“Asoleo” or Sunning the Grapes

Before more scientific techniques were developed, the drying of fruit under the sun was an ancient technique by which the likes of dates, figs and grapes could be preserved. The history of this process goes back millennia but was probably introduced to Spain by the Moors who valued raisins highly as foodstuffs and used them in their cuisine.

Pasas or sun-dried grapes

In winemaking the technique was used to increase effective sugar content in the grapes thereby increasing potential alcohol, or simply producing much sweeter must.  It does, of course, reduce the amount of liquid. We all know that PX and Moscatel grapes are dried out in the sun- or raisined - to lose some of their water content and thus increase the proportion of sugars for sweet wines, but it used to happen with all the grapes as the Palomino produces a fairly low alcohol, low acid must. Indeed some Palomino is still dried, as in Lustau's Anada 1997.

A redor de esparto. Those used for pressing have a central hole. (foto:gentedejerez)

The newly picked grapes were collected in a canasta (a wicker harvesting basket) or a wooden pannier or nowadays in a plastic box but all with a similar capacity of 11-12 kilos (roughly one arroba) and laid out on “esterillas” or “redores de esparto” (esparto grass mats) of @ 80 - 100cm diameter in the sun of the “almijar.” This is an Arabic word meaning a large flat area of ground or yard suitable for laying out the grapes, usually in front of the vineyard building which housed the “lagares” (treading troughs) and overnight shelter for the harvesters. The time spent “asoleando” depended on the weather at harvest time. If the grapes were not ripe enough to produce enough sugar for @ 15%/vol alcohol in a dry wine, a day or two of sunning would correct that.  If it was intended to produce a sweet wine, a couple of weeks were needed to bring the sugar content up to the desired @ 500g/l.

The old way: sunning the grapes in the almijar of Palomino & Vergara

After one day the grapes lose about 10% of their weight (mostly water) and so the sugar content will be proportionately higher. Overnight the grape bunches are covered to avoid the risk of rehydration and potential rot from the dew, and the next day they are turned over to even out the sunning. The proportion of malic acid and, to an extent, tannin will be reduced, while that of tartaric acid will increase.

“Yeso” (gypsum =calcium sulphate) used to be added – and occasionally still is – perfectly legally, in the proportion of about 1-2 grams per kilo. This will help the wine fall bright and give the must a little more acidity. This ancient process is known as “plastering”, and while Victorian doctors ranted about its supposed deleterious effects on the wine, it is in fact perfectly harmless in reasonable proportions and is allowed under European law for wines produced in hot places where they have lower acidity. Most bodegas now simply correct the acid level with tartaric acid however, and no longer practise  malo-lactic fermentation.

The modern way: the hoops support overnight covering (foto: Consejo Regulador)

Using the asoleo method, the potential alcohol level in the grapes was sufficient for stability of the wine for domestic use, but export wines needed a bit more to withstand the rigours of a long sea journey, and were fortified as well. It was noticed that fortification killed off any flor allowing Amontillados to be produced more quickly, and that light fortification of Finos would save the labour involved in sunning grapes not destined for sweet wines. Accordingly only grapes for sweet wines are now sunned, and generally in the vineyard itself on long sheets of polythene which can be easily covered overnight.

Typical PX/Moscatel hudraulic press (foto: dimobe.es)

After two weeks of sunning the grapes will appear much darker and will have dried out to half their original weight, making it impossible to extract the juice in a normal press. A purpose-built hydraulic press is therefore used onto which a “sandwich” of esterillas and dried bunches will be placed. The hydraulic ram exerts much more pressure, and eventually a thick, concentrated, syrupy aromatic juice flows out. This will be allowed to partially ferment before being fortified, and after years of ageing it will be more concentrated still.

PX oozing from the press (foto:clubdevinos.es)

See also: Vinification in Jerez

Types of Sherry: Moscatel

The Muscat grape has grown round the Mediterranean for millennia. Its name probably derives from the fact that its perfumed musky aroma attracted insects (moschaton in Greek, Musca in Latin). Such an old variety inevitably has different versions (at least 18) and different names which can cause confusion. Generally it is known as Muscat in France, Moscato in Italy and Moscatel in Spain and Portugal, but it has nothing to do with Muscadet, which is made from the Melon Blanc grape.

