July 28th, 2011 | 
Author: 
Those hardcore Revolutionaries out there who have been following me since day one may remember that back in June I wrote about the need to dispel the myth that all Rieslings are cheap, sweet and lacking in quality and gave some handy tips for finding a decent bottle.Now, with Wines of Germany’s Riesling Week in full swing, I thought it would be a great time to build on this theme and give you some top tips for buying German wines.
German wine labels can be devilishly difficult to decipher but hopefully these tips should ease the headache when you are down your local wine merchant or navigating your way through a wine list in search of a bottle of German wine. I have taken (and expanded) Tips #1 and #2 from my Dispelling the Myth post as they are fundamental to understanding the style of German wine that you are buying. Tips #3 to #7 are new.
Tip #1 – Look at the alcohol percentage on the label. If the alcohol percentage is 12% or higher, you can be confident that you are looking at a dry wine. You will often find German Rieslings around the 7.5% to 8% alcohol mark – these wines will undoubtedly contain quite a lot of residual sugar and are excellent as aperitifs or with spicy foods.
Tip #2 – Look for the word “trocken” on the label which means “dry”. You will also occasionally see the word “Classic” or “Selection” on some German wines which also indicates that the wine is dry. “Halbtrocken” or “feinherb” indicates that the wine is “half ” or medium dry.
Tip #3 – Wines labelled “Grosses Gewächs” or “Erstes Gewächs” will be dry. A number of the top wine estates in Germany (although it should be said not all) are members of the Verband Deutscher Qualitäts- und Prädikatsweingüter or “VDP” – the top growers association in Germany. Each year, producers put forward their top wines to the VDP and if they meet the requisite standard they can be labelled as “Grosses Gewächs” or “Erstes Gewächs” which means “first growth”. These wines will always be dry.
Tip #4 – The best quality German wines will usually be labelled as “Qualitätswein mit Prädikat” or “Prädikatswein” which means “quality wine with distinction”. There are 6 levels of “Prädikatswein” and in order to understand the style of wine you are buying, you need to know the difference between these levels. The levels ascend according to the level of ripeness of the grapes at the time they are picked – the 6 levels are: Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese (or TBA) and Eiswein. Kabinett and Spätlese wines will often be dry but also check the alcohol percentage and look for the word “trocken” as a guide. Auslese will invariably be off-dry but watch out for a few rare exceptions where they can be dry. Beerenauslese, Eiswein and TBA will range from the sweet to the outrageously sweet in the case of Eiswein and TBA.
Tip #5 - Believe it or not, there is life beyond Riesling in Germany! Riesling is often (and rightly so) seen as Germany’s flagship grape but it increasingly seems to be Germany’s best kept secret that they are producing some seriously good varietals other than Riesling. For example, in Baden and Ahr you will find top class Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir). No wine growing region makes better Sylvaner than Franken. And the Pfalz, which has very similar climatic conditions to Alsace, is renowned for producing top-notch Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc). Don’t be afraid to try something new!
Tip #6 – Germany has had a series of good to excellent vintages over the last decade. While vintages vary from region to region, German producers have in general witnessed very favourable growing conditions year in year out over the last 10 years. 2003, 2007 and 2009 are particularly good vintages across the board.
Tip #7 – German wines usually have the grape varietal printed on the label. Go to France and you will find wines labelled as Meursault or Hermitage but nowhere on the label will it say that this wine is made from the Chardonnay or Syrah grape respectively. One of the few things the Germans have got right when it comes to labelling their wines is the naming of the grape variety.
Be sure to let us know here at The Riesling Revolutionary if you have any of your own tips for buying German wine – they are always welcome! Zum Wohl!
Posted in Top Riesling tips
Hello Master
Read your last tips and thought that I hadn’t been hard core enough.
To this end I thought i had better get more pro active.
Today I have bought :Tim Adams 2008 Clare Valley Aus. 11.5%. £10.29
Cono Sur 2010 Bio Bio Valley Chile. 13.5%.£5.99
Loosen Bros 2010 German. 8.5% £7.99
All bought from Tesco.
But I’m in a dilemma. Which should I try first ????? In any event, will report back. Do you, or any of your other followers know these ?
I know all of them – you have picked some crackers! Superb value and see my post on supermarket Rieslings for me information on them. Cheers!