A term (also abbreviated to TBA) for a sweet wine made from overripe, raisin-like dried and mostly, but not exclusively, noble rotten berries with a characteristic taste or aroma of nuts, honey and caramel and a golden yellow to amber colour. However, such wines cannot be produced on schedule every year, as certain climatic conditions are an absolute prerequisite.
The most important criterion is that the grapes (usually only white wine varieties, but occasionally also red wine varieties) are attacked by the Botrytis mould during ripening and noble rot develops. This creates tiny pores in the berry skin, causing the water to evaporate very slowly and concentrating the berries' ingredients enormously. An extremely high sugar content or must weight of up to 300 °Oe (60 °KMW) can be achieved (see a list of all ingredients in the wine under total extract).
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Andreas Essl
Autor, Modena