Special Late Harvested

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Wine

By Jancis Robinson

Published 2006

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special late harvested, term which should according to eu labelling law be applied to wines made in Australia from ‘fresh ripe grapes of which a significant proportion have been desiccated under natural conditions in a manner favouring the concentration of sugars in the berries’. In South Africa, the term refers to a lighter style of dessert wine harvested at a minimum of 22 ºBalling and with at least 11% alcohol. If the residual sugar is less than 20 g/l, the label must indicate whether the wine is extra dry, dry, semi-sweet, or sweet.