Sélection de Grains Nobles (SGN) is French for "selection of noble berries" and refers to

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

s made from

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus '' Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years a ...

s affected by

noble rot Noble rot (french: pourriture noble; german: Edelfäule; it, Muffa nobile; hu, Aszúsodás) is the beneficial form of a grey fungus, ''Botrytis cinerea'', affecting wine grapes. Infestation by ''Botrytis'' requires moist conditions. If the we ...

. SGN wines are sweet

dessert wines Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a meal ...

with rich, concentrated flavours.

Alsace wine Alsace wine or Alsatian wine (french: Vin d'Alsace; german: Elsässer Wein; gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, d'r Wii vum Elsàss; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, de Win vum Elsàss) is produced in the Alsace region in France and is primarily wh ...

s were the first to be described as ''Sélection de Grains Nobles'', with the legal definition introduced in 1984,Hugel.com: Vendange Tardive and SGN
read on February 11, 2008 but the term is also seen in some other wine regions France, such as

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

Use in Alsace

For Alsace wines, SGN is the highest official category for

late harvest wine Late harvest wine is wine made from grapes left on the vine longer than usual. ''Late harvest'' is usually an indication of a sweet dessert wine, such as late harvest Riesling. Late harvest grapes are often more similar to raisins, but have been ...

s, while the step below is called '' Vendange tardive''. In 2001, the minimum

must weight Must weight is a measure of the amount of sugar in grape juice (must) and, hence, indicates the amount of alcohol that could be produced if it is all fermented to alcohol, rather than left as residual sugar.Gewürztraminer Gewürztraminer () is an aromatic wine grape variety, used in white wines, and performs best in cooler climates. In English, it is sometimes referred to colloquially as Gewürz (; although this is never the case in German, because "Gewürz" me ...

and

Pinot gris Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio (, ) or Grauburgunder is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir variety, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name, but the gra ...

, and 16.4% for

Riesling Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling wh ...

and

Muscat Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate was ...

, expressed as potential alcohol. Only these four "noble varieties" may carry the SGN designation, or the ''Vendange tardive'' designation. The required level

ripeness of the grapes In viticulture, ripeness is the completion of the ripening process of wine grapes on the vine which signals the beginning of harvest. What exactly constitutes ripeness will vary depending on what style of wine is being produced ( sparkling, still ...

are as follows, expressed as sugar content of the must and

potential alcohol Must weight is a measure of the amount of sugar in grape juice (must) and, hence, indicates the amount of alcohol that could be produced if it is all fermented to alcohol, rather than left as residual sugar. These requirements make SGN roughly equivalent to a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Beerenauslese ''Beerenauslese'' (literally: "selection of berries") is a German language wine term for a late harvest wine with noble rot. Beerenauslese is a category in the '' Prädikatswein'' category of the Austrian and German wine classifications, and is ...

, but the Alsace style tend to favour slightly higher alcohol levels, which means that the

residual sugar The subjective sweetness of a wine is determined by the interaction of several factors, including the amount of sugar in the wine, but also the relative levels of alcohol, acids, and tannins. Sugars and alcohol enhance a wine's sweetness, wh ...

often is a little lower than in German wines, especially for Riesling and Muscat. On rare occasions, the designation Quintessence de Grains Nobles (QGN) is seen for wines that significantly exceed the minimum requirements for SGN wines. Unlike the German designation

Trockenbeerenauslese ''Trockenbeerenauslese'' (literal meaning: 'dried berry selection') is a German language wine term for a medium to full body dessert wine. ''Trockenbeerenauslese'' is the highest in sugar content in the ''Prädikatswein'' category of the Austrian ...

(TBA), QGN is no official designation, but it could be thought of as the Alsatian equivalent of a high-grade TBA. The term was invented in 1983 by Domaine Weinbach to describe an exceptional cuvee of that year's vintage, and while still used primarily by Weinbach, it has been adopted by a few other producers, including

Marcel Deiss Marcel Deiss is a French wine grower and producer. It is based in Bergheim, in the Alsace wine region of France. History The Deiss family came to Bergheim in 1744 and took up grape growing in the area shortly afterward. The current domaine wa ...

Use in Loire

In the case of Loire valley wines, the designation SGN usually denotes wines that are extra sweet, and produced by one of the region's so-called "sugar hunters". Often, the same producer will have another wine from the same appellation with less

without the SGN designation. The SGN designation can be used in the appellations

Coteaux du Layon Coteaux du Layon is an ''Appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) for sweet white wine in the Loire Valley wine region of France. Coteaux du Layon is situated in the Anjou district of the region, along the river Layon, which is a tributary of the ...

and Coteaux de l'Aubance and in both cases this requires the grape must used for the wine to have a minimum sugar content of 294 grams per liter rather than the basic level of 221 or 230 grams per liter respectively.INAO: Appellation rules for AOC Coteaux de l'Aubance , with latest changes from October 7, 2003
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Use in Alsace

Use in Loire

References

See also