14 Germany - Sekt

Question 1

Sekt in one card

Answer 1

• German for sparkling wine
• 90% inexpensive & high volume brands
• Germans love Sekt - highest per capita 3.4l in world
• Production uses cheap base wines from all over EU
• Var: (any for Sekt; others mainly Riesling, but many var allowed PN, PB, PG, CH, Scheurebe, Silvaner)
• Several styles of Sekt from tank to trad method (no carbonated)
  
  • Sekt (Tank)
  • Deutscher Sekt, (Tank or Trad) German fruit, any region
  • Deutscher Sekt bA, (Tank or Trad) German fruit - 13 defined regions
  • Winzersekt, (Trad) Estate grown, bottled, produced (mostly Riesling), other var allowed. Top of range vg/os
  • VDP Sekt, (Trad) VDP member estate grown, specifically for Sekt, 2 tiers of quality based on lees ageing.
  • Perlwein (not considered Sekt made by tank/carbonated)

Question 2

Describe the various styles of German Sekt?

Answer 2

• Sekt
  
  • 90% of all spw sales
  • Grapes from EU (SP, IT, sFR)
  • Tank, release min6 mths after start 2nd ferm
  • min 90 d lees or 30 if stirred
  • NV, l fruit, no autol, m acid, noticeable sugar
  • Acc/G, Inexp
• Deutscher Sekt -no region on label
  
  • DE fruit; tank / trad / V/NV
  • If single var 85% rulel
• Deutscher Sekt bA - region must be on label
  
  • 1 of 13 defined regions eg Rheingau, Rheinhessen
  • Tank/trad
• Winzersekt
  
  • estate grown, produced, bottled
  • trad method; min 9 mth lees
  • usually Riesling, but others allowed
  • Vintage, variety, producers name must be on label
  • Style: If Riesling, medium intensity green apple, white peach, toasty,smoky autolytic notes, high acidity, Brut style
  • VG/OS, med to premium priced
• VDP Sekt
  
  • in 2018 VDP (Verband deutscher Prädikatsweingüter) private assoc of wine cos committed to high quality incorporated Sekt
  • VDP Sekt standards: “‘good Sekt from the beginning’”
    
    • Fruit fm VDP member estate,
    • Specifically grown for Sekt production
    • Picked by hand, early (to be appropriate),
    • Whole bunch press, trad method only
    • Two tiers
      
      • min 15 mths on lees
      • single vineyard or vintage: 36 mths on lees
• Perlwein / Secco
  
  • Tank /carbonation
  • inexpensive base wine
  • less than 3 atmospheres of pressure (so no tax) makes it cheaper than SW

Question 3

Growing environment for high volume tank-fermented Sekt

Answer 3

• High vol production areas EU- Italy, Spain, France
• Low aromatic varieties , picked early - high acid,
  
  • low aromatic base wine
• Typically crushed in region of origin and juice chilled and truck /train to Germany

Question 4

Wine growing and harvest for Sekt from German-grown fruit

(ie Deutscher Sekt, QBa, Winzersekt)

Answer 4

• Cool continental climate
• German regions = grapes of low pot alcohol, high acidity - suitable base wines for SW
• Picked early for primary fruit, high acid - unripe fruit selected out
• Mainly single variety wines, some Chardonnay & Pinot Noir blends
• Riesling makes most prestigious wines
  
  • also PN, PB, PG, Chard, Silvaner,
  • some aromatic var eg Scheurebe
• Hand harvest for higher Q wines, adds cost ~ final price
• Variations of climate/soils overridden in blending of base wines prior to second fermentation

Question 5

Tank method for German Sekt

Answer 5

• First ferment cool to retain fruit
• Wines then blended for consistency across batches & brand style
• Second ferment
  
  • Better wines lees aged 3-6mths
  • Filter, bottle, release
• Tank method means large vols made & released in short time, reducing costs & prices
• Grapes grown in Germany may be made into base wine by grower and then delivered to large specialist Sekt producers for second fermentation

Question 6

Traditional method Sekt

Answer 6

• Champagne var (CH & PN) - malo c
  
  • Riesling - no malo
• Lees Ageing
  
  • Riesling - 9 m to retain floral, green apple and lemon primary
  • Riesling - 18m for smoky notes (not biscuit like typical Champagne)
  • Other var 18m min for autolytic notes
• Mature sweet Riesling may be used for dosage in premium wines to add richnessv
• Trad method means Winzersekt /VDP Sekt more expensive
• Some companies use transfer method for less expensive bottle-fermented wines

Question 7

Wine Law for Sekt , Perlwein

Answer 7

• Sekt must
  
  • be made by second fermentation (no carbonation)
  • min 10% abv
  • CO2 of min 3.5 atmospheres
  • base wine from grapes any EU country
• Perlwein
  
  • cb any grapes - EU / Qualiteitsperlwein bA (DE Regions)
  • Carbonated / Tank
  • Often sweeer than sekt, (sparkling off dry - sweet)
• Varietal/vintage wines must be 85% that variety/vintage
• Tank Method Sekt
  
  • Tirage - Release time = min 6m incl 90 days lees ageing
    
    • (30 days lees if stirring)
• Transfer Method >> “Flaschengärung”
  
  • 9m to release, incl 90 days lees ageing
• Trad Method >> “Klassiche Flaschengärung”
  
  • 9m on lees, then release​
  • Higher Q : 15 - 18m Lees, or 36m VDP Vintage

Question 8

Describe the Sekt market

Answer 8

Sekt market has 3 price categories:

• low end, price-driven up to €4 over half of all sales
• standard quality up to €8
• high quality, much more expensive - growing market
• price of every bottle includes €1.02 tax.

German market

• Highly comp, volume producers compete for retail space
  
  • aggressively promoting/advertising, majority in s/markets
• Sekt production dominated by few v large cos
  
  • Rotkäppchen-Mumm, Henkell, Schloss Wachenheim
    
    • each has multiple brands acc for 80% production
  • Rotkäppchen-Mumm dominates economy yet lucrative segment
  • Private label strong esp Aldi & Lidl
• Winzersekt sold cellar door, specialists & restaurants
  
  • Producers incl Reichsrat von Buhl and Schloss Vaux
• ~10% Sekt is exported
  
  • Bigger co’s have own brands in Eastern Europe (export or E-European subsidiaries)
• German consumers price conscious, buy retail, consume at home. 75% of all domestic sales at supermarket