That last bunch of grapes that never got picked

have you picked the grapes on your balcony... big thing over here is ice wine...the grapes have to be frozen solid then the sugars are activated and the wine has a wonderful taste...very expensive too...not a lot of production. Think I'll ask for a bottle in my Christmas stocking!

never heard the term, spatlese, til you asked, Marguerite! Main difference seems to be that in ICE WINE...or EISWEIN.... the grapes are allowed to freeze solid on the vine...then they are harvested...the process is a tricky one but the result is a sweet dessert wine...highly acid, lots of sugars from the freezing of the water in the grape... delicious, tricky to make, and very expensive because the grapes have to survive on the vine in perfect condition til the killing frosts which can come as late as November/December and harvests are small... only a limited amount will be made each season. Have seen it on sale for over a hundred dollars a bottle... From what I read about the Spatlesen they are wines from late harvest grapes only 19-23% sugar..and can be dry.... where ICEWINE is always sweet. I think I've got it all correct here... Thanks for the interesting question...was fun to learn a new terminology...and I can look like a genius at the wine store!! lol....

This unfortunately could never happen to these grapes of mine as it wouldn't get cold enough for them to freeze on the vine ( ! ) I can thus appreciate why the harvest would be so limited and end product so costly... perhaps up North in the Dolomites ??

Well that explains why the roses looked lush and lovely into December. It is a rest period, and cold compared to the rest of the year...but not as cold as we are used to in our winters....right? I think it's marvellous how the grapes grow right there on your balcony...sigh. googled the little hamlet and saw the town from the air (what name do they give to the hilltop towns?) saw the valley dotted with olive trees! Imagine that?! the mind boggles...what would the Borgia"s and the Sforza's~ all those old dukes and doges...what would they have thought of that...magic I suppose...a new alchemy! what a world we live in. Wouldn't it be something to time travel?...with all our knowledge of science we would look like maestro's!