| Wine that is produced using grapes that have being | | | | involved in leaving grapes to attract noble rot; the |
| harvested late in the season produce sweet, clear | | | | longer a vine is subjected to the rapidly cooler |
| wines with a manageable level of acidity. The practice | | | | Autumn weather, the higher the chance it has of |
| of late harvesting is particularly prevelant in areas | | | | falling foul of natural elements such as storms. This is |
| such as Germany, Austria and Hungary; where the | | | | one of the reasons why late harvest wine is more |
| cold temperatures experienced by these northerly | | | | expensive, the other contributing factor being the |
| geographic regions is seen as a positive rather than a | | | | sweetness and quality of wine it produces. |
| negative. Some German wine made from late | | | | Harvesting grapes with noble rot is not easy. The |
| harvests is said to be amongst the best in the world. | | | | fungus does not grow uniformally on each grape at |
| The reason the late harvest is so effective is due to | | | | each time, and a complete vine is never ready at the |
| the increased likelihood of finding grapes which are | | | | same time. Instead, workers must look at each |
| infected with Botrytis cinerea, which is commonly | | | | individual grape every day to see if the rot has |
| known in the wine making industry as 'noble rot'. | | | | reached the level ideal for cultivation. When each |
| Noble rot is essentially a fungus, and when it grows | | | | grape does reach the prime point of infection, it is |
| upon grapes, the grapes shrivel and harden This | | | | harvested individually. Grapes that are chosen in this |
| causes the grapes to lose nearly all of their water | | | | way are given a special distinction in the grades of |
| content, which causes the sugar in the grape to | | | | German wine; Beernauslese or Trockenbeernauslese. |
| become the most concentrated element of the | | | | These are among the most expensive wines |
| grape itself. This process is known as desiccation, and | | | | produced in Europe. |
| any grapes that are effected by noble rot are | | | | German wine makers, however, sometimes take the |
| extremely sweet due to the high presence of sugar | | | | production of late harvest wines to extremeties, in |
| without the neutralising element of water. | | | | the production of Eiswein. Translated literally as 'ice |
| Thus, German wine made from the late harvest is | | | | wine', eiswein is produced from grapes that have |
| characteristically very sweet, and is typically used as | | | | naturally frozen on the vine and are typically |
| a dessert wine. Noble rot is formed when humidity in | | | | harvested in January or February. The wine is so |
| the climate causes the fungus to grow and attack | | | | specialised and of such high quality that unnatural |
| the grapes, and the longer it is left to grow, the | | | | freezing - such as that done in a freezer - is a crime |
| sweeter the eventual production wine will be. | | | | in Germany. Eiswein is made from grapes not |
| Noble rot attacks grapes most frequently in | | | | effected by noble rot; the sweetness of the wine is |
| September and October, much later than traditional | | | | achieved by the freezing process, which itself |
| the traditional harvest time of August to early | | | | removes all water from the grapes. |
| September. However, there is an element of risk | | | | |