The quality of the Cape's Noble Late Harvest wines is high and the prices modest by international standards, suggests Ingrid Motteux

Botrytis cinerea produces shrunken, evil-looking bunches of grapes, covered in green-grey mould spores, their short filaments protruding from desiccated and collapsed berries – an unlikely guise for the riches held within. A curse if you don’t want it, in its benevolent manifestation as ‘noble rot’ it concentrates sugar, extract and acidity in grapes, bestowing richness, complexity and longevity in some of the world’s greatest and most expensive white wines.

The first evidence of the use of botrytis-infected grapes in wine was in Tokaji in Hungary in 1650 – the story has it that the threat of a Turkish attack delayed an estate’s harvest, allowing the rot to form. Presumably with some disgust the affected grapes were vinified separately, and the miracle was revealed.  Still famous today, Tokaji is made predominantly from thin-skinned, high acid furmint. Sémillon and sauvignon blanc are primarily responsible for the sweet wines of Sauternes in Bordeaux, chenin blanc for the Loire’s liquoreux wines, and riesling for the best examples from Alsace, Germany and Austria.

Constantia enjoyed two centuries of international fame for its sweet wines, made without the help of this remarkable fungus: here healthy muscat de Frontignan and pontac grapes were left to hang on the vines until raisined. Noble rot first appeared in the Cape in 1920. Nederburg’s German-born winemaker Günter Brözel was granted a special dispensation by the authorities in the mid-1960s to exceed the maximum permissible levels of residual sugar in order to make Edelkeur, the local prototype of botrytised sweet wine. Happily a number of winemakers have since pursued this style, closest probably to Bordeaux in terms of levels of sugar, alcohol and acidity.

The wines in this tasting had residual sugar levels ranging between 83 and 230 grams per litre (g/l), far in excess of the minimum 50g/l required by the regulations. The panel felt that these sugars were generally well balanced by acidity, with few complaints of any cloying sweetness. Although Jean-Vincent Ridon was impressed by the diversity of the wines, he felt that a few of the lower sugar wines lacked the complexity and character he expected from this category. Ross Gower agreed, but found these to be refreshing, in a lighter-Sauternes style, and as such unlikely to overwhelm food. Irina von Holdt commented that although they were certainly more versatile food partners, they showed as poor cousins in this category, and should be judged differently, ‘We need to be encouraging winemakers to make more of these wines, and categorising them as Special Late Harvests. The wines with stratospheric sugars can only be had instead of dessert, not with it.’ All agreed that the local perception of the Late Harvest and Special Late Harvest wines was poor, and this was unlikely to encourage producers to aspire to finer quality in this class.

Noble rot is crucial to the quality of these wines. Infection and conditions for its growth (humid mornings, followed by dry afternoons) cannot be relied upon in the Cape, however. Rosa Kruger found virtually no botrytis in the normally humid vineyards of Cape Point this year; and Ridon plans to make only natural sweet or straw wines from this vintage. Nederburg has experimented with botrytis inoculation in the past, which proved unviable. Even in blessed vintages, picking fully rotten grapes is skilled, slow work. Ridon does up to seven passes (tries) through the vineyard, over a six-week period, to harvest botrytised grapes – ‘Hanepoot is a nightmare for botrytis, the skin is like leather.’

The percentage of botrytis-affected grapes used in a Noble Late Harvest wine is not legally stipulated, but the wine should show botrytis character. Some pick individual botrytised berries, leaving the rest to rot further before harvesting; whilst others pick whole bunches with varying degrees of botrytis. Gower found some wines insufficiently botrytised for this style: ‘Overall quality is very good, but a couple of wines shouldn’t be here; they’ve been left to raisin in the absence of botrytis, and don’t deliver the complexity.’ With his customary candidness, he added: ‘Perhaps grapes are too often left hanging on the vines, and only harvested when there’s time and cellar space, then put in a half bottles and sold at double the price!’ He adds that proof of the complexity imparted by botrytis is evident in the best vintages of Klein Constantia’s Vin de Constance, where a small measure of botrytis affected the usually resistant muscat.

The most common variety in this line-up was chenin blanc, followed by riesling, with a couple of muscats and two sémillon-sauvignon blends. It was thought that perhaps the reason for the lack of sauvignon was that the variety sold well enough in its straight form. In many cases the varietal character was masked by botrytis, but a handful clearly showed their grape origins.

Ridon found the acidity and freshness of some of the chenins ‘mind-blowing’, and the high level of sulphur a giveaway in some rieslings: ‘That is the problem with riesling – you really have to protect it.’ Gower added that it also presented a problem in the vineyard, ‘Riesling makes some of the best botrytis wines, but sour rot often tends to come in before the botrytis has firmly taken hold.’ Kruger favours working with sémillon for botrytis in the vineyards. Her scariest scenario is rot, noble or not, appearing when the grapes are extremely young.

The use of oak varied from none to 42 months in 100% new French oak; and in all cases was considered well judged. The seriously styled chenins and sémillon-sauvignons had been fermented and/or matured in barrel, whilst the rieslings had (typically) not seen a stick. Alcohol levels averaged a very civilised 12.5% by volume, with none above 13.5. and some as low as 10. The high acidity and very different style of the Tokaji-styled Signal Hill Mathilde caused much debate. Ridon feels this style is misunderstood locally, and exports nearly all of it.

Botrytised wines should be capable of long bottle ageing. Gower doubted the maturation potential in a few of the wines which lacked botrytis, but was satisfied that those showing sufficiently high extract and botrytis would mature well. Von Holdt found she scored older wines up as they were better integrated. All agreed that whilst the younger wines showed well now, they would do well with a few years in bottle.

A comprehensive Wine magazine tasting of dessert wines in 1999, following some good botrytis vintages, comprised only 13 Noble Late Harvests. The panel chairman there, Tony Mossop, commented that perhaps ‘only the masochists remain in this field’. It is true that these are amongst the most demanding and expensive wines to make, with pitifully low yields and intense labour. The European Union agreement of 2002, allowing these wines into the European market for the first time, has probably encouraged producers, as Platter now lists over 30 Noble Late Harvests. These are significantly less expensive than the best-known botrytised wines of Europe, though some arguably offer comparable quality.

The panel felt that botrytised wines were going from strength to strength, and that South Africans should be proud of these wines. So, if it’s been a while since you enjoyed a sweet tipple, consider supporting the masochists by buying a bottle!