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Understanding German Wine
Annual Variations
All wine is, in theory at least, a natural product that varies from one year to the next, but this is especially true of German wine. Since most of the great German wine regions are the most northerly on the planet, they are subject to annual variation more than most. Some years produce thin wines lacking in sugar but with searingly high acidity, whereas others are extremely hot and give super-rich wines with low acidity - this is becoming more common now that global warming is upon us. One further factor enters the equation: botrytis cinerea, the so-called 'noble rot' or 'Edelfäule'. This is a harmless fungus that pierces microscopic holes in the grapeskins, that are just large enough to allow the water content of the grapes to evaporate, but are too small to allow the sugar to escape. The result is fabulously sweet wines that are some of the most expensive white wines in the world. This fungus is also responsible for the sweet wines of Sauternes, Barsac, and Hungarian Tokay, and in time the wines will develop the flavour of honey. These are dessert wines, and are very sweet and luscious, and generally one glass is enough.
The 1971 German Wine Law
The German wine laws were radically overhauled in 1971, and the massive changes included a dramatic simplification of the number of vineyards, with many of supposedly similar characteristics being amalgamated. Previously there were over 20,000 - some sources say 30,000 - recognised vineyards in Germany; this was reduced to around 2,660. In the village of Zeltingen on the Mosel alone, there had been at least sixty or seventy different vineyard names; this was reduced to four. There were also many more changes in the law, especially in respect of a system of classification based on the must weight (sugar content) of the juice at harvest.
Many German wines, like most French wine, are produced from unripe grapes by adding sugar. In Germany, these are called Tafelwein, Landwein, or Qualitätswein b.A.
The best German wines, however, are made from fully ripe grapes, and these wines and these wines alone, are entitled to be labelled 'Qualitätswein mit Prädikat', which literally means 'Quality wine with special distinction'. These wines are never sugared; it is a criminal offence to do so, and a small number of German wine-makers have spent time in prison for trying it. It is therefore easy to identify a German wine made from fully ripe grapes, something which is impossible with French, Italian, or Spanish wine. In fact the latest update to the German wine law has seen the term 'Qualitätswein mit Prädikat' shortened to just 'Prädikatswein', starting with the 2007 vintage.
All QbA and Prädikatsweins must pass a three-part test concerning colour, aroma, and taste. They must pass on all three parts, but the pass mark is set very low, at just 1.5/5, After passing, each wine is given an A.P. No, or 'Amptliche Prüfungsnummer', which must be printed on the label.
The Prädikats
There are five grades or 'special distinctions', each of which correspond to different ripeness levels, and all have precise minimum ripeness levels laid down in the 1971 wine law. It is common practice for winegrowers to send the pickers through the vines three, four, or even more times in a single harvest in order to pick grapes that acheive the various levels of ripeness. The must weight (sugar content) necessary to acheive the legal minimums vary depending on grape variety and region - for a detailed description in English of the requirements for Riesling, see here. I must also point out that the first three grades listed below are often made into 'trocken' (dry) or 'halb-trocken' (semidry) wines, although these are rarely exported. This should be stated on the label, but many new designations do not in fact state this - see 'More recent Laws and designations' below.The maximum permitted residual sugar levels for Trocken wines varies from 4-9 grams/litre depending on the acidity, and from 12-18 grams/litre for halb-trocken.
The first is Kabinett, which is made from normally ripe grapes. It's usually fairly light with good acidity. The term originally meant that the wine was considered good enough for the wine-maker's own wine cabinet, and before the 1971 wine law was used at the winemakers discretion, and was often attached to Spätlese or Auslese wines (see below), but since 1971 is used as a stand-alone definition, with precise minimum legal standards.
The second is called Spätlese (pronounced 'Schpayt-lazer') which literally means 'Late-Harvest', and is made from grapes that have been left on the vine, at the growers' own risk, to benefit from an extra two weeks or more of late autumn sunshine. It is somewhat sweeter, richer, and finer, often with slightly lower and softer acidity, and not surprisingly fetches higher prices.
The next grade is Auslese (pronounced 'Ows-lazer') or 'Selective Harvest'. The ripest bunches - or those with above normal levels of Noble Rot - are selected as they are picked and pressed, and are made into a separate wine. This wine is again richer, sweeter, often with lower acidity, and again fetches a higher price.
The final two 'special distinctions' are Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese, and the names literally describe how they are made, grape by grape (berry by berry). They are both made from individually selected grapes picked with a pair of tiny scissors or a needle, the grapes being either very over-ripe indeed or especially affected by the Noble Rot, which dries the grapes almost to raisins (the word 'trocken' means dry or dried). Heavily botrytised grapes like this seem at first sight to be anything but attractive - see pictures here and here - but from such grapes are made the most expensive white wines in the world. Given the massively labour-intensive way in which these wines are made - several winemakers have told me that it is tedious in the extreme - and the fact that they are produced in tiny quantities, they can never be cheap, yet their production is often more a matter of pride in their art than profit.
