Inside Wine: When Rot Is Noble

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for the Oct. 15, 2007 issue

See Also:
Saturday, November 15, 2008 Unwelcome Rot
Thursday, November 15, 2007 Inside Wine: Tannins
Saturday, March 31, 2007 Inside Wine: In the Vine Gene Pool
Sunday, October 15, 2006 The Unseen Engine of Fermentation
Monday, May 15, 2006 Inside Wine: Too Much of a Good Thing
More from Inside Wine

Botrytis is crucial to producing some of the greatest sweet wines in the world

Daniel Sogg
Issue: October 15, 2007

For red-wine makers, Botrytis cinerea is simply rot, a nasty fungal infestation with potentially disastrous consequences. But for estates making dessert wines in regions such as Germany and France's Sauternes and Loire Valley, Botrytis cinerea goes by the sobriquet "noble rot," and is essential to the creation of the world's finest sweet wines.

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