, into rare ice wines. Germany, Austria and Canada are particularly reputed for them. In early spring comes the turn of making wines from withered grapes which were drying in wineries throughout autumn and winter. This method is commonly used in Italy. Nearly each region has own specialties, including Tuscan Vin Santo and Recioto from Veneto. If we are to describe all stickies in detail, we will need to write a book. So here we will look only at sweet symbols of three countries — Sauternes, ice wine and Vin Santo.

If the name of a person who first dared to taste rotten grapes was known, he might be famous like Dom Perignon, or, at least have a monument built in his honour. Grapes covered with an unsightly layer of rot are the base for inimitable Sauternes. Yet not every rot turns grapes into great dessert wines. It must be noble, or Botrytis cinerea, or simply botrytis.

When a tiny fungus gets on a grape, it pieces its skin. Water evaporates, a berry shrivels, concentrating the elements of aromas and flavours, including sugar. Only water, rather than acids, is lost, otherwise the wine would taste like sugar syrup. Acidity provides freshness and ease of drinking, supporting general balance.

Botrytis is a capricious rot. It doesn’t appear by winemakers’ whim, but develops in places, where autumns are warm and humid. Sauternes in Bordeaux is one of those spots. Thick mists descend on vineyards in the morning, with the soft autumn sun eventually burning them. If the weather is favourable, a grower may hope to get good harvest within six weeks after botrytis is set. Yet, rains and cold weather can bring immediate destruction. A grower risks also because botrytis covers grapes unevenly. At times pickers have to collect grapes on several occasions, getting right berries one by one.

Sauternes cannot be cheap with such labour-intensive production, yet it is undervalued if we compare its prices with those for dry wines. Best examples offer amazing concentration, with exploding flavours of apricots, figs, yellow plums, citrus and tropical fruit, often mixed with floral and spicy notes. They acquire additional complexity with age, developing honeyed, caramel and jammy nuances.

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Sauternes is a classic sweet category, bottles are not that difficult to find in wine shops. Chateau Yquem is a rare exception when a sweet wine achieved a rank of one of the world’s greatest wines.

I wouldn’t want to be among people picking grapes for eiswein, or ice wine. They do it during frosty December or January nights, with temperatures dropping below 7 degrees Celsius when grapes get well frozen. Pickers work in gloves to avoid berries thaw in their hands.

Production of ice wine is unpredictable. In autumn grapes may get attacked by rot, no matter noble or not. Botrytised grapes quickly go bad, and its flavours are considered undesirable in ice wines. If this is a usual rot, grapes may simply decay. Neither birds are impartial to sweet grapes. They pose a serious threat to the health of harvest, just like rot. And, finally, frosts may not come on time. It has become more of a problem lately because of global warming. Only if all conditions are in place, a winemaker can make us happy by producing truly precious ice wine.

Ice wine is made only in natural conditions. Refrigerators and other special techniques never give wine that particular combination of freshness, acidity and sweetness. A winemaker has about two hours to press grapes before they thaw. There is very little juice, but it is nicely concentrated, since most of water is frozen and left in the press. To produce a 350 ml bottle of ice wine, one needs to use the same amount of grapes as for 15 bottles of conventional wine. Count yourself how much it should cost.

Germany is the birthplace of ice wine, where it is made with Riesling. It tastes unique, both refined and intense, sweet and fresh, pure and intense. Other countries have experimented with it recently. Canada and Austria are particularly successful.

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Ice wines will remain limited in production, but it is still possible to find them even in Russian wine shops.

At least, Italian priests think so about Vin Santo. They have used it for communions throughout centuries. But Vin Santo is more than church wine. In the past it was a symbol of Italian hospitality. It was presented to important guests. Today Vin Santo is among favourite dessert wines. It is traditionally served with cantucci biscuits, though, frankly, it is good to drink it without food.

Production techniques didn’t change since medieval times. Two local grapes are used, Malvasia and Trebbiano. Their dry wines are mediocre, but sweet can be really good. Grapes are harvested at the usual time, but left to dry. Bunches are hanged on hooks or left in open boxes in special drying rooms, and left till spring. In the meantime grapes lose about half of liquid, whilst sugar and other substances get concentrated.

When grapes are in the right condition, they are pressed and juice is transferred to small wooden barrels. Madre from already fermenting barrels is added in order to start fermentation. The process is quite long. Wines ferment and age 3- years, sometimes up to 10. Vin Santo acquires a complex bouquet of dried fruit, nuts, honey and spices. It is a great pleasure to drink these wines.

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Bottles with Vin Santo are often brought from Tuscany as souvenirs, but they can also be bought in Moscow.

– There are some textbook combinations between sweet wines and food, such as foie gras and Sauternes. Goose liver is served with dessert Tokaji in Hungary.

– Another classical match is Sauternes with Roquefort cheese.

– Dessert wines from Germany and the Loire go well with delicate blue cheeses.

– Sweet wines are traditionally served with desserts. The rule to remember — don’t overdo! Aromatic Muscat enjoys the company of chocolate desserts. Semisweet wines are a good match for fresh fruit.

– Many sweet wines are so delicious that they don’t need food.

Santorini island in Greece has own version of ‘sacred’ wine, called Visanto. Like in Tuscany, it is made from raisined grapes, but bunches are laid on mats and sun-dried. After a week or so the harvest is ready for vinification. Visanto is aged in wooden barrels for about 10 years, and wine becomes rich and complex. Greek varieties, including Assyrtiko and Mandelari, are used for Visanto.