VDN

See under Vin doux naturel.

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...

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VDN

Vin doux naturel

Production method

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