What’s Happening to Me?
It was not that long ago that my interest in white wine was about the same as wanting to pilot a 767. I’m not a pilot and have no knowledge whatsoever. So why am I suddenly so interested in exploring white wines when reds are my passion? First Viognier, now this!
The truth is that I have had a number of requests for information about Riesling and as it turns out, I love Riesling! I used to wonder what all the fuss was about until I explored it and discovered that certain white wines such as Riesling, can age very well, and like red wines, can develop impressive complexity. I also had a nice conversation with a winemaker whose name is Ernst Loosen (pronounced LOH-sen) who owns and runs the venerable Dr. Loosen winery in Germany. He is a savant winemaker and cool guy that studied wine at the German Wine Institute at Geisenheim, and later spent time educating himself by working with winemaking experts in Austria, Alsace, Burgundy and Napa after his father died and left him the family business. I consider Ernst as the Robert Mondavi for German wine. He wanted to be an archaeologist but took up the business for his family. And he's not a doctor.
Have you ever wondered why all of these Rieslings have names of Dr. Frankenstein or Dr. Joe Schmoe or some doctor? Are these guys really doctors or is it just the old 'yeah, I'm a gynecologist' ploy? It turns out that the term ‘Doctor’ refers to a world famous vineyard located above the town of Bernkastel in Germany's Mosel-Swaar-Ruwer region. This 8-acre site sits on very steep hills that allow grapes to ripen better than those from other vineyards in the region and thus produce a higher quality wine. Mystery solved.
I have had quite a number of Ernst's wine and they are remarkable: he has made over 150 Rieslings from various vintages that scored above 90 points on Wine Spectator, 25 of which are 95+. He loves Burgundy, especially red, and as bloody smart as he is and as close as he lives to the region (he drives across the border to Burgundy frequently), he still is as confused as any of us trying to figure out what's good and what's not from that region. That alone is an endearing quality – it’s kind of like Alan Greenspan admitting to a Senate hearing committee that he has absolutely no idea why the economy is doing what it’s doing.
So here is what you need to know about German Riesling imported into the US:
Germany is a pretty cold place to grow grapes and because of the climate, it is difficult to get fruit to the proper level of ripeness, in which ripe grapes translate into sugar levels, which for the dryer style of Riesling translates into increased alcohol levels. Desert-type wines will always have residual sugar because fermentation stops naturally at roughly 18 - 20% alcohol. As you may know that in the fermentation process, the yeast converts the sugar into alcohol but at such high alcohol levels, the yeast cannot survive and dies - the alcohol it produced kills it! Any sugar left in the 'must' (‘must’ is essentially grape juice) is in wine, referred to as residual sugar. This is all important - I'll explain shortly.
If you're not German, reading German wine labels is like poking yourself in the eye with a sharp object. But like all wine labels, it's good to understand them so you're informed about what you're buying. The very lowest quality of wine in Germany is simply table wine or in German, 'Tafelwein' and not far from the bottom is 'Landwein' (land wine, don't ask). You'll probably not see this here in the US but run fast if you see it in Europe - the only reason not to use it as petrol is that its alcohol level is too low.
But 95% of Germany's wine falls under the two categories of Qualitätswein, or 'quality wine' further under which, there are other categories of quality. The next highest up from Landwein is Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete or (QbA). QbA wines may be chaptalized, meaning sugar is added to the must in order to increase the alcohol (and mouthfeel) levels due to unripe grapes. In QbA wines, all of the sugar is gratefully fermented completely (nothing is worse than tasting cane-type sugar in wine), leaving no residual sugar in the wine. The upshot of this is that winemakers are forced to intervene on behalf of nature's failed ripening process during winemaking, thus the quality of the wine is compromised.
So, maybe it's better to look around for the top category of Riesling, which is Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP) meaning 'quality wines with attributes', kind of the German equivalent of 'friends with benefits'. The attributes in this case however, represent graduated levels of ripeness, which must be naturally produced. Naturally. This really means that chaptalization is not allowed within this quality category. By the way, all of the wines below may be finished dry, medium-dry or sweet, so the quality pyramid from lowest to highest for QmP wines begins with:
Kabinett - [kah-bih-NEHT] fairly light to sometimes medium body; usually lower alcohol so good for road trips. Just kidding! Really, just kidding!!!
