straw wine
- noun
:
vino de paja
- Many European straw wines are made using traditional sun-drying techniques.
Examples
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The rich sweetness of straw wine pairs well with blue cheese.
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She served a chilled glass of straw wine after dinner.
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I enjoyed a glass of straw wine with dinner.
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Have you ever tried straw wines from Italy?
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Many European straw wines are made using traditional sun-drying techniques.
-
The rich sweetness of straw wine pairs well with blue cheese.
-
She served a chilled glass of straw wine after dinner.
Synonyms
1
3.7
A sweet wine served with a dessert or after a meal
How Sweet
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'straw' and 'wine' give a partial clue — a B1 learner can tell it’s a type of wine associated with straw — but the specific meaning (wine from grapes partially dried on straw/mats, producing concentrated sweetness) depends on specialized winemaking knowledge and is not directly predictable from the words alone. There are parallel terms in other languages (e.g. French vin de paille, German Strohwein), so the construction is somewhat interpretable but requires cultural/technical knowledge, making it only partially transparent.
Etymology
Straw wine gets its name from a simple old method: grapes were left to dry on mats or beds of straw, so they lost water and their sugar became stronger. That's why straw wine is 'sweet' and 'rich' today.