Did you ever think you would see a botrytized wine from Texas? Botrytis is utilized throughout the world in order to produce several iconic dessert wines such as Sauternes and Tokaji Aszu. The fungus, also known as “Noble Rot,” causes the skins to become porous and allows the grapes to dehydrate and thus concentrate the grape sugars. The resulting wines are luscious and sweet. Climate conditions need to be very specific for the fungus to take hold and it often occurs in high humidity areas near bodies of water. This Chenin Blanc from the Texas High Plains was set to be discarded after a very rainy season, but Ben Calais jumped at the chance to obtain the rotten grapes and turned them into a silky, sweet, beautiful wine!
Falvo’s in Flight