There is one more designation, which can only be used on wine made from grapes of at least Beerenauslese ripeness: Eiswein. Again the name is both accurate and descriptive, for it means 'Ice-wine', and it is made from grapes that have been left on the vine until December, January, or even February, and have been caught by a sharp frost of -7 C or lower, and are picked and pressed while frozen solid, usually in the the very early morning (click here to see a picture). The ice, which is water, is thrown away, leaving the sugar, acidity, and all the elements that give the wine it's flavour in super-concentrated form. Eiswein is fabulously concentrated, yet often retains enough acidity to stay balanced, without the syrupy sweetness that many Beerenauslese or Trockenbeerenauslese have. Before the mid-eighties, the word Eiswein could be attached to any Prädikat, such as Spätlese Eiswein, Auslese Eiswein, etc, but since then it is a stand-alone Prädikat and may only be used for wines that are of at least Beerenauslese ripeness. I am a fan of Eiswein, and for me this is the finest wine in the world. It's perhaps worth pointing out that the use of freezers and other techniques such as reverse osmosis has been banned, and that - unlike some other countries that now produce 'eiswein' - only naturally frozen grapes are allowed. Eiswein is fabulous, and if you haven't already tried it, I strongly recommend you do so soon. For me, Eiswein comes closest to what Robert Louis Stevenson called 'bottled poetry'. I must also point out that, contrary to claims I have seen on the internet, Eiswein is harvested on the first day that is cold enough, most definitely not only on days of some religious significance. Another inaccurate claim I've seen is that it is illegal to make Eiswein from botrytised grapes. This is again untrue, though Eiswein is usually made from non-botrytised grapes. Some years, however, produce what might be called 'accidental' Eisweins, when a sudden sharp frost occurs during the latter part of the main harvest. One such year was 1998, and many of the Eisweins harvested that year now show massive botrytis. Indeed, while I very much liked the 1998 Eisweins before the botrytis became so obvious, I'm much less keen on them now. I still have a few bottles, and will keep them for a few more years to see if they improve.
Despite the fact that minimum standards for all the various grades are laid down in law, many of the better winemakers like to go a bit further, and you will often find that a spätlese from one winemaker will be as good as, or even better than, an auslese from many other winemakers.
In addition to these officially sanctioned ripeness levels - often incorrectly thought of as quality levels - many winemakers use a variety of means to identify wines that are supposedly better than others of the same grade. This can be a gold capsule, sometimes of differing lengths, a number of stars added, or a whole array of colours and stripes on the capsule. It is common to find short and long gold-capsule auslese wines (note, however, that some winemakers use gold capsules for all their better wines), or wines with no stars or up to five stars (most winemakers only use three stars as a maximum, however), usually appended to the prädikat, such as '***Auslese***'., or '**Eiswein**'. Theoretically this was made illegal by the 1971 German wine law which specifically banned 'graphic design elements' from distinguishing between different sub-grades, but the practice is still widespread. Phrases such as Feine (or Feinste) Auslese or Bestes Fass (best cask), have, however, disappeared. Some winemakers also refer to Fass (cask) No. 37, or whatever. Since casks on the Mosel are usually just 1000 litres, the availability of each one is severely limited.
The Labels
Thirty years ago, most German wine labels were printed in what is often incorrectly called 'gothic' typefaces. Technically known as 'Blackletter', these fonts resemble the very first fonts used by Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of printing, and who was born in Mainz, in the heart of the Rhine wine regions. Whatever virtues these fonts have, easy legibility is not one of them, and it can take quite a while for an unpractised eye to simply recognise the letters, let alone decipher what the words mean. This is now largely gone, as almost all German wine labels are now printed in highly legible modern typefaces. So, now that we can all read the labels, what do they actually tell us?
The four most important bits of information on German wine labels are the year the grapes were grown in (this is not compulsory); the name of the producer, which may be anything from a village winemaker to a count, cathedral, grammar school, or a hospital (do not assume that the village winemaker will be any less good than the others...); the region where the wine was grown, which may be stated with extreme accuracy, or may not; and the level of ripeness the grapes had when picked. The grape variety may be given, but is not compulsory. This may be a blend of two different varieties, but the label may not give more than two, and if two varieties are given they must be in more or less equal amounts. Personally, I rarely drink any wine other than Riesling. If the wine is a Quälitatswein mit Prädikat/Prädikatswein this will be stated, along with the individual Prädikat.
