The Wines of Champs de Violet

Everyone across the whole of Bastique knows that if you want the finest wine in all of Aland, you need to go to Champs de Violet. The entire region has been converted into a vast grape field, maintained by several vineyards. Each vineyard is responsible for producing a different kind of wine, whether that be dry whites, sweet reds, delicious rosés or sharp golds.
As the region exclusively grows and breeds different kinds of grapes for its wines, the quality of that wine is incredibly important to them. This is because they must import all other necessities, such as food, clothes and building material from the other regions controlled by Duble. In order to maintain this flow of trade, the people of Champs de Violet must ensure that every bottle of wine that leaves their vineyards meets a certain standard. If they do not, the Dublean Viscount, the ruler of the city-state of Duble, will halt all trade to the region until the wine improves. This has never been necessary in Champs de Violet as the vintners consider the high quality of their wine a point of pride and not just a matter of survival.
Each grape is handpicked from the vine by the commoners who call the region home. Once they have been picked, but before they are taken to be processed, they must be sorted. The sorting process can last a number of days as the grapes are separated into those with the most juice or of the biggest size and the grapes which are deemed unsuitable for wine. To be deemed unsuitable, a grape must be too small to hold enough juice or be bruised and torn in some way. These grapes still have their uses however as they are shipped out to villages across Dublean controlled territory as feed for Vin Oxen. Grapes are separated into a third pile should a vineyard decide that they wish to experiment with a certain kind of grape to see if they can use it to craft a new kind of wine.
Once the sorting process has been completed, the grapes deemed most suitable are taken over to a large wooden basin. After they have all been deposited into the basin, a team of four vintner's will climb in with their feet bare and begin to stomp on the grapes to press the juice out of them. Up to 10 of these foot presses can be in use at any one time on the vineyards to maximise the amount of wine produced.
When the grapes have been pressed, the basin is then carried by a team of vintners over to the large ageing barrels in which the juice will be aged. A thin cloth sheet is spread over the open ageing barrel in order to filter out anything that might taint the wine. Additional preservatives and ingredients are then added to the juice once it is in the barrel, dictated by the type and make of the wine that they are trying to produce. Heat will then be applied to the barrels to boil their contents to further remove any impurities. This heating process is what gives the ageing barrels their characteristic charred black appearance. These barrels will then be transferred to an ageing cellar, where they will stay until the Master Vintner, the person in charge of their vineyard, declares them ready for bottling.
The two most famous wines produced in the Champs de Violet region are the Dublean Blue and the Fool's Gold. The Dublean Blue has a very rich, yet smooth taste, a floral scent and is often used as a dessert wine in high society parties. This does not mean, however, that it is not drunk casually by the nobility. It is rumoured that Dublean Blue is the Viscount's drink of choice and he will refuse to drink anything else. Dublean Blue earned its name from its colour, a red wine so dark that it passes purple and almost appears to be a deep blue. Fool's Gold is a golden wine that is light, airy and incredibly easy to drink. It is the wine preferred by commoners as it is the cheapest of the wines produced by the vineyards. This is in part because of the quality of the grape used in its production, but also as it is the wine that has the strongest vinegar-like taste and scent. Most common folk will agree, however, that this does not take away, and in fact adds, to the sweetness of the wine. The name of the wine stems from its colour and its lower cost.

Distribution

Trade & Market

While the wines produced in Champs de Violet are mostly traded internally amongst the villages under Duble's rule, merchants have been shipping them to Sylvahn and beyond. This has led to the vineyards receiving special requests from the Sylvahni nobles and merchants for specific vintages and even for new kinds of wine. Dublean merchants have also traded their wine with the Serpéans, however, only the First General and the highest-ranking senior officers are able to afford the imported nectar.

Type

Organic

Value

10 - 1000 gold per bottle

Odor

Ranges from Sweet to Bitter to Vaguely Vinegary

Taste

Dependent on Variety

Color

Red, White, Gold, Rosé etc.