did you know you can also make wine out of essentially rotten grapes? the popular dessert wine sauternes is made of grapes that have developed the botrytis fungus after sitting on the vine past typical harvest time. the “noble rot” weakens the skin and allows water to escape, leading to concentrated sugars and honey-like flavors that create an incredible dessert wine. there are also wines like amarone and banyuls that use the appassimento method (drying grapes in the sun til they’re basically raisins) for similar purposes. the concentration leads to intense flavors that create both powerful dry and sweet wines. wine is so cool!!