Wine Review: 2007 Leonard Kreusch Spätlese

Varietal: None (white table)
Wine: Spätlese
Label: Leonard Kreusch
Region: Rheinhessen, Germany
Year: 2007
Date Tasted: May 2010

Notes: This was a sweet white with a surprisingly medium body, as the flavor by itself would tend to make one think of a light wine. Hints of tangerine and honeydew punctuated the palette. The wine had little in the way of finish, but made for a good wine to simply chat with a friend over, or (as we did) drink while eating Kalamata olives to provide some complexity.

Perhaps of more interest than the wine itself, though, is the term Spätlese. This designates that the grapes are picked late by a week or two, increasing their sugar content, but also running the risk of spoiling the harvest if it rains. According to the legend of Schloss Johannisburg, Spätlese was discovered as follows: In the mid 18th century, grapes could only be harvested upon receipt of governmental permission to begin the harvest. Due to some bureaucratic delays, one year's edict granting permission to harvest the grapes was delayed about two weeks. Fearing that all was lost, the farmers gathered the harvest anyway, and despite the fact that some of the grapes were even beginning to rot on the vines, not having any other options began processing them for wine. To their surprise, the wine turned out good, as the added sugars aided fermentation without losing all sweetness. Or so the story goes.