Evolution since the Middle Ages: Elsewhere

It is clear from redding that dried-grape wines were much more common in early-19th-century France than today. He mentions the vin de paille of Alsace, two types from Argentat in the Corrèze (way upriver of modern bergerac), one of them slightly sparkling, and what sounds like a magnificent example from the Sciacarello grape made at Sartène in corsica. He also makes clear that Muscat de rivesaltes was then a true raisin wine, often the result of twisting grape stems on the vine, and not, as now, a fortified blend. In contemporary France, the tradition survives only in the vins de paille of Hermitage and the Jura, made as curiosities by two or three producers in each region, in quantities so tiny that they rarely reach the market.