Auslese

Auslese (literal meaning: "selected harvest") is a German wine term for a late harvest wine and is a riper category than Spätlese in the QmP category of the German wine classification. The grapes are picked from selected very ripe bunches late in the autumn, usually hand picked. A small proportion of the grapes may be affected by noble rot in some regions although this never dominates the character of the wine.

The wines are occasionally made dry (trocken) in some areas, such as Pfalz but are more typically sweeter, as the very high alcohol levels (around 13-14%) in dry examples can make them unbalanced particularly when young.

These wines, particularly when made from the riesling grape can age for very long periods of time, often ten years or more.