“The labels of the german wine are part of few things for which the life is too short” (Kings Amis, Everyday Drinking). That’s why we can die after, because we never succeed !!! So, with a view to pass away less stupid, this is some clues…

That’s true: some overflowings Gothics writings with designations longer than a dictionnary on overloaded labels, it doesn’t make you dreaming ! And you just need someone who offers you a glass of Alde Gott Spätburgunder Spätlese Trocken and you think you are in a psychiatric hospital. It’s, more or less, what happened this lunchtime whith my father for the barbecue…but as I am a little bit mad too, I stayed ! However, to seduce the foreigners, some wine-growers simplified their labels, like this one. 1) Alde Gott: simply, it’s the name of the producer. The starting is easy…

2) Spätburgunder: you don’t guess ? Really ? It’s normal… Here, it’s the name of the grape variety: Pinot Noir. Actually, “burgunder” means “pinot”. Then, Grauburgunder = Pinot Gris or Weissburgunder = Pinot Blanc. It becomes complicated…

3) Rotwein: Rot = red / Wein = wine: no need to philosophize ! And if you met weiss, it’s the white, and be careful, more difficult: rosé is………………………..rosé 😉

4) Spätlese: here, take care of your neurons ! We reach the essential point of the german designation. THE thing to know is: the german classification is based on the degree of the maturity of grapes. This amounts to say that the classification depends of the sugar contained in the must of the grapes. There are 6 levels, named Prädikatswein, it means a wine with a special attribute ! If you know that, you would go a long way. Are you ready ? Let’s go :

               – Kabinett: the lighter, with a dominant minerality and especially, the less sweet.

               – Spätlese: the present wine. The grapes have been harvested more ripes. So, the wine is more structured and rich. Lightly sweety, it has a good balance with the acidity.

               – Auslese: similar to our “latest harvest”, the sugar is more present.

               – Beerenauslese (BA): reach by the noble rot, these rare sweet wines are exceptionals !

               – Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA): time to read and you will eat your dessert… It comes at the right time because,from the noble rot, the bunches are dried and harvested by hand. Similar to our “grains nobles”, ideal for the…dessert !

               – Eiswein: it looks like “ice wine”, so a sweet wine from the freezing bunchs at -8°C at least. How is it possible ? Answer here.

So, are you OK ? I warned you. A last thing, and we will do a break… If you don’t have a wine with a quality to be a Prädikatswein, the lower level is Qualitätswein (QBA). Here, you have to indicate your region and the grapes have to come from this only region. Last, for the lower-end wines, the designations are Landwein (qualitatively similar to a “country wine”) and Deutscher Wein, the most basic wine. And if you find it difficult to memorize the new french classification, it could be interesting.

5) Trocken: as the classification is based on the level of the sugar, the label shows this level. Then, “trocken” means “dry”. Thereafter “halbtrocken” is an off-dry, “lieblich” a medium-sweet and “süss” a sweet.

I know, it’s a lot but wait before dying, it’s still the second part…