What is Vin de Paille and what does it taste like?

Vin de Paille is a special, fairly rare dessert wine from the Jura in France. Vin de Paille is made from grapes that are dried on straw mats before being pressed. They have a deep yellow to amber color. Because a lot of grapes are needed for a single bottle of Vin de Paille, that bottle is generally not cheap.

Vin de Paille used to be much more widespread in France than it is today. In the nineteenth century, it was made in Hermitage in the Rhône Valley, in Alsace and in the Jura. In the twentieth century, production decreased dramatically. Nowadays, you can only find this special dessert wine in the Jura. The process is relatively simple and can in principle be carried out anywhere.

Vin de Paille is generally very complex. Southern fruits, nuts, candied fruit and raisins are terms that often appear in tasting notes. In addition, Vin de Paille can be stored for a very long time. In the Jura, it is normally bottled in half bottles. Because the grapes dry out and shrivel during drying on the mats, five kilos of grapes are needed to make one litre of Vin de Paille.