German Wines
German white wines are among the
finest in the world. But surprisingly beer, and not wine is the
national drink of Germany. The greatest wines are made from the
noble Riesling grape. No Country's growers must take greater risks
than those of Germany to create the brilliant wines upon which
their reputation relies. Central Germany is as far north as you
can go and still have a reasonable chance of ripening any of the
classic grapes. But the genius of the Riesling grape is that , if
you allow it to ripen slowly through long, cool summers, and are
lucky enough to have a balmy autumn, it is capable of a sublime
balance between fruit acidity and fruit sweetness that is unique
in the world - even at ridiculously low alcohol levels and very
high levels of acid. The true Riesling grapes produce wines of
excellent taste, with hint of peaches, honey, and daffodils. At
their best, the taste of these wines is rich and full, showing
great depth. Many German wines are sweet as winemakers makes great
efforts to achieve that sweetness which, by law, must be entirely
natural, with no sugar added to the wine.
Winemaking is only
possible in many parts of Germany when four elements come
together; site, climate, soil, and grape. With the greatest of
these being site. Nearly all the vineyard are in the southern
half of the country. The best vines are often grown where no
other crops will flourish: on slopes too steep for cows, or where
the soil is too poor or shallow over the underlying rock for wheat
to put down roots. But steep slopes have great advantages for
vines. They offer shelter from the wind, particularly if they are
crowned by wood or if there is a mountain range behind. In
order to maximize the sunshine and warmth that the vines so
despartly need, the slopes must be south, west or east facing,
depending on the type of sunlight needed. the best kind of slope
of all is in a river valley.
Rivers are crucial
to vine-growing in Germany. Nearly all the great wine areas are
close to rivers and their tributaries. The reason is that an
expanse of water has the effect of moderating extremes of
temperature. It helps ward off frosts and give humidity in hot,
dry summers; and the water reflects heat and light back on to the
banks, particularly if they are very steep.
German wine grapes
Riesling
Muller-Thurgau
Kerner
Silvaner
Rieslaner
scheurebe
Huxelrebe
Siegerrebe
Weissburgunder
Grauburgunder
Spatburgunder
Major grape growing regions
Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Nahe
Rheingau
Rheinhessen
RheinPfalz
Other grape
growing regions
Ahr
Franken
Wurtemberg
Baden
Hessische
Bergstrasse
Understanding German wines can be a
very demanding affair, partly because the language of German wines
is so different than that used everywhere else in the world. All
that is needed to enjoy them is the knowledge of a few basic
terms.
Quality
Categories
Deutscher Tafelwein: Basic table wine from 4 main regions.
Landwein: Similar to France's vin de pays, from any of 17
regions.
Qualitatswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA):
From
designated regions, they are permitted to add sugar to the juice
when natural ripeness has not produced enough and yields are high,
these wines are usually ordinary.
Qualitatswein mit Pradikat (QmP):
Quality wine
with special attributes. They are divided into 6 categories of
ascending levels of ripeness, and typically account for the
majority of high quality wines exported out of Germany. The
categories of QmP wines are; Kabinett- made from
ripe grapes, most are light, and may have a little as 7 percent
alcohol. Most Kabinett wines are fermented dry or off-dry.
Spatlese-made from late-picked grapes, they can also be
made in a dry or off dry style. Auslese-made from
selected bunches of late-picked grapes. Some Auslesen are made
from botrytis-affected grapes and are sweet to very sweet, some
are made in a "Trocken" or dry style. Beerenauslese-made
from individually selected berries affected by noble rot. This
wine is very sweet. Trockenbeeerenauslese-made from
individually selected berries that are shrivelled with over
ripeness. The wines are intensely sweet and very rare.
Eiswein-made from sound grapes, picked and pressed while
naturally frozen.
Important wine
producers
Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Joh. Jos.
Christoffel
Fritz Haag
Von-Hovel
Immich-Batterieberg
Karlsmuhle
Heribert Kerpen
Reichsgraf Von
Kesselstatt
Dr. Loosen
Maximin Grunhaus
Egon Muller
Joh. Jos. Prum
Schloss Saarstein
Willi Schaefer
Selbach-Oster
Dr. H. Thanisch
Dr. Wagner
Wegeler-Deinhard
Dr. Weins-Prum
Zilliken
Nahe
Paul Anheuser
Crusius
Hermann Donnhof
Schlossgut Diel
Rheingau
J.B. Becker
Hans Hermann Eser
Graf Von Kanitz
Schloss Johannisberg
Freiherr Zu
Knyphausen
Franz Kunstler
Langwerth Von
Simmern
Dr. Heinrich Nagler
Schloss
Reinhartshausen
Schloss Schonborn
Schloss Vollrads
Wegeler-Deinhard
Robert Weil
Werner'sches
Domdechant
Rheinhessen
Gunderloch
Louis Guntrum
Heyl Zu Herrnsheim
Burgermeister Carl
Koch Erben
Georg Albrecht
Schneider
Villa Sachsen
Rheinpfalz
Bassermann-Jordan
Reichsrat Von Buhl
Dr. Burklin-Wolf
Koehler-Ruprecht
Lingenfelder
Georg Mossbacher
Muller-Catoir
Pfeffingen
Karl Schaefer
Wegeler-Deinhard