Spätlese - [SHPAYT-lay-zuh] meaning 'late harvest' - now we're getting somewhere - really very nice wines with deeper intensity of aroma and flavor.
Auslese - [OWS-lay-zuh] meaning 'select picking' with a greater intensity and higher alcohol, generally just a higher quality.
Beerenauslese - [BAY-ruhn-OWS-lay-zuh] meaning 'berries, select picking' where over-ripe grapes are individually selected.
Eiswein - [ICE-vyn] - meaning 'ice wine' where grapes are at least as ripe as Beerenauslese but are harvested and pressed while frozen; the water in the grapes is discarded as ice, leaving only the sweetness of the juice. If done well, these make great desert wines that might even rival Sauternes in my book.
Trockenbeerenauslese - [TRAWK-uhn-bay-ruhn-OWS-lays-zuh] - and Germans wonder why we don't want to talk to them. They're nice and all but c'mon! This is not easy or intuitive! Anyhow, Trockenbeerenauslese means 'dry berries, select picking' and by dry, the meaning is almost raisins! These wines are rare, wonderful and expensive but certainly worth buying.
There are a lot of myths surrounding Riesling that should be clarified. First and foremost is that not all Riesling is sweet but our experience of this comes from lower quality grocery store type wines that always have residual sugar in them for about $10 a bottle. The problem is that Riesling as a varietal is quite acidic, especially at lower levels of ripeness, and therefore some residual sugar is often desirable to balance it out. But any wine, desert or not, that is typically described as cloyingly sweet, is not going to be good for most of us. If that's your fix, you might better buy a bottle of Aunt Jemima to pour into your wine glass.
It's the acidity that allows great Rieslings to age (obviously white wines lack the same tannic properties that allow reds to age). Over time, all of this comes into beautiful balance creating really amazing wines that can cost a queen's ransom: Schloss Schönborn Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese Rheingau Erbacher Marcobrunn 2003 released at $720 a bottle and will drink well until 2050! That's impressive!
As any age-worthy wine sits in a cellar for long periods, layers of complexity tend to develop and Riesling is no exception. One of the aromatic notes I absolutely love (and many experts also enjoy) is the diesel fuel/blue slate note that can be present, especially from those wines from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region. Where else can you find anything this unique coming from a grape? Warmest regards Ernst!
David Boyer
The truth is that I have had a number of requests for information about Riesling and as it turns out, I love Riesling! I used to wonder what all the fuss was about until I explored it and discovered that certain white wines such as Riesling, can age very well, and like red wines, can develop impressive complexity. I also had a nice conversation with a winemaker whose name is Ernst Loosen (pronounced LOH-sen) who owns and runs the venerable Dr. Loosen winery in Germany. He is a savant winemaker and cool guy that studied wine at the German Wine Institute at Geisenheim, and later spent time educating himself by working with winemaking experts in Austria, Alsace, Burgundy and Napa after his father died and left him the family business. I consider Ernst as the Robert Mondavi for German wine. He wanted to be an archaeologist but took up the business for his family. And he's not a doctor.
Have you ever wondered why all of these Rieslings have names of Dr. Frankenstein or Dr. Joe Schmoe or some doctor? Are these guys really doctors or is it just the old 'yeah, I'm a gynecologist' ploy? It turns out that the term ‘Doctor’ refers to a world famous vineyard located above the town of Bernkastel in Germany's Mosel-Swaar-Ruwer region. This 8-acre site sits on very steep hills that allow grapes to ripen better than those from other vineyards in the region and thus produce a higher quality wine. Mystery solved.
I have had quite a number of Ernst's wine and they are remarkable: he has made over 150 Rieslings from various vintages that scored above 90 points on Wine Spectator, 25 of which are 95+. He loves Burgundy, especially red, and as bloody smart as he is and as close as he lives to the region (he drives across the border to Burgundy frequently), he still is as confused as any of us trying to figure out what's good and what's not from that region. That alone is an endearing quality – it’s kind of like Alan Greenspan admitting to a Senate hearing committee that he has absolutely no idea why the economy is doing what it’s doing.
