
(literal meaning: "late harvest"; plural form is ''Spätlesen'') is a
German wine term for a wine from fully ripe grapes, the lightest of the
late harvest wines. ''Spätlese'' is a riper category than
Kabinett
Kabinett (literal meaning: cabinet), or sometimes Kabinettwein (literal meaning: a wine set aside in a cabinet), is a German language wine term for a wine which is made from fully ripened grapes of the main harvest, typically picked in Septembe ...
in the ''
Prädikatswein'' category of the
German wine classification and is the lowest level of ''Prädikatswein'' in
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
, where Kabinett is classified in another way.
[Wines from Austria: Quality Designations in Detail](_blank)
, accessed on May 19, 2008 In both cases, ''Spätlese'' is below
Auslese in terms of
ripeness. The grapes are picked at least seven days after normal harvest, so they are riper and have a higher
sugar content. Because of the weather, waiting to pick the grapes later carries a risk of the crop being ruined by rain. However, in warm years and from good sites much of the harvest will reach ''Spätlese'' level.
The wines may be either sweet or
dry; it is a level of ripeness that particularly suits rich dry wines from
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 ...
,
Weißer Burgunder, and
Grauer Burgunder grapes for example, as at
Auslese levels the
alcohol
Alcohol may refer to:
Common uses
* Alcohol (chemistry), a class of compounds
* Ethanol, one of several alcohols, commonly known as alcohol in everyday life
** Alcohol (drug), intoxicant found in alcoholic beverages
** Alcoholic beverage, an alco ...
levels may become very high in a dry wine, leaving the wine unbalanced, making wines with at least some residual sweetness preferable to most palates. However, most German wines are traditionally dry, and the amount of sugar is not the only factor balancing a wine. Dry German wines can be very balanced, and usually get higher ratings from German wine journalists than a comparable wine with more sugar.
Many ''Spätlese'' wines will age well, especially those made from the
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 ...
grape.
Characteristics
*Greater intensity and strength than Kabinett
*High level of acidity that curbs any overt sweetness
*Fleshy and intensely flavored
*Often tastes of apple, pear and honeysuckle
*Elegant nose with highly detectable aromas
Requirements
The minimum
must weight requirements for ''Spätlese'' are as follows:
* In German wine, 76 to 90 degrees
Oechsle, depending on the region, 1g of moist cloyster (
wine growing zone) and
grape variety
This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, Zante currant, currant, sultana (grape), sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, including those unimp ...
.
* In Austrian wine, 19
degrees KMW,
corresponding to 95 °Oechsle.
Chaptalisation may not be used. The requirements are part of the
wine law Wine laws are legislation regulating various aspects of production and sales of wine. The purpose of wine laws includes combating wine fraud, by means of regulated protected designations of origin, labelling practices and classification of wine, ...
in both countries. Many producers, especially top-level producers, regularly exceed the minimum requirements.
History
The ''Spätlese'' courier at Schloss Johannisberg
Legend has it that the introduction of the ''Spätlese'' category took place in the
Rheingau
The Rheingau (; ) is a region on the northern side of the Rhine between the German towns of Wiesbaden and Lorch, Hesse, Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the Western Taunus to the Rhine. It is situated in the German state of Hesse and is part ...
winery
Schloss Johannisberg
Schloss Johannisberg is a Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical palace and historic winery located in the village of Johannisberg (Geisenheim), Johannisberg, west of Wiesbaden in Hesse, within the renowned Rheingau (wine region), Rheingau win ...
in 1775, and happened by mere circumstance. Since 1718, permission to start harvest at Johannisberg was announced in writing from the
Prince-Bishop
A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the ...
of
Fulda
Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the city hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival.
Histor ...
by means of a so-called autumn courier – ''Herbstkurier''.
[Wein-Plus Glossar: ''Spätlesereiter''](_blank)
accessed on January 22, 2013 In 1775, for some reason, the courier sent out by the abbey at Fulda was delayed for 14 days. According to some, the abbey's messenger was robbed on the way to bring the official harvest picking order. By the time the order finally arrived
noble rot
Noble rot (; ; ; ) is the beneficial form of a grey fungus, ''Botrytis cinerea'', affecting wine grapes. Infestation by ''Botrytis'' requires warm and humid conditions, typically around 20 degrees Celsius and above 80% humidity. If the weather ...
had set in, but the harvest was carried out anyway, although no high hopes were staked on the wine from the rotten grapes. But rather than a failed product, the wine turned out to be surprisingly good. Schloss Johannisberg began actively seeking to produce late harvest – ''Spätlese'' – wines affected by noble rot. The delayed courier therefore became referred to as the ''Spätlesereiter''.
In 1778
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...
tasted a bottle of ''Spätlese'' that was given to him and was so impressed that he advised friends who were in Europe to go to the Rheingau to experience the wines and bring a case back to America.
Additional Prädikat levels
Terminology for different levels of late harvest wines, based on grape selection, were then introduced starting with
Auslese ("Select harvest") being introduced in 1787,
A History of Schloss Johannisberg
and additional levels added later. The key to these developments was selection of bunches and grapes by level of ripeness and botrytis, thus giving different wines from the same vineyard.
Therefore, the initial ''Spätlese'' terminology was for any late harvest wine, and the initial 1775 ''Spätlese'' wine was made from grapes that were affected by noble rot to the extent that they appeared unpalatable, and gave a very sweet wine. Such a wine would not really correspond to a modern-day ''Spätlese''. Grapes of this character, vinified by themselves would rather give a Beerenauslese in modern terminology, and if bunches of such botrytis-affected grapes were mixed with more or less healthy bunches, it seems likely that the wine would be classed in the upper end of the Auslese range.
Later history
In the 1971 German wine law Wine laws are legislation regulating various aspects of production and sales of wine. The purpose of wine laws includes combating wine fraud, by means of regulated protected designations of origin, labelling practices and classification of wine, ...
, the ''Spätlese'' Prädikat was given its present interpretation. In the early post-World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
era, the semi-sweet wines that Germany for long has been associated with became more common, since new methods by stopping fermentation
Fermentation is a type of anaerobic metabolism which harnesses the redox potential of the reactants to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and organic end products. Organic molecules, such as glucose or other sugars, are catabolized and reduce ...
and using Süssreserve were introduced. The ''Spätlese'' wines represents the "high end" of these semi-sweet, rather than fully sweet, wines, since they are not allowed to be chaptalized.
From the 1980s, and even more from the 1990s, production of dry wines became much more common in Germany. Thus, wines designated "Spätlese trocken" in many cases came to represent the best dry wines from many wineries. From the early 2000s, the new designations Grosses Gewächs
The German wine classification system puts a strong emphasis on standardization and factual completeness, and was first implemented by the German Wine Law of 1971. Nearly all of Germany's vineyards are delineated and registered as one of approxi ...
and Erstes Gewächs have become more common, with the result that remaining ''Spätlese'' trocken wines rather represents the second-best dry wines.
In Austria, which largely abandoned the semi-sweet wine category in the wake of the 1985 diethylene glycol
Diethylene glycol (DEG) is an organic compound with the formula (HOCH2CH2)2O. It is a colorless, practically odorless, and hygroscopic liquid with a sweetish taste. It is a four carbon Dimer (chemistry), dimer of ethylene glycol. It is miscible in ...
scandal in order to concentrate more on dry wines, ''Spätlese'' wines are much less common than in Germany.
See also
* Vendange tardive
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spatlese
German wine
Austrian wine
Wine classification
German words and phrases
Rheingau