The Wine Knows

I got an email from a reader this morning asking about botrytis-affected wines.

Botrytis is known as "noble rot" because it can infect grapes destined for dessert wines, creating a fascinating spicy effect.

Botrytis can occur naturally, or vineyards can be inoculated (as happens most notably in California and Australia. Perhaps the most famous and expensive botrytis-affected wines in the world are the Sauternes of Bordeaux.

In the Pacific Northwest, a few wines will be released each year that are botrytis affected. The most memorable I've tasted is from Bainbridge Island Vineyards & Winery, which is a 30-minute ferry ride west of Seattle. Each year, it crafts a botrytis-affected dessert wine from the rare Austrian grape Siegerrebe.

What other botrytis-affected wines have you tasted from the Pacific Northwest.