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About German Wine

German wines offer some of driest and sweetest. German wine districts differ from those of other countries in one major aspect. Instead of having one generalized climate, each German wine district may comprise a few micro – climates depending on the every turn of the winding Rhine and Mosel in principle. The flowing rivers help protect the vulnerable grapes. Due to the harsh cold climate in Germany, the best vineyard slopes face south. In addition, the gradient of the slope which determine the amount of sun reflected from the adjoining rivers.

German wine not only vary from place to place, but also year to year. Therefore, German wine vintages matter more than any countries.

As a wine making country. Germany has too little sunshine needed for red grapes to flourish. As a result, at least 85 percent of German wine is white. German whites are medium-dry to sweet. They are floral, fragrant, and refreshing as they are never "oaked".

Special German Wine System

There is something unique about the German wines, Pradikat, a measure of ripeness dictated by when the grape was harvested which is a real quality assessment. There are five Pradikat levels, the higher usually indicating a higher (riper) quality. From the lowest to the highest, they are as follows…

Kabinett which indicates the earliest harvest

Spatlese which indicates the late harvest

Auslese which indicates the select harvest

Beerenauslese which indicates that it is selected grape-by-grape for making ice wine

Trockenbeerenauslese which indicates that it is selected grape-by-grape, with the grapes on their way to becoming raisins

German wine Label

The long strange looking words on the German wine label can be intimidating. German wine label tells quite a lot with the understanding of a few terms or nothing when you recognize none on the label. Therefore, learning some of the simple term on the wine German label is the first step to appreciating German wine. German wine carrying the word "Trocken" on the label means "dry".

German wine place of origin:

" the town with a suffix -er + vineyard + vine "

For example, Resling of the vineyard, Badstube from the town, Bernkastel will be named Bernkasteler Badstube Resling and Bernkasteler Badstube Resling Trockenbeerenauslese for those that is selected grape-by-grape, with the grapes on their way to becoming raisins

Under the 1971 German wine laws, Tafelwein (table wine), or Landwein (table wines with some regional designation) are the daily wine which is not qualified to export. The Qualitatswein, short for Qualitatswein bestimmter Anbaugebiet (QbA), which means "wines of quality from a specified region."

Last but not least, the highest level - Qualitatswein mit Prddikat (QmP), "wines of quality with special ranking".

Note: Some of the popular and interesting names are Liebfraumilch (Milk of the Virgin), Naktarsch (bare bottom), Schwatze Katz (black cat), and Black Tower.

German Wine Grape Varieties

Germany is the hometown of the noble German wine grape, Riesling. It represents only 21 percent of all German wine varieties. Miiller-Thurgau is a cross between Riesling and Sylvaner loves the cool German climate. Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir) is also found in Germany but in the warmer regions of the country. There are also other German wine white grape varieties like Sylvaner, Kerner, Scheurebe, and Rulander (Pinot Gris) in Germany.

Full Wine List

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