Editing Dessert wine (section)

==Noble rot wine==
{{Main|Noble rot}}
[[Image:Botrytis riesling.jpg|right|thumb|[[Riesling]] grapes with [[noble rot]]]]
The primary distinction between [[Noble rot | botrytized wines]] and other non-fortified sweet wines, such as late-harvest wines, ice wines (eiswein), or straw wines, lies in the extensive range and richness of aroma compounds generated by [[Botrytis_cinerea | Botrytis]] cinerea fungal infection of the grapes. Significant differences are also evident in other components, like glycerol and acid composition, due to microbial activity. [[Wine_tasting_descriptors | Descriptors]] frequently used for these wines highlight flavours of peach, apricot, pear, quince, raisin, and honey, along with unique "botrytis" or roti characteristics. Additionally, a notable feature of botrytized wines is their high acid content, which prevents them from tasting [[Wine_tasting_descriptors#A%E2%80%93C | cloying]], even with sugar levels often exceeding 200 g/l<ref name=ScienceD>{{cite journal |last1=Magyar |first1=I. |date=December 2011 |title= Chapter 6 - Botrytized Wines |journal=Advances in Food and Nutrition Research |volume=63 |pages=147-206 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-384927-4.00006-3}}</ref>

Some of the most famous dessert wines, such as [[Tokaji]] Aszú of [[Tokaj-Hegyalja]] in [[Hungary]], [[Château d'Yquem]] of [[Sauternes (wine)|Sauternes]], and [[Austrian cuisine#wine|Seewinkel]] of Austria, are made using grapes mouldy with ''[[Botrytis cinerea]]'', which sucks water out of the grape whilst imparting flavours of honey and apricot to the future wine.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Beautiful Bounty of Botrytized Wines|url=https://www.winemag.com/2017/09/08/the-beautiful-bounty-of-botrytized-wines/|magazine=[[Wine Enthusiast Magazine]]}}</ref>

The fungus requires specific conditions to produce ''noble rot''; if it is too damp, the same fungus causes destructive ''grey rot''. [[Winemaking|Vignerons]] endeavour to maximise the amount of noble rot without losing the whole crop to grey rot. Typically, noble rot forms best in conditions with regular morning [[mist]], normally from a nearby lake or the sea. The wait for noble rot to form means these wines are usually [[Late harvest wine|harvested late]].

The first noble rot wines were likely created by accident—both the Hungarians and the Germans have similar stories of how the harvest was delayed for some reason, but the mouldy grapes were vinified anyway and then found to be delicious.<ref>{{cite book |author=Kolpan, Steve |author2=Weiss, Michael A. |author3=Smith, Brian H. |title=Winewise: Your Complete Guide to Understanding, Selecting, and Enjoying Wine |publisher=[[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tuQBBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA272 |edition=2nd |year=2014 |page=272 |isbn=978-0-544-33462-5}}</ref> Given that propensity to noble rot was a factor in Hungarian vineyard demarcations some 50 years before a messenger was supposedly mugged on his way to [[Schloss Johannisberg]] in Germany and aszú inventory predates it by about 200 years, Hungary's Tokaj is where it was first produced.<ref>[[Jancis Robinson|Jancis Robinson, MW]], "Tokaji", in Jancis Robinson's Concise Wine Companion (Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]], 2001), pp. 469–471, {{ISBN|0-19-866274-2}}.</ref> Germany may have later discovered the same process independently.

Noble rot is responsible for many other dessert wines, including [[Beerenauslese]] and [[Trockenbeerenauslese]] (TBA) of the [[German wine classification]], French [[Monbazillac AOC|Monbazillac]], Austrian Beerenauslese, [[Ausbruch]] and other TBA-type wines from all over the world.