January 31th-White Vin Doux Natural

Vin Doux Natural (VDN)  is a fortified wine made in the regions of Southern Rhone, Roussillon, and Languedoc in southern France. These wines have varying levels of sweetness but are on the sweeter end of the spectrum. The wines are made using either white or red grapes, depending on the style of VDN that is desired. There are unaged styles which are made using aromatic white grape varieties, such as Muscat Blanc a Petit Grains, or red varieties, such as a lighter Grenache Noir. There are also styles that undergo prolonged periods of aging which can increase the complexity of wines. This week, I will discuss the unaged style. The unaged white wines undergo fermentation at a lower temperature to retain those aromatic notes previously discussed. If the fermentation temperature is much higher, the volatile esters that are responsible for the aromatics can be burned off. This would result in a wine lacking character. The white wines are also protected from oxygen in the environment by using sulfur dioxide, which prevents oxidation of the wine. Exposure to oxygen can also dull these aromatics. For red wines, protection from oxidation is less vital because their phenolic compounds are less volatile. For the production of white VDN, the wine is usually chilled before the fermentation process begins, then fermented on demand to create a wine with the freshest aromas possible. For both red and white wines, the fermentation process is stopped before the sugar can be completely fermented by the addition of a fortifying agent. In the case of the delicate white VDN wines, the fortifying agent is a 95-96% neutral grape spirit. This means that a spirit made from wine grapes is distilled to make this product. It is essential in this case that the grape spirit is neutral in flavor and aroma so it doesn’t distract or overpower the delicate character of the wine. The resulting wines will have at least 45g of sugar per liter for red wines (usually less than 100g/L) and 100-125g/L for white wines. The alcohol content will be 15-18%, with the light white styles being closer to 15%.