Wine · Terminology

Sélection de Grains Nobles

Alsace's botrytis sweet wine — individually selected noble-rotted berries, tightly regulated.

Sélection de Grains Nobles — SGN — is Alsace's top sweet-wine category: wine made from individually selected berries affected by noble rot. It sits above Vendanges Tardives, and both categories are among the most tightly regulated in France.

Only four grapes may be used — the cépages nobles: Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris and Muscat.

In practice

  • Minimum must weights are high and grape-specific: around 256 g/L of sugar for Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris, 276 g/L-equivalent thresholds for Riesling and Muscat.
  • Chaptalisation is banned, harvest must be by hand, and every lot is submitted for analytical and sensory approval.
  • The wine must be vintage-dated and cannot be released until 18 months after harvest.
  • Yields are tiny, and the category is only declared in suitable vintages.

Where you'll meet it

  • Alsace, on labels from the region's leading domaines.
  • Alongside its counterparts: Beerenauslese in Germany, Sauternes in Bordeaux, Aszú in Tokaj.

SGN and Vendanges Tardives

Vendanges Tardives Sélection de Grains Nobles
Selection Late-picked bunches Individual botrytised berries
Botrytis Optional, often partial Essential
Must weight High Much higher
Sweetness Off-dry to sweet — varies a lot Always sweet, often intensely
Frequency Most vintages Only in good botrytis years

The confusing part for tasters: a Vendanges Tardives can be nearly dry, because the category regulates ripeness at harvest rather than sugar in the bottle. SGN never is.

How the four grapes differ

  • Gewurztraminer — lychee, rose, ginger; the richest and most opulent.
  • Pinot Gris — smoky, honeyed, dense; often the most structured.
  • Riesling — the most refined and the longest-lived, acidity holding everything in tension.
  • Muscat — rare at SGN level; grapey and floral when it happens.

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