Barolo for lunch #25
Two off-dry Riesling wines
Hi friends! Today we’re going all in on German Riesling, with two great suggestions from the temporary assortment and a deep-dive on the german “prädikat system”. More fun than it sounds! Cheers! 🍷
Schloss Reinhartshausen Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen Riesling Kabinett – #90137 – 139:-
One of the best price/performance ratio for the year. Not super complex, but a very nice Riesling from Rheingau, with notes of sweet pears, but with enough acidity to balance it. Kinda like a Päronsplit, in the best possible way. This is bottle that goes great with indian food. 100% Riesling.
Markus Molitor Ürziger Würzgarten Kabinett – #93676 – 215:-
Markus Molitor is a pretty legendary producer from Mosel, and just as most Riesling from the region this is an off-dry version. Very fruity and fresh, and the low alcohol means decent amount of sweetness and makes this highly chuggable. Save this bottle until X-mas and drink with herring. Amazing combo. 100% Rielsing.
Nerd zone: German Prädikat system
Unlike France and Italy, where “quality” (such as a premier cru classification) is often defined by estate or vineyard, Germany has (unsurprisingly) a more exact definition of quality - sweetness of the grapes in the wine. The German Prädikat system basically says: “the sweeter the better”, but it’s important to understand that what’s measured is the sweetness before the wine is fermented – the end product can in many cases still be dry. The system defines five Prädikat:
Kabinett: The lightest one, which is typically semi-sweet with a very crisp acidity. They can be made as dry wines, in which case the bottle almost always says Trocken. Usually really great value for money.
Spätlese (“late harvest”): Slightly richer wines, but can still be made into dry wines (which again says Trocken). Picked about a week after the regular harvest. Great if you want a bit more power, without paying out the ass.
Auslese ("select harvest”): Very ripe, and hand selected bunches. It can be made into a dry wine, but it’s not that common to see Auslese Trocken. Auslese is the Prädikat which covers the widest range of wine styles, ranging from dry to dessert wines. Usually needs some time in the cellar to shine.
Beerenauslese ("select berry harvest"): Now we’re getting to the big guns. Beerenauslese is exactly what it sounds like – individual grapes has been hand selected and picked. Quite often these grapes has been affected by “noble rot”, which gives a very deep and intense flavor of saffron and honey. Obviously very labor intensive and expensive wines.
Trockenbeerenauslese ("select dry berry harvest"): Cream of the crop. This is basically grapes that has been left on the wine until they’ve started to dry up, which leads to exceptionally concentrations in the wines. Only dessert wines.