Noble rot

[3] Descriptors frequently used for these wines highlight flavours of peach, apricot, pear, quince, raisin, and honey, along with unique "botrytis" or roti characteristics.

[5] This dehydration process concentrates the remaining sugars, acids, and flavour compounds within the grapes, resulting in a higher density of these essential components.

This stress response allows the grapes to adapt metabolically, slowing down the infection rate compared to grey rot, which spreads too quickly for the plant to respond effectively.

However, mention of wine made from botrytised grapes appears before this in the Nomenklatura of Fabricius Balázs Sziksai, which was completed in 1576.

When vineyard classification began in 1730 in the Tokaj region, one of the gradings given to the various terroirs centered on their potential to develop Botrytis cinerea.

There is a popular story that the practice originated independently in Germany in 1775, where the Riesling producers at Schloss Johannisberg (Geisenheim, in the Rheingau region) traditionally awaited the say-so of the estate owner, Heinrich von Bibra, Bishop of Fulda, before cutting their grapes.

In this year (so the legend goes), the abbey messenger was robbed en route to delivering the order to harvest and the cutting was delayed for three weeks, time enough for the botrytis to take hold.

[5] Other wines of this type include the Romanian Grasă de Cotnari, French Coteaux du Layon, French Monbazillac, Austrian Ausbruch,[5] South African Noble Late Harvest (NLH) and Croatian Wine maker Vinarija Mihalj from Kutjevo (producing Mačevo brdo-Graševina).