Glossary entries

A fungus. In unripe grapes, it causes damaging, ashen-colored gray rot. In fully ripened grapes, it enables the water content of the grape to evaporate, leaving behind solids (sugars, acids, and minerals) and resulting in a highly concentrated wine. The name derives from Botrus, Greek for bunch of grapes, and cinis, Latin for ashes. The beneficial form, “noble rot,” is known as Edelfäule in German and pourriture noble in French.