German Wine Laws Flashcards
What are the German structured wine laws based on quality levels
Date back to 1971
* Deutscher Wein
* Landwein
* Qualitatswein (bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA))
* Pradikatswein
Latest changes date Jan-2021 and fully ratified 2026
What is a fundamental rule on application of wine laws
How much must weight at harvest
Deutscher Wein
- Wine without geographical indication
- Formally known as Tafelwein
- Inexpensive
- Designed to be drank young
Label may state the vintage + variety but not common - Small production
- Most basic German category
Landwein
- German equivalent of PGI (protected geographic indication)
- Min 85% of grapes must come from Landwein region on label
- Typically ‘trocken’ or ‘halbtrocken’
- May not state village or vineyard name
- Small production
- Step up from Deutscher Wein
Qualitatswein
- PDO Category (protected designation of origin)
- Less stringent than Pred but more than Deutsche wein and Landwein
- Must be made within 1 of 13 regions ‘Anbaugebiete’
- Min must weight 50-72 degrees ‘oechsle’
- Wine may be enriched
- By far largest and your everyday drinking wine
What does ‘trocken’ mean on a label
Dry german wine
What wine levels go through a laboratory analysis
- Qualitatswein and above (Landwein and Deutcher Wein)
What is the UOM for must weight?
Oechsle
- indicates how much sugar is dissolved in the juice
- measures grape density relative to water
- greater the must greather potential for (i) fuller bodied wine (ii) super sweet
What is an A.P.Nr.
- Amtliche Prüfnummer (means officially approved number)
- Required for Qualitatswein and Pradikatswein
- Includes lab analysis and blind tasting panel
What is the AP Number Schema?
- 10-12 Digit Number
- 2 596 738 008 14
- 2 for testing station
- 596 village of producer
- 738 unique code for each registered estate
- 008 lot number
- 14 year of submission (typically a vintage + 1)
What does higher must weight mean?
- Higher sugar
- 70 - 154 degree Oechsle
Is sugar enrichment allowed for Pradikatswein?
NO!
Which wine law designation have the highest must weight
Pradikatswein
What is considered ‘must’?
- Pressed grape juice pre fermentation
- Includes any seeds, stems, etc
Can Pradikatswein be produced from any variety?
Yes! But, it’s quite synonymous with Riesling
What are non-German terms for ‘Oechsle’
- Brix (international)
- Baume (french)
What is the tool called to read Oechsle
Hydrometer aka Mostwaage
How many levels (grade) are in the Pradikatswein?
6 levels/grades
1. Kabinett
2. Spatlese
3. Auslese
4. Beerenauslese (BA)
5. Eiswein
6. Trockenbereenauslese (TBA)
Describe Kabinett
- Lowest in must weight
- Lightest in body
- Highest in acidity
- Dry to medium-sweet
- Min 7% abv; can reach up to 12%
- These wines have the potential to be 11.5% alcohol if made fully and dry
- So lower alcohol, sweeter wine is the gist
Will see green or citrus fruits. fresh characters
What does it mean when you see Kabinett Trocken?
Remember, Trocken means ‘dry’
* Kabinett grade, fully dried
* So it’s a dry Kabinett, so less residual sugar and higher in alcohol
Describe Spatlese
- Fully ripened grapes picked two weeks later than Kabinett
- Greater concentration of riper fruit (stone fruit, even tropical)
- Dry to medium-sweet
- Min 7% abv
- 13-13.5% alcohol potential
Is there a Spatlese Trocken
Yes - Spatlese can be labelled with ‘Trocken’ which means this grade can come in a dry version
* Fuller bodied than the Kabinett Trocken since Spatlese are riper grapes
* Spat - means late
* lese - means harvest
Describe Auslese
- Specially-selected, extra-ripe bunches of grapes
- Greater concentration again
- Dry to sweet
- Min 7% abv
- More riper in comparison to Spatlese and Kabinett
- High levels of sugar. Around 14-15% potential alcohol
- Can be dry but sweet expression is most common
Often effected w/botrytis
What grades within the Pradikatswein can you get dry wine?
Trocken wines are only found in 3 of the 6
1. Kabinett
2. Spatlese
3. Auslese (less common)
Describe Beerenauslese
- Specially selected, hand-harvested, extra-ripe grapes that may be botrytised
- Must be hand harvested. Grapes selected at the individual grape level
- ALWAYS be sweet
- 18% potential alcohol; bottled around 7% or lower
- Min 5.5% abv
- Low yields, rare and expensive (labor intensive)
- Cannot be trocken
Ripe, dried, stone fruit, honeyed, caramelized
Describe Eiswein
- Given own pradikatswein in 1982
- Must weight is similar to that of Beerenauslese
- Production method differs.
- Made from frozen berries and picked below (-7) degrees Celcius
- Harvest anytime in Dec-Feb, Nov is rare
- You can have two vintages within same year
- High acidity
- Grapes often lost to disease or predators
- Small production and rare
Break down Trockenbereenauslese
Split the word
Trocken - Dried
Bereen- Berries
Aus - Selected
Lese - Harvest
Describe Trockenbereenauslese
- Specially selected hand-harvested, extra-ripe grapes that are botrytised
- Long and slow ferments
- Sweet only
- Low yields, rare and expense
- High must weights mean fermentation is long, slow, rarely continues past 8% abv
- Potential alcohol is 20-21%
What is the chemistry rule of thumb for alcohol potential?
1% of potential alcohol requires about 17 g/L of sugar
