SIMURG
botrytis cinerea
EN
n.
Fungus which causes noble rot (pourriture noble). Attacks ripening grapes in autumn when morning mist and warmth provide humid conditions for its development. 1
[…] The fungus gives rise to two different kinds of infections. The first, grey rot is the result of consistently wet or humid conditions, and typically results in the loss of the affected bunch. The second, noble rot or Edelfäule in German, occurs when drier conditions follow wetter, and can result in distinctive sweet dessert wines
Botrytis cinerea is characterized by hyaline conida on gray conidiophores. The fungus produces sclerotia as survival structures. The fungus germinates with water at a temperature of 18 degrees Celsius.
The fungus sucks the water from the grapes leaving behind a higher percent of solids, i.e. sugars, acids and minerals, resulting in a more intense concentrated final product. The wine is often said to have an aroma of honeysuckle and a bitter finish on the palate.
Botrytis complicates wine making by making fermentation far more complex. Botrytis produces an anti-fungal that kills yeast and often results in fermentation stopping before the wine has reached sufficient levels of alcohol. Makers of fine German dessert wines have been known to take their fermenting tubs of wine into their homes to nurture the yeast through the night to assure that the alcohol level reaches legal minimums for the product to be called wine. 2
[…] How this ‘noble’ rot, the celebrated botrytis cinerea, was first discovered and put to use is the subject of various legends. 3
[bɒtˈraɪtɪs sĭ-ne´re-ah] 4
Acronym BA, Botrytis affected (wine, Botrytis cinerea, aka Noble rot). 5
Botritys, from botryo-, before a vowel botry-, combining form meaning ‘cluster, clusterlike’. 6
Cinereous: L. cinereus, ‘ashen, ashy’, fr. cinis, gen. cineris, ‘ashes’. See cinerary. For E. –ous, as equivalent to L. –us, see suff. –ous. 7
Università degli Studi di Genova - Facoltà di Lingue e letterature straniere - Corso di laurea in Teorie e tecniche della mediazione interlinguistica
Luana Tedesco rev. Gerbaudo
1 : Johnson H., Halliday J., The Vintners Art, How Great Wines Are Made, New York, Simon & Shuster, 1992, p. 227.
2 : «http://www.encyclowine.org/?title=Botrytis_cinerea», (13/10/2011)
3 : Johnson H., Halliday J., The Vintners Art, How Great Wines Are Made, New York, Simon & Shuster, 1992, p. 124.
4 : «http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/cinerea», (13/10/2011)
5 : «http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/Botrytis+Affected+(wine%3b+Botrytis+Cinerea%2c+aka+Noble+Rot)», (20/12/2005)
6 : Klein E., A comprehensive etymological dictionary of the English language, Amsterdam, Elsevier publishing company, 1966.
7 : «http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/Botrytis+Affected+(wine%3b+Botrytis+Cinerea%2c+aka+Noble+Rot)», (20/12/2005)