WINES FROM GERMANY

WINE REGIONS

WINE REGIONS
13 WINE REGIONS 39 DISTRICTS 167 COLLECTIVE VINEYARDS AROUND 2650 INDIVIDUAL VINEYARDS 1. Ahr 2. Baden 3. Franken 4. Hessische Bergstrae 5. Mittelrhein 6. Mosel 7. Nahe 8. Pfalz 9. Rheingau 10. Rheinhessen 11. Saale Unstrut 12. Saxony 13. Wrttemberg

THE WEATHER
It is one of the coldest and northernmost growing regions in the world. Because of the harsher climate, Germanys vineyards are usually found on slopes facing southward to assure the longest exposure to the sun. They are also often found in river valleys, such as the Rhine and Mosel, because of the waters ability to moderate night temperatures and reect the warmth of the sun. The naturally high acidity, outstanding fruit and transparent quality of German Riesling are its trademark around the world. Its long nish, complex avors and crisp zest are the benchmarks that make German Riesling so ideal to pair with food.

GRAPE VARIETY

Riesling Dornfelder Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir)

Silvaner
Muller Thurgau (Rivaner)

QUALITY STANDARDS
Tafelwein: German table wine is mostly consumed in the country and not exported. Generally used for blended wines that can not be Qualittswein. Landwein: German country wine comes from a larger designation and again doesn't play an important role in the export market. QbA: It must come from one of Germanys thirteen ofcial growing regions. The grapes are usually not at a very high level of ripeness and chaptalization is allowed, which means sugar may be added to the unfermented grapes to increase the nal alcohol level (but not necessarily to increase sweetness). It is the most widely available German wine quality level.

QUALITY STANDARDS
Qualittswein mit Prdikat (QmP) / Prdikatswein:Translated as quality wine with distinction, QmP wines mark the pinnacle of German wine making. A QmP wine must be approved by German wine authorities and does not allow any additives or chaptalization. Starting with the 2007 vintage, the QmP designation has been simplied to the term Prdikatswein and you will nd this term on German wine labels going forward.

QUALITY STANDARDS
The QmP scale is based on six ascending degrees of ripeness Kabinett Sptlese Auslese Beerenauslese Trockenbeerenauslese Eiswein
Ripeness does not dene the quality of the wine or the sweetness of the wine. It merely describes when the wine was picked during the harvest cycle.

NOBLE ROT (BOTRYTIS)

QMP SCALE: KABINETT

Kabinett wines are picked during the normal harvest time and are usually light to medium bodied, well-balanced in acidity and dry to semi-dry in style, although sweet Kabinetts are made as well. The term Kabinett is derived from the Cabinet, a side room, built in the cellar of the Eberbach monastery in 1245, in which the best wines were stored. From there, it took on the meaning of a wine of high or reserve quality. Kabinetts are more rened than QbA wines and are great food pairing wines. They are outstanding with lighter cuisine or simply for casual drinking. Kabinetts are commonly consumed young, but can stored for 2-5 years, depending on quality.

QMP SCALE: SPTLESE

Translated as late harvest, Sptlese is picked about two weeks later. The grapes are now fully ripened and have a greater body, longer nish and more intensity of fruit than their younger siblings, the Kabinetts. Sptlese can be dry, semi-dry or sweet in style and maintains an amazing balance of sweetness and acidity. Sptlese is great as a food-pairing wine, because of its greater complexity, tension between different aromas and its long nish. Sptlese pairs extraordinarily well with bigger seafood dishes, such as salmon, lobster or crab, and spicy dishes, including Thai and Mexican cuisine. A Sptlese can be aged for 3-10 years.

QMP SCALE: AUSLESE

Translated as select harvest, Auslese is made from very ripe grapes, which come from individually selected bunches that are harvested by hand. Auslese is typically done in a sweet style and marks the beginning of the dessert wine category, although some Auslese still pairs very well with rich dishes such as foie gras and spicy foods. The aroma of the wine is now more reminiscent of tropical fruit, honey and caramel. The acidity creates tension and a good Auslese will never be sugary sweet. Rather, its complex avors unfold slowly, continuously exposing new facets of taste and revealing a wine of singular character. An Auslese can be aged for 5-25 years and will greatly increase in complexity as it matures.

QMP SCALE: BEERENAUSLESE

Translated as berry select harvest, Beerenauslese (BA) is rare and expensive, because individual grapes are selected and harvested by hand. Similar to Sauternes, BAs have typically been exposed to botrytis cinerea (noble rot), but tend to be lower in alcohol with greater acidity. BAs are exceptional, highly sought after dessert wines, whose great aging potential and richness of honey, caramel and tropical fruits make them sought after collector wines. Wines with the ripeness of a BA and higher are only produced in good years, when the weather remains dry. A Beerenauslese can age for 10-35 years on average and up to 50 years for exceptional wines.

QMP SCALE: TROCKENBEERENAUSLESE

Translated as dried berry select harvest, Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) is the richest of the German dessert wines. In the best years, the grapes shrivel up like raisins and are overtaken with botrytis. Because the grapes contain little water so late in the year, it can take a single individual an entire day to pick enough grapes to make one bottle. As a result, they are very expensive. However, TBAs display an overwhelming intensity and complexity of avors. They have the potential to age for up to 80 years and only get better with age. They are the Knig (King) of German dessert wines.

QMP SCALE: EISWEIN

Translated as Ice Wine, a traditional ice wine only happens in rare years when the rst frost, usually in December, will freeze the small portion of grapes that the vintner has left on the vine. Ice wine grapes have the minimum sugar level of a Beerenauslese, but must be unaffected by botrytis. In the rare years when a harvest occurs, the grapes are harvested by hand (wearing gloves, so the grapes wont defrost) very early in the morning to avoid thawing temperatures. The grapes are pressed frozen, which means that very little water gets into the press, extracting a small quantity of highly concentrated juice. The resulting elixir creates a vibrant bond between sweetness and acidity that holds its own against the equally charismatic BAs and TBAs.

SPARKLING WINES (SEKT)

Germany has the highest per capita consumption of sparkling wine in the world and sparkling wine is drank at every occasion and also commonly served as an aperitif. German Sekt made according to the champagne method undergoes a second fermentation in the bottle and hand riddled over the course of 18-24 months. It is vivacious, clean and more aromatic than its cousins from the Champagne region of France. The most common styles are Extra Brut (very dry), Brut (dry) and Trocken (off dry), but sweeter styles are made as well (demi-sec or doux). These high quality sparkling wines are very hard to nd outside of Germany.

FOOD AND WINE CHART

Refer notes on German Wines FOOD AND WINE chart

GERMAN WINE LABEL

Refer P4 & Ppt The Wine Bottle

Assignment : Why some champagne labels have vintage written on them?

1. Most of the champagne produced today is NV champagne, meaning it is a blended product from multiple vintages. 2. If conditions are favorable some producers may make a vintage wine that must be composed of at least 85% of the grapes from the vintage year. 3. Under Champagne wine regulations, houses that make both vintage and non-vintage wines are allowed to use no more than 80% of the total vintage's harvest for the production of vintage Champagne. This allows at least 20% of the harvest from each vintage to be reserved for use in nonvintage Champagne. This ensures a consistent style that consumers can expect from non-vintage Champagne that doesn't alter too radically depending on the quality of the vintage. In less than ideal vintages, some producers will produce a wine from only that single vintage and still label it as non-vintage rather than as "vintage" since the wine will be of lesser quality and the producers have little desire to reserve the wine for future blending.

VINTAGE AND NV

Trivia: From 1921 to 2002, Dom Prignon champagne has been produced in 36 years.