Auray

Auray is a variety of wine made from guri fruit, fist-sized sweet yellow fruit which flourish in the heat of tropical Anásthiasplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigAnásthias

Anásthias [a-NAS-thee-ass / ænæsθiːæs], or [an-ass-THEE-as] is an equatorial island continent, heart of the Civilised World. The north straddles the equator and is hot and humid, while most of the equatorial centre is an upland plateau with fertile river valleys, and stretches of arid plains and desert in the shadow of the mountains. The south is temperate but more wild, separated from the civilisations of the north by the almost impassable Harthera. Classic auray was perfected in ancient Miyarris, but today there are hundreds of styles with differing colour, sweetness and flavour.

Guri fruit are grown on cultured bushes, requiring a hot, damp climate with plenty of sun and water to produce large sweet fruit. To make auray, the fruit are picked when they are very ripe, or even well past the stage of ripeness. The harvested fruit are crushed, and filtered at least twice to remove fruit, dirt and stones. The resulting liquid is called guri must. For some types of auray the fruit are harvested when they are already quite withered and coated with white rust (a form of virid mildew), producing a heavy, earthy-flavoured liqueur.

The must is placed in sealed earthenware jars, and left to ferment for four to eight months. Some methods reintroduce guri seeds or skins at this point, or even the juice of unripe fruit, a process called “finishing”, which alters the final flavour, colour and clarity. There are a huge variety of finishing methods, mostly secret, leading to a wide diversity of aroma, sweetness, colour and alcohol content.

The auray is then decanted into large clay jars for transportation. In Harthera the highest quality auray is sealed into characteristic spherical amberglass bottles, made of blown amberglass stamped with the maker's mark with a hot iron. Both amberglass and the liquid inside will darken over time, since both are natural products which mature at a similar rate. Bottled auray can mature for up to ten years, during which time it turns a deep amber colour. The highest quality varieties can be aged for forty years or longer, developing a rich caramel colour, though they require storage in a cool cellar with a regulated temperature and humidity.

Auray was developed and refined in Miyarris, and the oldest aurayeries are in the Eloyoun lands of southeastern Harthera. The old Kingdom of Oonar was particularly famous for its auray. Eloyun auray is a rich golden colour, sweet and perfumed. Various regions are praised for their different varieties, the auray of Oonar being particularly highly prized for its light floral sweetness, whereas the produce of Ravorr has a more rich and earthy savour.

Guri plants are also cultivated in the Occident, traditionally in the lowlands of Galkesh but in modern times along the lower River Wiyel, Siltorn and the west coast. Occidentalplugin-autotooltip__small plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Occident

The Occident is the area of the continent of Anásthias west of the Dun Jaen mountains. Historically this meant the old Empire of Dor-en-Sann, as well as the many other nations west of the mountains before the founding of modern Ororr. Contemporary Ensanni writers occasionally used the term to refer to the relatively wild and less inhabited west coast of AnásthiasOrorrOrorr auray tends to be sharper and less sweet, and is often finished with a variety of other flavourings, particularly herbs and spices.