Germany

Germany overview

• Germany ranks 8th in world wine production, with 1,400+ wine villages and 2,600+ vineyards.

• Before 1971 there were about 30,000 vineyard names. The 1971 law set a minimum vineyard size of 12.5 acres, which cut the number of names but increased the number of owners per vineyard.

• About 100,000 growers farm roughly 250,000 acres, so the average holding is 2.5 acres. Piesporter Goldtröpfchen has 350 owners, Wehlener Sonnenuhr 250, and Brauneberger Juffer 180.

• Germany makes only 2 to 3 percent of the world's wine. The national beverage is beer.

• It is the northernmost wine country in Europe, so wines depend on weather. 80 percent of quality vineyards sit on slopes, which rules out mechanical harvesting. One harvester does the work of 60 people.

• Vineyard terrain: 20 percent flat (10°), 14 percent hillsides (45°), 66 percent steep hillsides (60°).

• Latitude check: spin a globe west from Germany and you hit Newfoundland, Canada.

• Vineyard area grew from 77,372 hectares in 1970 to 100,182 hectares in 2020.

• Production is 65 percent white, 35 percent red.

Label rules: a named grape means at least 85 percent of that grape. A vintage means at least 85 percent from that year. Top producers use 100 percent for both.

Regions

Germany has 13 official regions. The four best:

Rhein vs. Mosel:

• Rhein wines have more body. Mosel wines have higher acidity and lower alcohol.

• Mosel shows autumn fruits (apple, pear, quince). Rhein shows summer fruits (apricot, peach, nectarine).

• Rhein comes in a brown bottle, Mosel in a green bottle.

• 80 percent of Mosel wines and 82 percent of Rheingau wines are Riesling.

Grapes

• Riesling: most planted and best grape, 23 percent of plantings. If the label doesn't say Riesling, there's probably little or none in the bottle. Grown in Germany since 1435. Germany has 58,000+ acres, North America 21,000, Australia 10,800, Alsace 8,300.

• Müller-Thurgau: Riesling x Chasselas cross, 12.5 percent of wines.

• Silvaner: 5 percent of wines.

• Spätburgunder: Pinot Noir, about 30,000 acres.

• Terpenes in Riesling can give lilac, rose, mandarin, lime, grapefruit, and sometimes petrol.

Wine styles

German wine balances sweetness with acidity and low alcohol (8 to 10 percent, vs. 12 to 14 percent elsewhere in Europe).

Fermentation: sugar + yeast = alcohol + carbon dioxide. Sugar comes from sun. In poor years grapes ripen with high acid and low sugar.

Chaptalization is adding sugar to the must before fermentation to raise alcohol. It is not allowed for higher-quality wines.

Longer hang time means sweeter grapes, but bad weather can ruin the crop. About 75 years ago most German wine was dry and very acidic, and servers offered a spoonful of sugar with it.

Three basic styles (these say nothing about ripeness level):

• Trocken: dry

• Halbtrocken: medium-dry

• Fruity: semidry to very sweet

Süssreserve: unfermented juice from the same vineyard, variety, and sweetness level, held back and added after fermentation. It is a misconception that all sweetness comes from leftover sugar. Many wines ferment dry and get sweetness this way. The finest estates stop fermentation instead.

Quality levels (1971 law)

1. Deutscher Wein: lowest level, never shows a vineyard name, rarely exported (6 percent of a typical vintage).

2. Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA): quality wine from one of the 13 regions (49 percent).

3. Prädikatswein: quality wine with distinction, no chaptalization (45 percent).

Prädikatswein levels (increasing quality, price, ripeness)

1. Kabinett: light, semidry, normally ripened grapes.

2. Spätlese: "late picking," medium style, more body and intensity.

3. Auslese: "out picked," very ripe bunches selected, medium to fuller.

4. Beerenauslese (BA): "berry picking," individual grapes selected, rich dessert wine, made only 2 or 3 times a decade.

5. Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA): dried, raisined grapes, richest, sweetest, most expensive. First TBA made in 1921 in the Mosel.

6. Eiswein: grapes frozen on the vine and pressed frozen, at least BA ripeness. No Eiswein in 2019 because it was too warm.

