Late harvest wine is made from grapes left on the vine longer than usual, resulting in a sweeter and richer wine. It is often used as a dessert wine and can be made into ice wine or infected with noble rot. Many wineries carry it in small bottles and it pairs well with desserts.
Late harvest wine is wine made from grapes or other fruit left on the mother plant longer than usual. As a result, the fruit develops more sugars and the resulting wine is much sweeter and richer than other wines. Many late harvest wines are used as dessert wines, due to their extremely high sugar content; Riesling is a popular late harvest dessert wine.
Wine grapes are usually harvested when ripe in early autumn to be made into wine. When the grapes are harvested, their sugar or brix content is measured; the higher the sugar content, the sweeter the final product will be. Sugar content varies by grape, year, and condition; measures of 24-27% are common for white grapes such as Chardonnay, Riesling and Gewürztraminer.
When the grapes are left on the vine, they begin to dry out and become much sweeter. The brix on late harvested grapes can reach 40%. Some late harvest grapes end up almost as raisins because they can wither completely before harvesting. After the harvest, the grapes are transformed into a late harvest wine through pressing, fermentation and aging. The resulting high sugar content tends to be thick, sweet, and very rich; some people find wine of this style almost cloying due to the sweetness, while other consumers appreciate it.
In some cases, the grapes are allowed to freeze before harvesting to make ice wine, a special type of late-harvest wine. Ice wine is only made in regions with winters cold enough to generate ice; the result is a characteristic sweet wine with a high acidity that keeps it fresh and clear. Some grapes used in late harvest winemaking are also infected with the Botrytis fungus, also called noble rot. A noble rot infection will cause the grape to become intensely sweet, producing a truly unique wine.
Many wineries carry late-harvest wine, sometimes in small bottles because rich, intense wine is ideally consumed in small glasses, rather than the larger portions used for other wines. People interested in trying this type of wine can also find it in most tastings; vineyards that produce late harvest wines are often happy to tell their customers about their wines. These wines pair well with an assortment of desserts ranging from cheeses to chocolate cupcakes and can also be enjoyed on their own.
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