Editing Riesling (section)

==Noble rot==
[[File:Botrytis riesling.jpg|thumb|A bunch of Riesling grapes after the onset of noble rot. The difference in colour between affected and unaffected grapes is clearly visible.]]

The most expensive [[wine]]s made from Riesling are [[Late harvest wine|late harvest]] [[dessert wines]] (often amongst the most expensive in the world), produced by letting the grapes hang on the vines well past normal picking time. Through evaporation caused by the fungus ''[[Botrytis cinerea]]'' ("[[noble rot]]") or by freezing and pressing (as is the case for [[ice wine]] - in German, [[Eiswein]]), water is removed and the resulting ultra concentrated juice is used to make the sweet wines. These wines are felt to offer richer layers on the palate, and have more [[Glucose|sugar]] (in extreme cases hundreds of grams per litre), more acid (to give balance to the sugar), more flavour, and more complexity. These elements combine to make wines that are amongst the most long lived of all white wines. The beneficial use of "noble rot" in Riesling grapes was discovered in the late 18th century at [[Schloss Johannisberg]]. Permission from the [[Heinrich von Bibra|Abbey of Fulda]] (which owned the vineyard) to start picking Riesling grapes arrived too late and the grapes had begun to rot; yet it turned out that the wine made from them was still of excellent quality.<ref>[http://www.schloss-johannisberg.com/frame.htm History of Schloss Johannisberg] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060716034603/http://www.schloss-johannisberg.com/frame.htm |date=2006-07-16}}.</ref>

Noble rot is employed in many viticultural areas, including the Clare, Barossa, and Eden Valleys in South Australia, and in the southern growing region of Tasmania, though none are as renowned as those from Germany.