Germany is completely misunderstood and under-appreciated by American
wine consumers. Perceived solely as a producer of overly sweet wines and
mass market bottlings such as Blue Nun, Germany is actually producing
some of the most interesting white wines in the world.
Part of the problem is the way German wines are labeled. The combination of
region-based naming and the initially confusing practice of identifying
ripeness levels makes label surfing too confusing for many consumers. But
invest some time to understanding the labels and you can find great wines at
good prices.
Riesling and Gewurtzraminer are the most prevalant and consistent quality
wines from Germany. Both are wonderful pairings with a variety of cuisines
and available in a wide range of sweetness levels to suit all tastes.
Ripeness is measured and categorized from lowest to highest as follows:
-- Kabinett
-- Spatlese
-- Auslese
-- Beerenauslese
-- Eiswein
-- Trockenbeerenauslese
The first two categories are typically made into dry wines. The last three
categories are made from grapes that are so ripe that the resulting wines will
inevitably retain some natural sugars and be sweet.
Many of the sweet wines are produced from grapes which develop a naturally
occurring fungus call botrytis cinerea, or noble rot. This fungus dehyrdrates
the grapes concentrating the flavors and sugars. The resulting wine is
incredibly concentrated and rich. Botrytis wines are produced in many
countries, but Germany's rank among the world's best. They're also quite
expensive.
Back to Wine Regions.
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