Grapes do not necessarily have to be picked as soon as they are ripe.  As long as the sun is shining, they can go on ripening until they are “perfectly ripe” or even “overripe”.  Late picking makes for fuller, stronger wines; sugars increase, while acids diminish.

The potential of a late grape harvest had been discovered in Roman times, but it was not until 1775 that the benefits of a Spätlese (late harvest) were first recognized at Schloss Johannisberg in the Rheingau region in Germany.  Here are some stories about how late harvest came about in different regions that are now quite famous for their excellent late harvest wines.

The winemaker of Schloss Johannisberg – a monk – had to obtain written permission from his abbot before beginning the annual grape harvest.  The required document was always delivered by a messenger on horseback.  Legend has it that in 1775, the messenger arrived late and, when he finally came, some of the grapes had begun to rot.  The monks vinified the rotten grapes anyway, but separately.  One of them later reported to the abbot that the “rotten” grapes had yielded a terrific wine.  Today, a statue of the mounted messenger stands in the courtyard of the castle.

At Tokaj, in Hungary, over a hundred years earlier, the monk winemaker at the castle is said to have been forced to put off the grape harvest because of an impending attack by the Turks.  When the danger passed, noble rot had spread.  According to legend, that is how the first noble-sweet wine was made out of botrytized grapes.

In 1847, at Chateau d’Yquem, the owner marquis Bertrand de Lur-Saluces, returned late from a trip to Russia; the grapes in his vineyards had acquired noble rot.  However, they were picked, and it turned out that 1847 was the greatest vintage of the nineteenth century.