Ever dreamt of eating spoilt fruits? Not me; no way!

Vineyards are susceptible to various kinds of attacks during the grape growing period. This could be from hail to unprecedented rainfall to attack by organisms like wasps to bacteria and fungus.

What is it and how it happens?

Botrytis Cineria is a grey fungus that attacks grapes. This generally happens when the weather is moist, just like how a coating forms on clothes that are untouched for ages. This is a fungal attack of the similar order. The grapes are attacked by botrytis when they are ripe and almost ready for harvest, leaving the winemaker in so much of dilemma that he would not mind cursing the gods for the misfortune.

How was it identified?

Legend has it that this was first known in Hungary but some say that it affected the vineyards in Germany. This is not too much of an issue that we need to look into; however, the story goes this way. Grapes were harvested and were stolen en-route to the delivery location. The delivery was delayed by 3 weeks and later discarded and given to the poor peasants. What the peasants did was clean the grapes and make a wine, which they called a late harvest wine or Spätlese.

What does the fungus do?

The Botrytis fungus covers the grape completely with its musty coat. The grape then gets dehydrated and the sugar concentration in the grape increases drastically. Thus the concentrated grapes are used to produce some of the best dessert wines. Nowadays, the grapes or raisins, what they have turned into, are handpicked to create exceptional wines in almost all wine making regions. Imagine countries trying to import the fungus? Yes! Australia does it.

What is it now?

This is no longer a threat to winemakers. However, many appellations in the world consider it as a boon and call this Noble Rot too. The Aszu in Hungary and Sauternes in France are internationally acclaimed for their Botrytized wines. German wines of this nature are called trockenbeerenauslese, pretty long term. Austria, Canada, South Africa and Australia also make such wines. Some winemakers wait for the natural occurrence while some artificially spray the spores on the grape.

Some famous wines of this kind are:

Tokaji Aszu

White wine from Sauternes

Trockenbeerenauslese from Germany

Have your tried any yet? Do share your feedback on the wines in the comments below.

Gulp Responsibly! Socialize liberally!!