The principal variations of Moscatel include dark skins, pale skins, large grapes and small grapes. In Spain, by far the most important of these is the large, pale-berried Moscatel de Alejandria, which is thought to originate in Egypt and was spread round the Mediterranean by the Romans. This grape made Malaga famous and is also used as a table grape. It can flourish in hot climates, producing healthy yields of very sweet grapes. Luckily, it is not terribly fussy about the type of soil, making it extremely useful in the Sherry zone, as the Palomino insists on the best chalky albariza soils.

Moscatel (foto:ctgpublishing.com

Moscatel has made its home in the Sherry district at Chipiona (though it is also grown in Chiclana) where it is the only wine aged there which can carry a Denominacion de Origen. The town of Chipiona is on the coast, just south-west of Sanlucar, and has much sand and some clay in its soils. This suits the Moscatel just fine, and grapes or musts are bought in from here to supply the bodegas in Jerez, Sanlucar and El Puerto de Santa Maria. They either bottle it as Moscatel or use it in their sweeter blends. Known locally as Isidoro, the Moscatel de Chipiona has a pale skin and many bunches of large round juicy grapes. It likes to grow near the sea where it can benefit from the moist Atlantic breezes.

Moscatel vines at Chipiona and sunning grapes (Consejo Regulador)

Some wine is made from super-ripe grapes with the fermentation stopped by the addition of alcohol giving very fruity "Dorado) wine, but most is made from grapes which have been sun-dried  for between 15 and 30 days, depending on the weather, losing about half their weight through water loss, but retaining their huge sugar content, and notably, some acidity giving balance to these really sweet wines. The yield is, of course, considerably reduced, and huge quantities of sunned grapes are needed to make any worthwhile quantity of wine. The juice from these grapes is also fortified with alcohol, and sometimes some Palomino must is added to dilute the massive sugar content. The wine is a bright golden colour, and some "arrope" or"vino de color" (boiled down must) might be added to give it that familiar brown colour. Alternatively, lengthy ageing will do the same.

In the past this kind of wine was known as “Bastardo” because it was made abnormally - without fermentation, and it formed a notable part of the sack trade, especially with England, where the sweetness was prized, as very little sugar was available until the XVIII century. Chipiona has certainly been a part of the wine trade since the middle ages, and probably much longer. In the last few decades, however with ever falling sales of Sherry, there remain only three producers of this classic wine:

Bodega-Cooperativa Catolico Agricola

Bodega Mellado Martin

Cesar Florido

Part of the Museo del Moscatel, Chipiona

Should you be in Chipiona – which I would recommend, there is a very interesting Museo del Moscatel (www.museodelmoscatel.com). There is an annual Festival del Moscatel, which starts this year on the 14th August.

Moscatel Soleado 16.5%, Gutierrez Colosia

Appearance
Deep amber with ruddy tints fading to yellow at the rim, viscous with pronounced legs.
Nose
Pure super-ripe aromatic grapey Moscatel, very raisiny with touches of caramel honey and toffee. Smells exactly as the bunches of grapes do as they dry out in the sun. Not at all woody but well aged.
Palate
Very sweet but a trace of acidity there, some grip too from small amounts of tannin, but overall unctuously sweet and joyfully flavoursome. Less sweet than most PX. Has a lovely open raisiny.texture, which lingers on the long grapey caramelly finish. Lovely.
Comments
Moscatel tends to be grown on the sandy coastal soils being less fussy than Palomino and PX. This wine is probably bought in by GC from Chipiona which specialises in Moscatel. The grape bunches are laid out in the sun for a couple of weeks or so to raisin ("Asoleo") in an ancient method still also used in Malaga and Montilla. Here the method is called "Pasil" and the only real difference is that the sandy soils on which the bunches are laid out (on finely meshed sheets of plastic) absorb more heat than the Albariza soils, radiating that heat so the grapes raisin a little  more completely and quickly.

Price

£ 11.75 (half bottle) from Bon Vivant's Companion, Edinburgh

Viticulture in Jerez 2. The work in the vineyard

According to the old saying "Las Ninas y las vinas dificiles son de guardar" or girls and vineyards are difficult to look after. Let's just stick to the vineyards! In order to get the best grapes and therefore the best wine, the vineyards must be tended with unceasing care. Over many centuries the vines have been selected as the most suitable for the prevailing soils and climate and have adapted to it. People have learned how to get the best from the vines and developed the wines accordingly and in concert with nature.

