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Sweet Wine: Late Harvest

Last time I covered Noble Rot, the mouldy attack that is Botrytis cinerea and which contributes to the making of some the world's greatest sweet wines, with particular relevance to those born in Sauternes, Tokaji and Germany. But, as I discussed in my introduction, this is but one of a number of methods employed in the production of sweet wine. Of the others, two involve the concentration of grape sugars by dehydration, either before or after the harvest. The latter is achieved by drying grapes on reeds, straw, in drying houses or even by leaving them on the soil where they are picked, and this ancient method will be discussed in the future. In this article I am concerned with the former, which is achieved by delaying the picking of the berries, allowing them to shrivel on the vine; this is the late harvest wine.

Just as Botrytis is of greatest relevance to specific wine-producing regions, the late harvest style also has its spiritual home. Although there are many places where the style is made, including South Africa and Australia, I associate late harvest wines with Alsace more than any other region. The style is of sufficient importance here that in 1983 the vendange tardive category was defined in law, stipulating which varieties could be employed, minimum must weight and outlawing unscrupulous winery practices such as Chaptalisation.

Vendange Tardive

Alsatian winemakers had always produced late harvest wines, but the creation of the legally defined category resulted in a flurry of vendange tardive wines, although initially many did not make the grade; in order for the wines to wear this now coveted term on their labels, they must not only meet criteria laid down in law, but must also satisfy the demands of a tasting committee, who subject the wines to scrutiny fifteen months after harvest, once they have been commercially bottled. This process was pioneered by Jean Hugel, and is frequently referred to as Hugel's Law.

In order to append the vendange tardive designation to the wines, which bear the Alsace or Alsace Grand Cru appellations, the winemaker must meet the following criteria before the wine will be considered by the tasting committee:

• Declaration
  The intention to produce a vendange tardive wine must be made to the local INAO office, clearly indicating which vineyard is subject to the delayed harvest.
• Grape Variety
  The wine must be made from a single variety; the vendange tardive designation does not permit for blends. The four permitted varieties are; Gewurztraminer, the most commonly found as it yields a higher must weight with more ease than the other varieties, Pinot Gris, the less commonly but sometimes superlative Riesling, and the rather rare Muscat.
• Inspection
  The grapes must be inspected prior to harvest, and examination of the sugar content of the juice from the press is necessary (see must weight below); both are carried out by local INAO officials.
• Must weight
  The wines must meet specific criteria for must weight. This criteria differ according to the variety in question. For Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris it is 105º Oechsle, whereas it is 95º Oechsle for Riesling and Muscat.
• Certification
  A certificate of conformity must be provided, in order for the wine to be submitted to the tasting committee.

Unfortunately, although Hugel's Law has resulted in a wider range of vendange tardive wines (from just 11 producers making the style in 1981, by the end of that decade there were over 500), there are still many questionable examples presented to the tasting committee, and some producers abuse the system by submitting wines which were not late-harvested at all. This exploits a loop-hole in the law, as the definition of vendange tardive does not include a specific date after which the wines must be harvested, it merely sets out grape varieties and must weight. This would seem simple to correct - French vignerons are well used to harvesting on legally defined dates in other regions, notably Burgundy, where the INAO, grower's unions and the Station Oenologique de Bourgogne co-operate to set the ban de vendanges for Burgundy's districts, although I am mindful that there are disadvantages to this process. Nevertheless, no such system exists for Alsatian vendange tardive; when it comes to matters of sweetness, be it loop-holes in the law, or the deficiencies of the labels which fail to inform whether wines are sweet or dry, Alsace does not really have its house in order.

The perceptive will ask, rightly, whether such concerns are justified; after all, if the wines are sweet, what does it matter when they were harvested? There is, however, good reason for concern. Harvest date does have implications for the final wine that go beyond the concentration of sugars in the grapes.

Passerillage

Take a walk through any park in Autumn - preferably with some young kids - and you can enjoy one of the simplest pleasures in life; walking through deep piles of dried, crisping red-golden leaves. The process of leaf fall occurs as deciduous trees prepare for winter, shedding tender foliage which would freeze, and shutting down metabolic processes as the plant enters a dormancy that will see it through the cold weather. Vines undergo just the same processes; stems turn woody and leaves a golden-red (as pictured) as the vines begin to drift into a winter sleep, and any fruit still attached to the vine experiences this same process. As the grapes are isolated from the nourishment of the vine they dehydrate, not only concentrating sugars but undergoing passerillage, the development of complex chemical compounds which significantly affect the eventual flavour of the wine. Passerillage is not a magical process; it may be forced by twisting the stem supporting the bunch, or by laying out for drying after harvest, methods I will discuss in the coming weeks. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the flavours which result will not be found in grapes with high must weight that are harvested at the normal time. And, interestingly, grapes that experience cold weather whilst hanging on the vine will give different flavours to those that experience warm weather, further evidence of the importance of the lengthy hang time in determining the eventual flavours.

The vendange tardive style is, perhaps perversely, not always profoundly sweet. But they are usually rich wines, full of flavour, although often fresh, and sometimes quite delicate, with floral and citrus character. All this can be overrun, however, by the presence of botrytis, which gives a much more dominant flavour profile of honey, apricots and so on. And it the grapes freeze on the vine, then we have another factor added to the equation; this is something I will cover next time, as we meet to discuss eiswein. (13/10/05)

• Next instalment: Eiswein, the ultimate late harvest wine.