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+--- Thread: stuck on reislings (/thread-18315.html)
- nowism - 12-14-2004
I attended a wine tasting in Boston a year ago, and had the best experience with a Rieslings winery representative.
This man went to great lengths to describe (which I greatly appreciated) the different grades of Rieslings.
Now I did pay attention, as I remember in great detail his description of how at . . this grade . . tastes this sweet . . .and if the harvest two weeks later . . . it tastes like this . . . and if they wait a month . . it taste like this . . . notice how the difference of the sweetness . . how it enhances the full body of the grape and . . . . . and if they are willing to wait another __ nights . . .risking frost . . entire harvest . . . bla bla bla . . . . you get this . . .
Ok . . so my issue is this . . . i remember the taste . . . . and the dynamic between the different verities.
I just don't remember what they are labeled as.
I have an urgent need to understand this difference. . .as I have a woman I would like to describe as a sweetheart . . . and buy her a wine for the holidays to match . . .
If anyone could please list the different classifications between the Rieslings grades. . . i would be forever in your debt.
Thanks!
- Innkeeper - 12-14-2004
Hi Now, and welcome to the Wine Board. Riesling could very well be the most versitile grape in the whole world. Only Germany gives you a detailed description of what is in the bottle. Will get back to them later. In the New World (regions outside of Western Europe) you don't get too much information on the label unless the producer decides to give you some. Usually the labels either have the word "Dry" on them or no other words. When there are no other words, the wine is not dry. How off dry these wines are can only be discovered through experience. One New World exception is Australia, where most Rieslings are bone dry.
In the Old World, in addition to Germany, major producers are Austria, and the Alsace. Rieslings from the Alsace are always bone dry unless they are in series of "late harvest" bottlings. Austria tries to emulate Germany some of the time.
Germany gives you lots of clues on the label. First of all they give you the readings of Troken and Halb Troken. These mean dry and half dry. Germans also list the degrees of brix as Riesling grapes are harvested. This results in wines that are labeled Kabinett, Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, and Trokenbeerenauslese. These descriptions usually, but not always, result in wines of conmensurate sweetness.
If all this leaves more confused than when we started, try this: ask advice from a trusted retailer.
- nowism - 12-14-2004
Thank you so much Innkeeper. . .
I do remember the Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, and Trokenbeerenauslese descriptions. . . but I did not remember the explanation of time between the harvest between these categorizations. . . .if this is the progression between the . . . . . . quote . . . .grades . .. . unquote . .. . . . . .than i think . . and GREATLY Appreciate your . . .well . . your response is greatly appreciated . . but if this is what you are saying . . you have done more for me than you could possibly imagine . . . .thanks for both!!!
- Zinner - 12-15-2004
It seems very likely, as Innkeeper has noted, that they were going through the categories of German wines that are designated Qualitatswein mit Pradikat(QmP) which is simply "quality wine with special distinction, or special attributes." The Germans are classifying them as to the ripeness of the grapes at harvest.
If you're trying to figure out how they might taste...well, the ones labeled trocken and halbtrocken are usually dry(not sweet) whatever category they fall in. This means a Spatlese labeled "trocken" can taste less sweet than a classic Kabinett.
Otherwise:
Kabinett -most often lighter, just-ripe with nice acidity...just a hint of sweetness.
Spatlese -literally it means "late picked" so the wines have more concentrated flavors but are not necessarily much sweeter than the Kabinett category.
Auslese -this is "out picked" which means some bunches were selected as very ripe, so they are more intensely flavored and usually fairly sweet.
Beerenauslese -literally "berries out picked" so it suggests that at harvest, individual grapes are chosen that are considered overripe and these are rich, sweet and very concentrated.
Trockenbeerenauslese -sounds funny to put trocken in there since trocken can designate a dry wine, but trocken can be translated either "dry" or "dried" and in this case, it means the individual grapes are dried on the vine so they resemble raisins and the juice in them is concentrated. The winery is risking losing them to frost, hail, storms or just natural predators such as birds and deer. There is very little juice in the grapes and these are extremely concentrated and usually quite expensive. But they are lusciously sweet like honey. They are often age-worthy.
The Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese categories are considered dessert wines. Usually these are written out on labels but when talking, you may hear people call them BA and TBA.
You may see one more category...
Eiswein -means "ice wine" and the sugar content at harvest must be at least equal to Beerenauslese. The producer waits, often into December, until a sudden drop in temperature naturally freezes the grapes on the vine. I have one bottle of Eiswein for which the grapes were picked on Christmas because that's when the temperature dropped. These are also luscious and sweet and dessert wine category.
By the way, although Riesling is the noble grape of Germany, you will sometimes see the wines in the dessert categories that are made from other varietals such as Scheurebe and these can be luscious too.
Can you tell that I just love German wines?
[This message has been edited by Zinner (edited 12-15-2004).]
- lizardbrains - 01-02-2005
That's funny, Nowism! I heard the same speech when I was tasting one at Firestone! It was great info, very intriguing, but so much of it went in one ear and out the other b/c it was information overload. It made me appreciate, though, the finesse that it requires to grow and harvest grapes, and to make good wine!
-Elizabeth