d’Arenberg The Noble Botryotinia Fuckeliana

Description

d’Arenberg The Noble Botryotinia Fuckeliana is an Australian white dessert wine, a blend of Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc made from Botrytis cinerea (Noble Rot) affected grapes.

d’Arenberg is one of the most famous McLaren Vale wineries, founded in 1912 by Joseph Osborn, the estate is now in the hands of fourth generation winemaker Chester Osborn who, in 2007, was ranked in Australia’s Top 10 Shiraz producers by Wine & Spirits Magazine. As well as his many famous red wines, such as Dead Arm Shiraz, and his superb Fortified Red wine, he also makes some superb dessert wines.

d’Arenberg The Noble Botryotinia Fuckeliana is made from grapes sourced from the Adelaide Hills wine growing region. Only grapes affected by the Noble Rot, Botrytis cinerea, are used. This fungus weakens grape skins which means that they lose a lot of water by evaporation and effectively concentrating the grape contents, sugars etc. resulting in a more intense, concentrated final product. The shrivelled grapes undergo a gentle basket pressing, followed by a long period of fermentation to produce a luscious wine with intense richness and viscosity. The blend is 95% Semillon and 5% Sauvignon Blanc.

And the name? Botryotinia Fuckeliana is another name for Botrytis cinerea. It is named in honour of a German botanist named Karl Fuckel, a fungi specialist from the 1850s.

This wine is suitable for vegan and vegetarians.