Late reader

Popular name for the statue of a horseman in Johannisberg Castle in the Rheingau. The horseman carries a large bunch of grapes in his hand and symbolises the "invention" or origin of the late harvest. However, the figure is not historically documented. From 1718, the permission of the Prince-Bishop of Fulda for the grape harvest in this region was delivered in writing by the so-called autumn courier. In 1775, this was sent 14 days too late to the Benedictine Father Kellner of Johannisberg Provostry, who was already desperately waiting for it.

Spätlesereiter - Statue und Comic-Cover Band 1

There are at least two versions of the reason for the delay. The first says that the prince-bishop was out hunting and therefore unavailable to grant permission. The other is that the courier had been detained by robbers. In the meantime, the grapes had rotted or shrivelled. They were nevertheless harvested and became standard due to the (unexpected) excellent result. At that time, however, the term "Spätlese" in today's terms was understood to mean a Beerenauslese or Trockenbeerenauslese produced from grapes affected by botrytis. The story was also used in the comic series "Karl". It deals with events in the Rheingau in connection with wine. The work by illustrator Michael Apitz and authors Eberhard Kunkel and Patrick Kunkel comprises 12 volumes.

To read the full text, you must be a Premium Member of wein.plus. You are currently not logged in to wein.plus. Become a Premium Member or log in with your credentials .

Become a Premium Member of wein.plus

Voices of our members

wein.plus is a handy, efficient guide to a quick overview of the colourful world of wines, winegrowers and grape varieties. In Wine lexicon, the most comprehensive of its kind in the world, you will find around 26,000 keywords on the subject of grape varieties, wineries, wine-growing regions and much more.
Roman Horvath MW
Domäne Wachau (Wachau)

Welcome back!

Late reader

To read the full text, you must be a Premium Member of wein.plus. You are currently not logged in to wein.plus. Become a Premium Member or log in with your credentials .

Voices of our members

The world's largest Lexicon of wine terms.

EVENTS NEAR YOU