Botrytized wines types

TABLE 6.1 Comparison of some technological and analytical parameters of traditional botrytized wine types of Hungary, Germany, and Austria... 

Beside these basic characteristics, the various types of botrytized wines may possess marked differences in style, depending on the grape... 

Botrytized wines have been made for a very long time in Europe, and also are produced in increasing amounts in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Although only a few types of botrytized wines are regularly produced, their occasional production is possible in many regions, depending on the weather conditions. 

Beside Eszencia and Aszu, Tokaj specialty wines include three more types, Forditas, Maslas, and Szamorodni (Eperjesi, 2010 Kirkland, 1996). Szamorodni (meaning "as it was bom") is the most internationally well known. In vineyard sections where the selection of botrytized berries is unprofitable because of their limited presence or adverse weather conditions, noble-rotted and sound berries are harvested together. Vinification follows standard procedures, typical to other white wines. Depending on the initial sugar content of the must, the resulting wine is sweet or dry and is matured for 2 years (at least 1 year in oak barrels). 

The taste improvement due to ascorbic acid depends on several factors. The first is the type of wine. Ascorbic acid is of little interest in the case of wines made from certain varieties or very evolved wines—for example, barrel-aged wines oxidized white wines, botrytized sweet wine, and fine red wines. On the contrary, it improves the stability of fresh and fruity wines (generally young wines), having conserved their varietal aromas. 

In partially botrytized grapes, a brutal mechanical action on grapes disperses a glucidic colloid (glucan) in the must. Glucan is produced by Botry-tis cinerea and is located between the pulp and the skin inside the berry. The wine obtained is difficult to clarify. When the same grapes are carefully handled, the wine is clarified much more easily. Wine clarification difficulties with botrytized grapes are always observed in the same wineries. The type of equipment used is often responsible. 

In conclusion, each type of winemaking contains a key phase during which the decisions of the winemaker have a determining and almost irreparable effect on wine taste vatting for red wines pre-fermentation operations for dry white wines and noble rot development and picking conditions for botrytized sweet wines. 

Tokay is a famous botrytized sweet wine prodnced in Hungary. Several types of wine exist under the same name. The most renowned is the Tokay Azsu, which is a perfectly balanced, perfumed and delicate sweet wine. As with Sautemes wines, Botrytis cinerea transforms the grape to form noble rot, but in different conditions. 

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