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All About Late Harvest Wine

By Ed Masciana

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Published: 16Jan2012
Word count: 752
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The large and luscious late harvest wines are produced from grapes, which have been left on the vine longer than those destined to become table wines. They develop a naturally higher than normal sugar level, thus the resulting wine may be higher in alcohol, often over 14 %. More often, however, they are higher in sugar since the fermentation process is arrested before all the sugar is converted. This is done by either putting the wine through a filter fine enough to remove the yeast or lowering the temperature of the wine to almost freezing (34 degrees F). This causes the yeast to stop working and fall to the bottom of the tank where it can be removed easily.

Late harvest Zinfandels were popular in the late '60s and early '70s, but have almost disappeared due to lack of consumer interest and competition from Port.

White wines in the late harvest style are generally made from the Riesling grape, as is traditional in Germany where they first evolved. In France, a similar style of wine is called "Sauternes." This wine is made from a blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon.

Late harvest Rieslings are made in several different sweetness levels similar in style to those found in Germany where they are labeled as SpÃ¤tlese (late picked), Auslese (very late picked), Beerenauslese (individually picked ripe clusters) and Trockenbeerenauslese (individually picked ripe grapes). In California, these terms are illegal to use; therefore, Late Harvest is generally the only term applied to the wines in this style.

One of the key terms in late harvest wines is "Botrytis". It refers to a special, beneficial mold called Botrytis cinerea. This mold causes the grapes to shrivel and dehydrate, while at the same time concentrating their natural flavors and sugars. The result is a rather rare wine, very sweet, with the flavor of honey and apricots. They are very difficult and very costly to produce and, as a result, very expensive. For example an acre vineyard planted with Chardonnay would yield about 200 to 250 cases of fine table wine. That same vineyard may only yield 50 cases of a late harvest wine.

Ed Masciana, author of Shortcuts On Wine and newsletter editor to the Original Wine of the Month Club has engaged us with great articles on food and wine pairing. Ed has been the start-up Chef of many restaurants in Southern Califiornia. His approach to wine is "no-nonsense" and believes one of the best ways to acquaint oneself with wine and food is join a wine club

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