Pannonian Alchemists: Intro
Noble rot - noble wines... >>>The thick hairy greenish-gray mold that shrivels grapes for Austria's world famous dessert wines releases a cloud of fungus spores as grapes are manually harvested. Just how the murky, viscous must pressed out of these raisined grapes is transformed into luscious clear golden nectar seems to border on alchemy.
You can stand with your head above water in the entire 320-km² Lake Neusiedl in Burgenland. Over 2,000 hours of sunshine during growing season not only guarantee physiologically ripe grapes, but also warm the Pannonian steppe lake to nearly bath temperature. This warm, humid climate with its long autumns of morning fog and afternoon sun ensures an ideal environment for the benevolent noble rot in the vineyards near the lake. Botrytis cinerea is the name of the fungus infecting grapes in increasing degree for the wines labeled Auslese, Beerenauslese, Ausbruch, and Trockenbeerenauslese. On the western shore in the Neusiedlersee-Hügelland district, Rust has been famed for its botrytis-affected Ausbruch since 1681, when the city bought its rights for self-government for 60,000 gulden in gold and 30,000 liters of this noble sweet wine. On the right shore, where the lake makes a bend, the "Seewinkel" area in the Neusiedlersee district is particularly known for its Trockenbeerenauslese.
There is a wide band of grass and reeds around Lake Neusiedl providing a natural habitat for a very large population of birds. "Eight kilometers of nets per hectare are needed to save all of those sweet grapes from becoming very expensive bird feed," says the Seewinkel sweet wine specialist, Alois Kracher. Expensive indeed, for yields are often as low as 10 hectoliters per hectare in Kracher's oldest vineyards with 45 year old vines. As nets are rolled away at harvest, a fruit zone is revealed that has intentionally not been freed of all foliage. Several passages over a period of weeks are required to hand select only those grapes completely infected and shriveled by noble rot.
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- Pannonian Alchemists: Intro
- Eastern and Western Styles
- Signature Wines
- Personality Profile: Heidi Schröck
- Quiz
The first stages of noble rot. This fungus, also called botrytis cinerea, attacks grape skins and shrivels the fruit while concentrating sweetness and other flavors.
Photo: © Sabine Jellasitz
