German Riesling Explained

Trying to pinpoint and understand the varying classifications of German Riesling can be daunting. There is an ascending hierarchy of ripeness levels, which are determined mainly (though not exclusively) by the sugar content of the grapes before fermentation, their must weights. It is thus somewhat confusing to call them "quality levels" as more sugar alone does not make a better wine but only a sweeter or a more alcoholic one. The lowest qualities, Landwein and Tafelwein are normally best avoided. The next level is Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA), which can be of descent quality. Occasionally though, very fine wines are sold as QbA's, or even Tafelwein, if they violate additional legal restrictions, for example by using new oak barrels. Chaptalisation is allowed for QbA's. No such addition of sugar is allowed for Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP), which comes in 6 levels (the "Prädikat"/attributes). They are in ascending order of must weights:

Kabinett

The first of the Prädikat wines in Germany; translates as gently sweet or ‘fruity’. These display the explosive juicy ripe green apple flavours and pear nectar textures. Generally speaking they are low alcohol (7 to 10%), soft, easy drinking and food friendly. There will be significant residual sugar in these wines, which explains why the alcohol levels are so low – a lot of unfermented sugar, but the good ones are balanced by high acid. Typically there will be around 30 grams of residual sugar and 8 grams of acid. So although there is a lot of sugar there, the impression is ‘fruity’ rather than sweet. If however you taste a Kabinett Trocken, it means that all of the sugar has been fermented out – like you would do if you were making Riesling in Australia – the alcohol will be higher, the wine more stony and more steely. This is typically the lightest and most delicate style that an estate will produce. Kabinett is normally made from ripe grapes and no chaptilization is allowed.

Spätlese

German for ‘late-harvested’; Spätlese is the second of the six Prädikat quality levels in Germany. Spätlese usually has more richness than Kabinett because the grapes are allowed to ripen for an extra week or more. Once harvested, the wine can be fermented fruity (Lieblich), half-dry (Halbtrocken) or dry (Trocken), depending on the preferences of the winemaker.

Auslese

A German word that means ‘selected from the harvest’; this is the Prädikat level for over-ripe, late-harvested grapes that are selected cluster by cluster. Often made in the fruity style with residual sweetness; Auslese is considered by most winemakers to be their finest achievement (aside from the rare dessert wines). Top winemakers often make several Auslese from different selections based on botrytis levels. In this case, the wines are distinguished by an AP number, by gold and long gold capsules or by stars after the vineyard name, depending on the winemaker’s preference.

Beerenauslese/BA

Literally means selected bunches of botrytis-shrivelled fruit picked at a minimum of 110 degrees Oechsle (15.3% potential alcohol). Production of these wines is counted in bottles, not in cases. They are incredibly rich, botrytised and sweet, very complex, very long – but because of their wonderous natural counterbalancing acidity, they are clean as a whistle. How do they this? The secret is n the ultra-long ripening period. Remember Germany is at the ‘Top of the wine world’, geographically speaking – to quote Jancis Robinson. This is as far north as it gets where grapes are grown, the maturation of fruit on the vine takes a long time, over a cool ripening period. So acidity can be retained whilst ultra-ripeness is being reached. Obviously the resulting wines are expensive. Beerenauslese is a rare dessert wine made from extremely over-ripe grapes that are fully affected by the botrytis mould. The grapes are selected one berry at a time.

Eiswein

Quite literally, ice wine; one of the rare Prädikat dessert wines, made from over-ripe grapes that have been frozen solid on the vine. They are harvested quickly and pressed while still frozen, so that only the concentrated grape juice is extracted. Most of the water stays in the press as ice, so the resulting wine is very concentrated, but with vibrant, racy acidity.

Trockenbeerenauslese/TBA

Germany’s greatest and rarest dessert wine and the last of the Prädikat levels.  Trocken (dry) here refers to the individually selected berries which have been completely shrivelled by the botrytis mould. It does not refer to the taste of the wine, which is quite the opposite of Trocken. The minimum must weight for TBA is 150 Oechsle (33% potential alcohol).