Noble Late Harvest is a special wine where a magical transformation takes place in the vineyard. It is a specific sequence of events that enables the “T” Noble Late Harvest to be made, let’s take a closer look at this iconic wine.
The term Late Harvest is used for wines made from berries that are left on the vine to gain extreme ripeness which drives up the sugar levels. In unique conditions, these ripe bunches pick up a fungus called Botrytis cinerea, which grows on the skins and slowly causes the very ripe berries to dehydrate. In the viticulture world, this fungus is known as Noble rot, hence Noble Late Harvest.
This Noble rot occurs in areas where there is just the right balance of wet and dry conditions that allow the fungus to grow once the bunches are established to safeguard them from being ruined. When the conditions are just right, the dehydrated berries concentrate the sugars, acids and minerals resulting in intense fruit character.
At the Ken Forrester estate in Stellenbosch, there is a unique combination of vineyard location and exposure to moisture that enables this transformation to take place. These vineyards are old vine Chenin Blanc averaging over 40 years in age, where the berries are painstakingly hand-harvested as late as May. The yield of these special berries is exceptionally low at only 2 tons per hectare.