You wouldn't know it from today's fashions, but Germany has long been considered a home for some of the finest wines in the world; in particular, Rieslings. True to German form, these Rieslings are meticulously categorized into various distinctions and classes, some of which seem as hard to decipher as they are to pronounce. However, when broken down and understood, these categories become invaluable when selecting a Riesling for any occasion.
First off, it must be said that not all Rieslings are sweet--most fine German wines are quite dry. Even in wines that are high in sugar, the goal is to have similarly high levels of acidity or alcohol so the wine doesn't taste too sweet. In fact, if sugar is added (through a common and generally accepted process called "chaptalization"), it's typically to provide more fuel for fermentation. This results in a wine with more body and alcohol, not sweetness.
Second, the categories are organized by grape ripeness at the time of harvest. The more time a grape has to ripen, the more sugar it naturally develops, leading to a wine with more body and depth. However, longer hang time also increases the risk of weather-related crop loss, making the more distinguished categories increasingly rare and increasingly expensive. It's also worth noting that an earlier harvest does not necessarily equate a lower quality wine: a dry Riesling can be seductively refreshing and translucent in flavor, while a sweet late harvest release can be a sickly-sweet, syrupy mess. It all depends on the producers involved in that particular release.
With that in mind, here are the various classifications for German Rieslings:
-Qualitaetswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete: "QbA" for short (thankfully), these wines are made from some of the first picks of the season. Typically light in body, with no laws preventing chaptalization.
-Qualitaetswein mit Praedikat: "QmP" for short, literally translated as "quality wine with specific attributes". All QmP wines are further categorized into one of six sub-categories based on ripeness, none of which by law can be chaptalized. The six sub-categories are as follows:
-Kabinett: Pronounced "Ka-bi-nett"--not "Ka-bi-nay"--these wines are typically dry and very food friendly.
-Spaetlese: Literally "late harvest", these typically have a greater intensity than kabinetts and are sometimes slightly sweet.
-Auslese: "Select harvest", made from very ripe grapes and usually somewhat sweet.
-Beerenauslese: "Berry select harvest", made from grapes individually selected for their ripeness and condition. Grapes pulled to make a "BA" often have developed a condition called Botrytis cinerea, or "noble rot", a beneficial fungus that concentrates the juice's flavor and adds a sweet, honeyed note to the final product.
-Eiswein: Requiring the same level of ripeness as a Beerenauslese, these wines are made from grapes that are harvested and pressed while still naturally frozen on the vine. Eisweins are high in both sweetness and acidity.
-Trockenbeerenauslese: More commonly known as a "TBA", these are the best of the best, made from the ripest of the ripe grapes. TBAs are only produced in exceptional years, when weather and Botrytis are both in the grower's favor. Their high concentration of sugar actually impedes fermentation, producing very sweet wines with high intensity and low alcohol.
But that's not all! There are two other classifications that can be applied to any of the above categories, trocken and halbtrocken. These terms denote a wine that the winemaker--not the grower--has manipulated into being either bone-dry or somewhat dry, respectively.
Eager to apply all this seemingly trivial information? Try tasting a Theo Minges QbA halbtrocken next to a Selbach Kabinett, and see what similarities and differences you can pick out. Both are currently featured in our Riesling 4-pack. You have no Riesling not to! Ha!