The label will give the geographical origin of the wine, but this may be a large region such as Bereich Nierstein or Bereich Bernkastel (the word Bereich means region), or an individual vineyard such as Niersteiner Glöck or Bernkasteler Graben. The suffix '-er' simply means 'from', in exactly the same sense that a Londoner is a person from London, and a New Yorker is a person from New York. Note, however, that a few vineyards and castles are more famous than the towns or villages in which they are situated, and some of these omit the village name. Thus we have 'Scharzhofberger', from the Scharzhofberg vineyard in Wiltingen on the Saar, and Schloss Vollrads, which is in the village of Winkel in the Rheingau, and the Steinberg, which is on the outskirts of Hattenheim, again in the Rheingau. None of these wines give the name of the village.
One concept that muddies the waters somewhat is the 'Grosslage', which is a collective name for a group of vineyards, and which uses the name of the most famous town or village of any vineyard within it. The vineyards of Nierstein, for example, have been divided into four grosslagen, which are Niersteiner Rehbach, Auflangen, Speigelberg, and Gutes Domtal. Only one Nierstein vineyard is in the Gutes Domtal grosslage, together with vineyards in many other villages, but wine from any of these villages is allowed to use the prestgious name of Nierstein, which is rightly highly respected, but not for the wine of this grosslage! It would be wrong, however, to think that all wine sold under a grosslage name is inferior, as this is simply not true. Bernkasteler Badstube is a grosslage name that is extensively used by many growers, where they would otherwise have to market many different wines in tiny quantities. It consists of just the six best vineyards of Bernkastel, all of which are small, and is likely to be as good as almost any wine from that famous little village. Indeed, I have often found it to be better than the vast majority of wines from any of the individual vineyards that make up this grosslage. How can you tell if a name is a grosslage or an einzellage (an individual vineyard)? You can't, except by learning the names. Since every wine shop in Britain sells Niersteiner Gutes Domtal and Piesporter Michelsberg, very little of which actually originates from either Nierstein or Piesport, it's safe to assume that these are not fine wines, and since there are only six grosslagen in the best part of the middle Mosel, it isn't too hard. I have listed the most common here, together with grosslage names in the Rheingau, and there are a number of books you can buy for further information.
Criticisms of the 1971 German Wine Law
There have been many critics of the 1971 Wine Law over the years, much having been made of the introduction of the 'Grosslage' concept, (see above), but I cannot say that I've ever found this to be a problem. Piesporter Michelsberg and Niersteiner Gutes Domtal are available in every small shop and supermarket in Britain, so few would expect these to be fine wines, and I, primarily a fan of Mosel wine, have little difficulty in remembering the names of the few grosslagen in the Middle Mosel, though I accept that Alzheimers sufferers may have more difficulty.
Another criticism often levelled at the 1971 wine law is the introduction of the Prädikat system of ever-increasing ripeness. I find this totally bizarre, since not only did the Prädikat system long preceed the 1971 wine law, but many of the most vociferous critics were themselves among those who actually wrote the law. Very strange indeed.
Of greater concern to me is the fact that many distinctively individual vineyards were amalgamated and given a common name, but here I'm really not at all sure as to the solution, or indeed if there ever can be one. I for one would certainly not like to return to the pre-1971 situation, and have to attempt to remember thousands upon thousands of vineyard names - this is simply impractical - yet I fully accept that some parts of certain vineyards do generally produce better wine - or certainly different wine - than other parts. Previously, use of the pre-1971 names was banned, but this seems to have been eased somewhat in recent years, and I tend to think that this is in fact the only workable solution. There will remain large vineyards with a common name such as Ürziger Würzgarten, Zeltinger Sonnenuhr, or Wehlener Sonnenuhr, but those in the know will be able to recognize wines from superior - or certainly different - parts of these vineyards. One such example is part of Zeltinger Sonnenuhr known as 'Rotlay'. The wines from this very small section are usually far more minerally than those from the 'classic' Sonnenuhr. However they tend to mature in completely different ways, and after several years in the bottle, the 'classic' section wines seem to develop a complexity of fruit that the 'Rotlay' wines never seem to reach. Click here to see an ancient tax map of the Middle Mosel which shows many, if not all, of the old vineyard names. Of course, given the fact that the characteristics of each individual vintage in each region far outweigh the characteristics of the vineyard the wine was grown in, perhaps we are making too much of this anyway. Other factors such as the age of the vines, and whether or not they are planted on their own rootstock (it is now illegal to plant new vines on their own rootstock, even in the Mosel) also play a massive role that is almost impossible to quantify (is it really the vineyard itself, or these other factors that make the difference?), and this is one of many reasons why I'm deeply suspicious of attempts by the VDP - a trade organisation whose sole purpose is to benefit it's members, after all - to influence changes to the wine laws. Indeed, in my opinion by far the easiest way to improve fine German wines would be to ban the addition of artificial acidity, something that the VDP have not only failed to address, but is widely used by some of it's most famous members. See here.