So here is what you need to know about German Riesling imported into the US:
Germany is a pretty cold place to grow grapes and because of the climate, it is difficult to get fruit to the proper level of ripeness, in which ripe grapes translate into sugar levels, which for the dryer style of Riesling translates into increased alcohol levels. Desert-type wines will always have residual sugar because fermentation stops naturally at roughly 18 - 20% alcohol. As you may know that in the fermentation process, the yeast converts the sugar into alcohol but at such high alcohol levels, the yeast cannot survive and dies - the alcohol it produced kills it! Any sugar left in the 'must' (‘must’ is essentially grape juice) is in wine, referred to as residual sugar. This is all important - I'll explain shortly.
If you're not German, reading German wine labels is like poking yourself in the eye with a sharp object. But like all wine labels, it's good to understand them so you're informed about what you're buying. The very lowest quality of wine in Germany is simply table wine or in German, 'Tafelwein' and not far from the bottom is 'Landwein' (land wine, don't ask). You'll probably not see this here in the US but run fast if you see it in Europe - the only reason not to use it as petrol is that its alcohol level is too low.
But 95% of Germany's wine falls under the two categories of Qualitätswein, or 'quality wine' further under which, there are other categories of quality. The next highest up from Landwein is Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete or (QbA). QbA wines may be chaptalized, meaning sugar is added to the must in order to increase the alcohol (and mouthfeel) levels due to unripe grapes. In QbA wines, all of the sugar is gratefully fermented completely (nothing is worse than tasting cane-type sugar in wine), leaving no residual sugar in the wine. The upshot of this is that winemakers are forced to intervene on behalf of nature's failed ripening process during winemaking, thus the quality of the wine is compromised.
So, maybe it's better to look around for the top category of Riesling, which is Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP) meaning 'quality wines with attributes', kind of the German equivalent of 'friends with benefits'. The attributes in this case however, represent graduated levels of ripeness, which must be naturally produced. Naturally. This really means that chaptalization is not allowed within this quality category. By the way, all of the wines below may be finished dry, medium-dry or sweet, so the quality pyramid from lowest to highest for QmP wines begins with:
Kabinett - [kah-bih-NEHT] fairly light to sometimes medium body; usually lower alcohol so good for road trips. Just kidding! Really, just kidding!!!
Spätlese - [SHPAYT-lay-zuh] meaning 'late harvest' - now we're getting somewhere - really very nice wines with deeper intensity of aroma and flavor.
Auslese - [OWS-lay-zuh] meaning 'select picking' with a greater intensity and higher alcohol, generally just a higher quality.
Beerenauslese - [BAY-ruhn-OWS-lay-zuh] meaning 'berries, select picking' where over-ripe grapes are individually selected.
Eiswein - [ICE-vyn] - meaning 'ice wine' where grapes are at least as ripe as Beerenauslese but are harvested and pressed while frozen; the water in the grapes is discarded as ice, leaving only the sweetness of the juice. If done well, these make great desert wines that might even rival Sauternes in my book.
Trockenbeerenauslese - [TRAWK-uhn-bay-ruhn-OWS-lays-zuh] - and Germans wonder why we don't want to talk to them. They're nice and all but c'mon! This is not easy or intuitive! Anyhow, Trockenbeerenauslese means 'dry berries, select picking' and by dry, the meaning is almost raisins! These wines are rare, wonderful and expensive but certainly worth buying.
There are a lot of myths surrounding Riesling that should be clarified. First and foremost is that not all Riesling is sweet but our experience of this comes from lower quality grocery store type wines that always have residual sugar in them for about $10 a bottle. The problem is that Riesling as a varietal is quite acidic, especially at lower levels of ripeness, and therefore some residual sugar is often desirable to balance it out. But any wine, desert or not, that is typically described as cloyingly sweet, is not going to be good for most of us. If that's your fix, you might better buy a bottle of Aunt Jemima to pour into your wine glass.
It's the acidity that allows great Rieslings to age (obviously white wines lack the same
As any age-worthy wine sits in a cellar for long periods, layers of complexity tend to develop and Riesling is no exception. One of the aromatic notes I absolutely love (and many experts also enjoy) is the diesel fuel/blue slate note that can be present, especially from those wines from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region. Where else can you find anything this unique coming from a grape? Warmest regards Ernst!
David Boyer
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