Germany...It's Complicated

I'm not going to sugarcoat this, folks.  German wines are complicated.

So, the thing about most European wines is that they hold where the grapes are grown above everything else.  That is why so many European wines are named after an actual place (region, village, vineyard) and not after the grapes that are in the bottle.   Barolo, Margaux, Rioja, Chianti, Sancerre -- all places on a map, regions or towns you can actually visit and get your touristy drink on.  The French call this “terroir.”  Terroir takes into account climate, soil type, landscape, grape variety and other winemaking factors that contribute unique characteristics to the wine produced there.  In short, Barolo can only taste like Barolo because of where it’s grown (southern Piedmont), from a specific grape (Nebbiolo), in particular soils (lime-rich, clay based), and aged for a specific length of time (minimum of three years), yadda yadda yadda.  

And that brings us to Germany, the High Altar of terroir.  (Um, please don’t tell any French winemakers I just said that -- they all think of Burgundy as the High Altar, so let’s keep this between us, okay?  Cool, thanks).  Now, remember when I said “Germany…It’s Complicated”?  Well, here we go, hold on to your lederhosen.  There are four different quality levels of German wine.  From highest to lowest:  QmP, QbA, Landwein, Tafelwein.  In this post, we’re going to concentrate on QmP, or Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (translated as “quality wine with specific attributes”).   Still with me?   Good.  When you see a German wine label with a lot of stuff written on it, chances are, it’s a Prädikat wine and the producer is trying to tell you what these “specific attributes” are by explaining what town it’s from, the vineyard name and how ripe the grapes were when they were picked.  Oh yes.  In short, they are trying to be very specific about the terroir.  There’s that darn word again.

One of the places we visited on a trip to the Mosel Valley in Germany a few years back was Selbach-Oster, where we had the pleasure of meeting with Barbara Selbach in her home in the village of Zeltingen (husband Johannes was away filming with famed importer/writer/Riesling Guru Terry Theise).         

Weingut Selbach-Oster, Zeltingen, Germany

Barbara tasted several wines with us from different quality levels and different vineyards, and then showed us the cellars (attached to the back of their house) where they age some of their wines.  It was pretty amazing to see that these famous wines are literally homemade.  We tried three Rieslings from the village of Zeltingen which have "Zeltinger" on the label (meaning "from Zeltingen").  So, think of someone from Berlin being called a Berliner or a food from Hamburg being called a Hamburger (Frankfurt...? Frankfurter!  You've got this!).  Each of the three Zeltinger wines were from a different vineyard (Schlossberg, Sonnenuhr and Himmelreich), each with different soil types that accounted for differences in flavors and textures. According to Barbara: Schlossberg = steep, more soil mixed with slate, more 'masculine' style, Sonnenuhr = shallow, more slate, more elegant and 'feminine' and Himmelreich = deeper soils with slate and loam, a 'fatter' wine.  Crazy, right?  

Overlooking the village of Zeltingen from the Sonnenuhr vineyard

Okay, we are on the home stretch... with Prädikat wines, there is also an indication of how ripe the grapes were when picked.  Without going into too much detail (we've come so far, I don't want to lose you now!), there are six levels of ripeness, from low to high: Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein.  IN GENERAL (but each producer has their own style), the lower the ripeness level, the wine tends to be (but not always!), less sweet.  Has your head exploded yet?  

Let's review:  

Wine pictured is from Producer Selbach-Oster.  Vintage (year when grapes were harvested) is 2012.  It is from the town of Zeltingen (Zeltinger) from the vineyard Schlossberg.  It is made from Riesling grapes ripened to a Spätlese level, which would USUALLY mean, it has some sweetness to it, right?  However, this label also says trocken….. Trocken means "dry."  Have I mentioned that German wines are complicated?

And now, a word about sweetness and German Riesling…

The vast majority of German wine that makes its way to the US is made with the white grape, Riesling.  And of that, a good portion of those bottles have some sweetness to them.  And so, most US wine consumers believe ALL RIESLING IS SWEET.  Not true!  Riesling from Germany range from bone dry to dessert-wine sweet, and everything in- between. Do not confuse Fruity with Sweet.  A Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand can be fruity but dry; a Pinot Noir from the Russian River can be fruity but dry.  So can Riesling!  Austrian Rieslings are typically dry, and most Alsace and Australian Rieslings are usually dry.  And some German Rieslings can be fruity but DRY, too.  (I wouldn't lie to you!)

Now, ladies and gentlemen, behold -- the secret of how to determine how sweet your Riesling will be.  First off, as we saw above, if it’s a German Riesling and it has the word “Trocken” on the label, that means it's Dry.  Period.  Easy peasy.  But not many German labels spell it out right there for you, so you have to look further.  On the label, there will always be a % ABV (Alcohol By Volume).  If that number is between 7.5% - 10.5%, it means there will be some level of sweetness in the wine, the lower the sweeter.  Above 11% = less sweetness to dry (during fermentation, it is the sugar from the grapes that gets converted to alcohol, therefore, if there is less alcohol in the wine it means more sugar stays behind, unconverted -- or what we call in the wine biz, residual sugar.  Ah HA!).  Of course, there are a few caveats:  1) this is not foolproof, but it does work the majority of the time and 2) this works for German wines, yes, but not necessarily for all wines, for example, Port has 15%+ ABV and it is sweet.  Okay, it is produced differently (because it's a fortified wine, something we’ll tackle at a later date), but hey, cut me some slack, I’m trying to get y’all to drink some dang Riesling here without hearing the complaint that ALL RIESLING IS SWEET.  All righty, people, I'm getting off my soapbox now...drink more Riesling !!

Weingut Selbach-Oster
Uferallee 23
D-54492 Zeltingen, GERMANY
phone: +49 (6532) 2081
www.selbach-oster.de