Traditional "bienteveo" to keep a watch on the vines

There are three varieties of vine used in Jerez:

Palomino Fino

The most widely planted, as it is responsible for all styles of dry Sherry, Pale Cream and a few light table wines. Yields of about 80 hectolitres per hectare (Hl/Ha) are normal. The grapes are quite low in sugars and acidity, which is a problem for the table wines but fine for Sherry. Its must has a tendency to oxidise, but that isn't a problem either. It also makes a delicious table grape.

Pedro Ximenez (PX)

This variety is responsible for the great sweet Sherries and for sweetening blends. It is the second most widely planted and only a short distance behind Palomino. The skins are thinner making it more disease prone, but it produces higher levels of sugar and acid and yields well. Nearly all PX grapes are dried in the sun (asoleo) into dark raisins which produce tiny amounts of intensely sweet must. The wine sold as PX, especially when old, is a fantastic experience.

Moscatel

The least extensively grown variety, and also used for sweet wines. Moscatel grows on the lesser soils, clay and particularly sand, much of it around Chipiona on the coast. The grapes also undergo asoleo and make lovely sweet wines which are sold as such or also used in blending. As a dry wine, it is often blended with Palomino to produce more interesting table wines.

In 1894 the dreaded Phylloxera louse reached Jerez, and as it had already done in most of viticultural Europe, destroyed the vines by attacking their roots. As the louse came from America, and american rootstocks were resistant to it, Jerez was replanted on american roots with the Vitis Vinifera (the European vine genus responsible for wine grapes) scions grafted on top. To this day all vines are grafted.

The vines here have a useful commercial life of about 30 years. Throughout the life of a vine the quality gets better, but as it ages, the yields can drop to unsustainable levels and it will be replaced. Vine planting is normally done by the system known as "Marco Real", where plants are spaced along the rows at 1.5 metre  intervals, and the rows are 1.5 metres apart. This most traditional system allows good passage of air, workers and machines and is used generally. The other system, known  as "Tresbolillo" allows a few more plants per hectare, but is otherwise less practical. Most vines are trained along a wire cordon.

Once the vines are established, they must be pruned. Pruning in its various forms is important; to set the shape of the vine for production; to keep the vine healthy; to maximise quality, and sometimes to allow best access for harvesting machines. Normally pruning is carried out in late autumn after the harvest, and the system most widely used is called "vara y pulgar" which resembles your forearm (as the vinestock) with extended thumb and forefinger. The forefinger is allowed about 8 buds which will produce fruiting canes in one year, and the thumb 1 or 2,which will produce a vara for the next year, the previous vara being pruned back to 1 or 2 buds. So the pruning alternates annually. In spring, a "green" harvest takes place with the removal of excess buds to avoid overproduction. If you overproduce, you end up with lots of thin wine, so the idea is to produce less but better wine. Pruning is also applied to remove excess foliage which might hinder the access of sunlight and fresh breezes, or retain humidity with the attendant risk of moulds or rot.

Traditionally the harvest ("Vendimia") starts on the 8th September, the birthday of Our Lady, and this is the start of the Fiesta de la Vendimia (the harvest festival). The weather being what it is, however, the date is decided by the ripeness of the grapes. Palomino is picked at about 11 degrees Beaume (a scale of sugar content) and PX at about 12.8. Global warming has now advanced the date to late August. In the run up to the harvest, the bodegas are all busy checking the grapes' sugar levels, cleaning their equipment and organising pickers - where there are no mechanical harvesters.

If picked by hand, the bunches of Palomino grapes are put into plastic crates to avoid them being squashed and quickly sent to the "lagar" (press house). The PX grapes follow a different path. Out in the fields huge lines of esparto grass mats are laid out where solar exposure is best. Every few metres curved rods are fixed over them. Millions of bunches of PX grapes are then laid out on the mats to dry out in the sun. At night, to avoid humidity from the dew, sheets of plastic are draped over the rods, and next morning the sheets are removed and the grape bunches turned over. This process called "asoleo" or sunning, which lasts up to two weeks, results in bunches of raisins which will make the sweet wines. During the asoleo the grapes lose 70% of their weight due to water evporation, so the sugar content is less diluted and doubles from about 13 to about 25 degrees Beaume. Obviously the amount of juice available on pressing is minute, which explains the extent of vineyard needed for PX cultivation.

This process is used widely in Andalucia, and in Chipiona, one of the Sherry towns specialising in Moscatel, they call the process "Pasil". The only difference being that the rough sandy soils absorb more heat which is radiated back at night through the loose-knit sheets of plastic on which the bunches are laid.