Diese Seite auf DeutschThanks to global warming, every major wine region in the world had experienced a rise in average temperature over the last fifty years, and Germany, and the Mosel in particular, is no exception. Unripe vintages are now a rarity, but with the warmer weather a new problem has arisen: many vintages produce wines with lower acidity, a particular problem for German wines. It's the acidity in German wine that makes it so special for many of us. It's fairly high, doesn't usually undergo malolactic fermentation, and this, combined with a fairly high level of residual sugar in the wine, gives it it's unique tang, often compared to Cox's apples.
It first became legal to add acidity to wine in Germany during 2003, and was used by several 'top' winemakers in that year's wines, not always very successfully. The question has to be: is added acidity - especially in relation to German wine - a good or bad thing? As I've said before, I'm not a winemaker, let alone a wine chemist, and I really don't know exactly how the acidity that is added to wine is produced, or even how it is added: before, during, or after fermentation. I don't know if it's some secret recipe cooked up in a chemist's lab, or if it's a natural extract from highly acidic fruit such as lemons, pineapples, or whatever. What I can say for certain is that I've now become sufficiently experienced in recognising it to state without doubt that it certainly doesn't come from the vineyard named on the label, and while it can be 'pleasant' and is definitely 'interesting', I don't consider it to be at all natural. In fact, after a little research it now appears that there's a whole battery of various acids that can be added to wine, including Ascorbic acid (vitamin C - see here), Citric acid (limes and lemons; I'm sure I've tasted this in several German wines over the last few years), Tartaric acid (possibly more natural than most, as it's naturally present in many wines), Malic acid (the acid in apples, also naturally present in many German wines), Lactic acid (the acid in milk) and several more. There appears to be a whole industry supplying winemakers around the world with these substances, all presumably perfectly legally. See this link.... However, I don't know the exact details of what acids it is legal to use in German wine, or the circumstances and levels that it may be used in. Also, it certainly isn't only German wines that are being manipulated - see here, here, here and here.
So, what does it taste like, and how can you recognise it? Well, if the flavours all seem rather exaggerated - I keep thinking of a certain brand-name associated with films used in cinemas, or even some brands of film used in ordinary 35mm cameras in the 1970's, all of which were notorious for giving somewhat exaggerated colours - then there's a good chance that the wine you're drinking has had acidity added. Does the wine taste 'hard', or 'firm' at all? And if so, is this something that you can't remember tasting prior to the 2003 harvest? After all, even though Mosel wine is often high in acidity, it is almost always well-balanced, and even wine high in acidity is usually quite 'soft' when compared to several wines I've tasted over the last few years. Another pointer is that I often get slight indigestion after about half a bottle of such wine, and that's something I've never ever experienced with German wine before. In fact, one thing I find especially annoying about wines with added acidity is that I often do not recognise it as such at first. It often takes me several glasses before the penny finally drops and I realise that the acidity isn't at all natural. Perhaps even worse, I often find that wines with added acidity can seem even more impressive than wines without, until I finally realise that this is due to the added artificial acidity. As a result, I've bought several wines that I otherwise would not have bought - it's often very difficult to taste the difference from a small glass at a tasting, but far easier to detect when drinking a whole bottle in more relaxed circumstances at home. If you taste a German wine with an unusual lemony tang, I strongly suspect that it probably comes from added citric acid, and I very much doubt if this is the only acid used by some German winemakers to 'enhance' their wine. What seems to be another variant gives wine that reminds me of the soft drink 7-up, and I suspect that it is wines with added Tartaric acid that seem both 'firm' and unusually impressive at first. In fact some wines remind me of the sweets I enjoyed in childhood called 'Sherbet Lemons', which according to Wikipedia are made from a powder containing bicarbonate of soda and tartaric acid.
But, OK, even if I'm correct that quite a bit of German wine now has added acidity that isn't really natural, and this does often give rather exaggerated flavours, does this matter? Well, to me it does. The thing about German wine is that Qualitatswein Mit Prädikat wines were always supposed to be 'natural', without even added sugar, naturally sweet. I also keep thinking of the German 'Reinheitsgebot', the German beer purity law, which allowed only the use of water, malted barley, and hops in beer production. Until the law was repealed a few years ago that was all that was allowed to be used.
Again, I have to ask: does this matter? After all, it's been legal to add acidity to wine in most other countries for many years now, so what's so special about German wine? Well, the thing is that German wine is just about the only wine in the world that more or less relies on high acidity for it's taste and style, especially in combination with high residual sweetness, and this really does make it unique. I know of no other wine that has this combination, at least not to anything like the extent that many fine German wines do, and since they rely on high acidity for their style and flavour to such a large extent, it seems to me that to attempt to fake it is both dishonest and doomed to failure. I suspect that I have tasted wines with added artificial acidity before - I can remember a few bottles of Barolo in the mid eighties that may well have had enhanced acidity, but given the far lower acidity in most red wine this wasn't a problem. Indeed, I suspect that added artificial acidity is a large part of the reason for the improvement of many wines from various countries over the last few decades. But this, I have to say again, definitely does NOT apply to German wine, which relies heavily on a high natural acidity for its flavour and style. I have come to dislike German wine with added acidity, and will always point it out where I suspect it. Of course, there are those who seem to prefer these wines - one 'top' German winemaker who is notorious for fake acidity is extremely highly regarded by some Americans - but I have to say I disagree.
I must also point out that this would not leave German winemakers with wine they could not sell: mostly it's the higher grades of Spätlese and Auslese that seem to have had artificial acidity added, and it would be easy, and, I feel certain, better, to use such low-acid wines to bolster say a Kabinett wine to a Spätlese, and for the winemakers to simply admit that not all vintages allow the production of extremely high-grade sweet Spätlese and Auslese wines. Another option would be to vinify these wines dry or semi-dry, since low acidity is usually a benefit in dry wines. I do realise that the vast majority of German winemakers are self-employed small businessmen, mostly just one-man operations except at harvest time, and I certainly wouldn't want to cause them financial difficulties. But I am convinced that continuing on the path of added artificial acidity is going to ruin the good name of German wine. I am especially concerned that the availability of legally 'enhancing' the acidity of wine will actually encourage many winemakers to pick later than they otherwise would in some years, in the mistaken belief that the problem of low acidity can be 'fixed' by the addition of artificial acidity.
Would I like to see artificial acidity banned in German wine? Well, I certainly don't think wine with added acidity should be sold as Qualitätswein Mit Prädikat (nowadays just Prädikatswein, in fact). I am also convinced that it should be stated on the label that acidity has been added. To fail to state this clearly and unambiguously seems dishonest to me, though I have to admit that no other country gives this information. In fact I'd very much like to see the old (pre 1971) classification of 'Naturwein' reintroduced, this time with an absolute ban on added acidity. I feel certain that we need to know exactly what is natural, and what is artificial. In the meanwhile, I'm certain that there's a huge marketing opportunity for any winemaker brave enough to market his wines as 'Artificial acidity free'.
Finally, I have often wondered over the last few years if we are about to see 'wine' made without grapes, but it appears that this has already happened in Italy - see this article from Time, and also this article about the American flavour and smell industry.