Another frequent criticism of the laws is that the must weights necessary to reach the various Prädikat levels are set too low, and here I largely agree. Many of the better winemakers routinely declassify their wines - calling a wine of legal Auslese status a Spätlese, and so on - and although the levels have been raised in recent years, I do think that this should be taken further.
More recent Laws and designations
There have been a large number of designations introduced over the last few years, some of which have legal status; most do not. They include:
Feinherb. Not legally defined at all, this is used for Qualitätswein, Kabinett ot Spätlese wines that have been vinified semi-dry, but with slightly higher residual sugar than allowed for Halb-trocken wines. Very common in Germany; rarely seen internationally.
Classic. Legally defined. A dry or slightly off-dry QbA that conforms to slightly higher standards intended to make it food-friendly. It must be made from varieties considered classical in its region, and have a minimum alcohol level of 12.0% by volume, except in Mosel, where the minimum level is 11.5%. Maximum residual sugar level is twice the acid level, but no more than 15 grams per litre. The label does not state that the wine is dry.
Selection. Legally defined. The grapes must at least be either at the top end of Spätlese ripeness, or at the lower end of Auslese (depending on region), and must be vinified fairly dry. The wine must also pass a colour/aroma/taste test with much higher passmarks than normal. The label does not state that the wine is dry.
Erstes Gewächs. Legally defined. The name means first class growth. A designation used only by VDP members in the Rheingau for top-level dry or sweet wines from selected sites.
Grosses Gewächs. Not legally defined. The name means great growth. A designation used by VDP members in all regions except Mosel and Rheingau to designate top-level dry wines from selected sites. Also used by the Bernkasteler Ring in the Mosel for the same purpose. Confusingly, the term 'Grosses Gewächs' does not appear on the label, just the letters GG. Even more confusingly, dry wines are not stated as such.
Erste Lage. Not legally defined. The name means first class vineyard. A designation used by the VDP to denote selected sites suitable for Erstes Gewächs and Grosses Gewächs wines. Also used by VDP in the Mosel in conjunction with a Prädikat to designate top-level wines from these selected sites. Erste Lage QbA is used for the dry wines. Any possible benefit to the consumer is lost by the inclusion of several lesser vineyards, and the exclusion of many first-class ones such as Erdener Prälat and Zeltinger Sonnenuhr. The logo is a registered trademark of the VDP.
Charta Riesling. Not legally defined. A 100% Rheingau Riesling of QbA or Prädikat quality with a residual sugar ranging from 9-18 grams/litre (semi-dry) and a minimum acidity of 7.5 grams/liter. The wines must achieve higher starting must weights than required by law and undergo sensory testing by a special panel (in addition to the A.P.No. testing).
Riesling-Hochgewächs. Legal status unclear. A 100% Riesling QbA with at least 1.5% more natural alcohol than the minimum required by law. The wines must achieve at least three points during the official quality control examination compared with the normal minimum of 1.5 points. Some are very sweet - similar to an Auslese.
I have to admit that I find the plethora of recent designations such as these to be highly confusing, especially since many of them are only available to members of certain trade organisations such as the VDP and Bernkasteler Ring. Even worse is the fact that the rules governing their use are often highly unclear and vary from region to region. Worst of all is the fact that many of these wines omit to state the level of sweetness such as Trocken or Halb-Trocken (dry or semi-dry). This is far, far worse than the 1971 wine law, in my opinion, and seems guaranteed to cause confusion.
However, one guideline seems to be that if one of these newer types of wine does NOT state a Prädikat, then assume that it is dry, or at least semi-dry. It it does give a Prädikat then it probably is at least semi-sweet. But I have to stress that this is a guideline only, and there is an important exception to this: Riesling-Hochgewächs, which cannot give a Prädikat as it is a QbA, yet is sometimes very sweet.
There are still many more designations that you might find in Germany, but are highly unlikely to find anywhere else. Most are purely regional.
There have also been a number of other changes to the law in recent years, such as the legalisation of adding artificial acidity to wine (2003), the banning of planting new vines on their own rootstock in the Mosel (date unknown), and the introduction of a new designation for bottling, Gutsabfüllung (1995). The legal requirements are said to be very complex, but basically what it boils down to is that if the winemaker is physically present at the time of bottling the wine may be labelled Gutsabfüllung, if not then the older designation Erzeugerabfüllung must be used. The winemaker must also have had technical training - but few if any have not. Frankly the distinction seems to be minor, to say the least. The most recent change in the law that I know of was the shortening of the term 'Qualitätswein mit Prädikat' to 'Prädikatswein', starting with the 2007 vintage, and also the incorporation of the Saar and the Ruwer into the Mosel region, which occurred on the same date.