Germany – Wine, Anbaugebiete, and Levels of Quality

My notes from a wine class. See notes at end.

Germany Wine Notes

• Wines of Germany: minerally, rich, fruity.
• Low brix levels – 50° latitude last stop for vinifera.
• Notable grapes: Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, Pinot Gris, Gewürztraminer.

Anbaugebiete

Appellation or growing region. Back when I took this wine class in 1993, there were 11 growing regions, with Mosel-Saar-Ruwer (Mosel now), Rheingau, Rheinhessen, and Rheinpfalz (Pfalz now) being the predominant regions. Most vineyards have 60° south-facing slopes by river banks.

Old growing regions:

• Ahr
• Baden
• Franken
• Hessiche Bergstrasse
• Mittelrhein
• Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
• Nahe
• Rheingau
• Rheinhessen
• Rheinpfalz
• Württemberg

Currently there are now 13 growing regions in Germany (from the Deutsches Weininstitut (DWI, or German Wine Institute):

• Ahr
• Baden
• Franken
• Heissische Bergstrasse
• Mittelrhein
• Mosel
• Nahe
• Pfalz
• Rheingau
• Rheinhessen
• Saale-Unstrut
• Sachsen
• Württemberg

Levels of Quality in German Wine

1. Tafelwein “table wine”

   Currently the term is Deutscher Wein or wine without an origin designation. Lowest quality of the wines. Chaptalization is illegal elsewhere but is allowed here (and Landwein) because of the low brix level in the grapes – it’s where you literally add sugar to the must. This chemically changes the wine and adjusts the alcohol level, flavor, etc. Can come from anywhere in Germany.

2. Landwein

   Country-style wine. Simple wines with a geographic region. Since 2009, there have (now) 26 defined Landwein regions. These wines are further distinguished by sugar levels.

   1. Trocken (dry) – very dry wines with 1.5% residual sugar.
   2. Halbtrocken (half-dry) – off dry wine style (not sweet) with 2.5% residual sugars.

3. Qualitätswein (QbA)

   Quality wine from a specific region. Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete “Q.b.A.” These wines come from the 13 different growing regions.

4. Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP)

   Quality wines with special characteristics. These can’t be capitalized as they stand on their own. Naturally ripened. There are 6 different Prädikats. The top three are wines you can serve with food, and the last three are rich, sweet wines for dessert.

   1. Kabinett – Most abundant wines. Fine wines with 18º brix, 7.5 to 8% alcohol (low alcohol), 1-2% residual sugar. Everyday drinking wines.
   2. Spätlese – 20-21º brix. Late harvest, a little richer, but not sweeter.
   3. Auslese – Rich wines. 23-24º brix, 10% alcohol, 5-6% residual sugar. Nice with heavy foods: rich, fruity, partially affected by Botrytis cinerea (noble rot).
   4. Beerenauslese (BA) – Individually picked berries of the grape. Special occasions. Minimum 28º brix. These can be stored for a long time, rich and sweet. Usually all berries are affected by Botrytis cinerea.
   5. Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) – Top quality, best of the best, these are the individually picked grapes that have been left to dry in the sun (so what you are pressing is essentially raisins), very sweet, minimum 32º brix. All are Botrytis cinerea affected, and not all years will have these wines.
   6. Eiswein (Ice Wine) – These are BA grapes (not the very top tier TBA), but these are special as these grapes are left to freeze on the vines before picking. They are pressed frozen, centrifuged to separate other ingredients not frozen (water is, but glycerol and sugar are not). Minimum 28º brix, very rich. With warmer winters, these may become more rare.

When I was 19, I was a student of Western Culinary Institute in Portland, OR, before Career Education Corporation and Le Cordon Bleu took it over. I graduated in 1993, and at that time WCI was a great place to learn. Many of the pans I cooked on interestingly still had HMCI (Horst Mager Culinary Institute) inscribed on the handles. Above were notes that I found in a file folder from a wine class that I took when I was a student. The notes are from my personal tasting notes. Enjoy!