Welcome to the eighth part of The Great Wine Regions. After our journey through France and Italy, we now turn north to Germany, a country that more than any other is associated with a single grape: Riesling. Here it grows on steep slate slopes along the rivers, and the result is some of the world's most precise and long-lived white wines.
German wine has a reputation for being complicated to read on the label, and there is something to that. But once you understand the logic behind the sweetness levels and the most important regions, a world of wines opens up with a quite particular balance between fruit, acidity and finesse. Let us take it step by step.
What you will learn
- Which grapes carry German wine, with Riesling at the centre
- How the sweetness levels and the labelling fit together
- What characterises Mosel and the other important regions
- What you can expect when you taste the wines
German wine in brief
Germany has thirteen quality regions, and most of them are clustered around river valleys. The rivers play a leading role: they create milder pockets in an otherwise cool climate, and the steep slopes down towards the water catch the sun that the grapes need to ripen. Names such as Rhine, Mosel, Nahe, Saar and Ruwer therefore come up again and again.
The most important thing to understand is that the German classification system is built on the ripeness of the grapes at harvest. The more sugar the grapes have gathered, the higher up the hierarchy the wine moves. That ripeness is measured in degrees Oechsle, and it forms the basis of the predicates you meet on the label.
The system itself has several levels, from the simple Tafelwein and Landwein up to quality wines (QbA) and predicate wines (QmP). It is the predicate wines that are really worth getting to know, for this is where the ripeness of the grapes, and thus the style of the wine, becomes decisive.
An important detail: in Germany a high sweetness level does not necessarily mean that the wine tastes sweet. It is about how ripe the grapes were at harvest, not about how the finished wine is experienced. A wine can therefore be dry and at the same time harvested at a very ripe stage.
Riesling and the other grapes
Riesling is the heart of German wine. It is a grape with a rare ability to retain high acidity, even when it ripens slowly and at length on the vine. That balance between acidity and fruit is the key to why Riesling can make everything from bone-dry, crisp wines to deeply concentrated dessert wines, and why the best can develop over many years.
Alongside Riesling you will find Müller-Thurgau, an early-ripening white grape that produces lighter and more straightforward wines. Among the other white grapes you meet, for example, Kerner, and Germany also grows Spätburgunder, which is the German name for Pinot Noir. It accounts for by far the largest part of the country's red wine and makes elegant, cool reds that often resemble a little the styles you know from Bourgogne.
A word about the labelling
When you read a German label, it helps to know the predicates for the QmP wines. They rise with the ripeness of the grapes:
- Kabinett are the lightest and freshest, often with moderate alcohol.
- Spätlese (late harvest) are fuller with more concentrated fruit.
- Auslese comes from selected, extra-ripe bunches.
- Beerenauslese, Eiswein and Trockenbeerenauslese are rare, concentrated wines at the sweet end, often for dessert.
If the label says Trocken, the wine is dry, and Halbtrocken means off-dry. Many German wines also have a slightly higher residual sweetness that plays against the fresh acidity, so the wine nonetheless seems balanced rather than sweet.
Mosel and the most important regions
Mosel is the most iconic region for Riesling. The region follows the Mosel river and its two tributaries, Saar and Ruwer, through a landscape of winding river bends and dizzyingly steep slopes, where in some places the gradient is extreme. It is hard work to grow wine here, for the slopes require manual labour and the tending of each individual vine.
What is absolutely decisive for Mosel is the blue slate that dominates the soil in the central parts as well as along the Saar and Ruwer. The slate stores the heat of the day and gives it back slowly, and it leaves a clear imprint on the wines. The climate is cool, but the valley warms up quickly, and this creates grapes with high acidity, even when they are harvested late.
Riesling makes up more than half of the area and is on the rise, while Müller-Thurgau accounts for a smaller part. Almost all production is white wine. You also find dry and off-dry styles, but Mosel is especially known for wines with a fine residual sweetness that balances the marked acidity.
Besides Mosel it is worth knowing the other river valleys. The areas along the Rhine, Nahe, Saar and Ruwer are among the most important for Riesling, while Spätburgunder thrives in several places in the slightly milder zones. Common to them all is that it is the river and the slopes that make the difference.
How the wines taste
German Riesling is recognised by its fresh, high acidity and its expressive aroma. You typically meet notes of green apples, citrus, peach and flowers, and from the ripe slate soils often a characteristic, lightly mineral and almost stony tone. These are wines with a lively, driving character rather than heavy weight.
Many German Rieslings from the cooler regions have a relatively low to moderate alcohol, which makes them light and refreshing. Where there is a touch of residual sweetness, you do not experience it as cloying, because the acidity tightens it up and gives the wine its balance. It is precisely this interplay between sweetness and acidity that makes the style so recognisable.
At the sweet end, with Beerenauslese, Eiswein and Trockenbeerenauslese, you find intensely concentrated wines with honey, dried fruit and an acidity that keeps them fresh despite the sweetness. Spätburgunder, on the other hand, gives light to medium-bodied red wines with red berries, fine tannin and a cool elegance.
In brief
- German wine is built around the ripeness of the grapes at harvest, measured in degrees Oechsle.
- Riesling is the central grape, followed by, among others, Müller-Thurgau, Kerner and Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir).
- The predicates from Kabinett to Trockenbeerenauslese tell you about the ripeness, not necessarily about the sweetness in the glass.
- Mosel, with its blue slate and steep slopes, is the home of some of the finest Riesling.
- The wines are recognised by high, fresh acidity, expressive fruit and often a mineral tone.
Frequently asked questions
Is all German Riesling sweet?
No. The sweetness varies from bone-dry to very sweet. If you are looking for a dry wine, look for the word Trocken on the label. Even wines with a little residual sweetness often seem fresh, because the high acidity balances the sweetness.
What do the steep slopes mean for the wine?
The steep, sun-facing slopes catch the light in a cool climate and help the grapes to ripen. Together with the slate soil, this gives wines with both ripeness and high acidity as well as a characteristic minerality.
Ready for the next step?
Now you have a solid grasp of Germany and the homeland of Riesling. The next stop in the series takes us south to Spain, where Tempranillo and Rioja await. You can continue to Spain: Rioja and Tempranillo when you are ready.
If you feel like putting the theory to the test, find a German Riesling and taste your way to where on the sweetness scale you yourself like it most. Remember that the best pairing is always the wine you like with the food you like. Enjoy exploring.