Spätlese story: at Schloss Johannisberg in 1775, monks needed the abbot of Fulda's permission to harvest. The rider was late, the grapes began to rot, and the monks harvested anyway. The wine was excellent.

Edelfäule: German for Botrytis cinerea (noble rot). Needs cool, foggy mornings and warm days late in the season. It shrivels grapes and concentrates sugar. Key to BA and TBA.

Most German wines, including BA, are bottled in spring and early summer. Barrel aging destroys the fruit.

Choosing a German wine

1. Pick one of the four major regions.

2. Look for Riesling.

3. Check the vintage.

4. Buy from a reputable grower.

$100 BA vs. $200 BA: the cheaper one is likely Müller-Thurgau or Silvaner, the pricier one Riesling. Region matters too. The best BA and TBA traditionally come from the Rhein or Mosel.

Quality is higher with great vineyards, a great vintage, low yields, and great winemakers.

Reading a label

Example: Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben 2001 Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese

• Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben: producer

• 2001: harvest year

• Ürzig: town (add "er" to make Ürziger)

• Würzgarten: vineyard

• Mosel: region

• Riesling: at least 85 percent Riesling

• Auslese: ripeness level

• Qualitätswein mit Prädikat: quality level

• Gutsabfüllung: estate bottled

• A.P. Nr. 2 602 041 008 02: official testing number. 2 = testing office, 602 = bottler location code, 041 = bottler ID, 008 = bottle lot, 02 = year tasted by the board

All Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein must pass a lab test and tasting panel before release.

VDP: group of about 200 top wineries.

• Grosse Lage: best vineyards, highest level for non-dry wines

• Erste Lage: select vineyards outside Mosel and Rheingau

• Erstes Gewächs: Rheingau only, best vineyards making the best dry wines

• Grosses Gewächs: "great growth," every region except Rheingau, best dry wines

Recent trends

• Higher quality than ever, more interest in Trocken, Halbtrocken, Kabinett, and Spätlese with food.

• Many more dry wines and rosés over the last 10 years.

• Labels have moved away from Gothic script to modern designs.

• Riesling used to ripen in October and was picked into mid-November. Since 2000 it's ready in September. 2014 had the highest median temperature in 100 years.

• Warmer temperatures mean more red wine in Baden and Württemberg.

• Sekt (sparkling) production is up over 30 percent in five years.

Best recent vintages (* exceptional, extraordinary): 2001, 2002*, 2003*, 2004*, 2005**, 2006*, 2007**, 2008*, 2009**, 2010**, 2011**, 2012, 2013, 2015**, 2016, 2017**, 2018**, 2019, 2020*

Past great BA and TBA vintages: 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1996

Best value whites under $30: Dr. Loosen Riesling, J.J. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese, Josef Leitz Rüdesheimer Klosterlay Riesling Kabinett, Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett, Strub Niersteiner Olberg Kabinett or Spätlese

Key producers

• Mosel: Dr. Loosen, Egon Müller, J.J. Prüm, Fritz Haag, Selbach-Oster, Dr. Thanisch, C. von Schubert

• Rheinhessen: Keller, Strub

• Rheingau: Georg Breuer, Josef Leitz, Robert Weil, Künstler, Schloss Johannisberg, Schloss Vollrads

• Pfalz: Dr. Bürklin-Wolf, Basserman-Jordan, Müller-Catoir, Lingenfelder, Darting

Guided tasting

1. Any Qualitätswein alone

2. Kabinetts: Mosel vs. Rheinhessen

3. Spätlesen: Mosel vs. Pfalz

4. Ausleses: Mosel vs. Rheingau

Food pairings

• Riesling Spätlese: trout, mild curries, sesame or ginger dishes, gravlax or smoked salmon, salads with mild balsamic dressing. Pork, chicken, and goose are traditional in the Pfalz.

• Spätlese Halbtrocken: fresh seafood and fish, salads with mild vinaigrette, cream soups, sautéed duck or goose liver, veal sweetbreads, seafood marinated in citrus.

• Old, ripe Spätlese: roast venison, cream sauces, white meat with fruit, or as an aperitif.

• Eiswein: foie gras.