Prädikatswein

Categories within Prädikatswein are Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese (BA), Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) and Eiswein. Wines of these categories cannot be chaptalized. Minimum requirements of 7% alcohol apart from BA, TBA and Eiswein which must be 5.5%. All categories are based on the unfermented must weight as potential alcohol at harvest time (there are no legally defined harvest time restrictions anymore).

Find out the answers to the following questions:   What is residual sugar in wine?       What happens during fermentation to produce dry wines?       Why do German wines often end up sweet after fermentation?       How do we know how much residual sugar is left after fermentation?       Will a Kabinett wine be dry or sweet?

Kabinett wines are made from grapes that have achieved minimum defined potential alcohol levels. Those minimum requirements differ by region and grape variety. Essentially, Kabinett is the first level of reserve grape selection.

Spätlese (say it – Spat-lazer) (“late harvest”) are made from grapes that have achieved minimum defined potential alcohol levels. Those minimum requirements differ by region and grape variety. Essentially, Spatlese is the second level of reserve grape selection.

Auslese (say it – Ow-slay-sir) (“select harvest”) are made from grapes that have achieved minimum defined potential alcohol levels. Those minimum requirements differ by region and grape variety. Essentially, Auslese is the third level of reserve grape selection.

Beerenauslese wines (“berry selection”) are made from grapes that have achieved minimum defined potential alcohol levels. The concentration of the grape juice may have been facilitated by a fungus Botrytis, which perforates the skin of the grape forcing water to drip out and all remaining elements to concentrate. Due to the high potential alcohol level required for this category of ripeness, these wines are generally made into sweet wines and can make good dessert wines.

Trockenbeerenauslese wines (“dry berries selection”) are made from grapes of an even higher potential alcohol level, generally reachable only with the help of Botrytis. The grapes used for Trockenbeerenauslese have reached an even more raisin-like state than those used for Beerenauslese. Due to the high concentration of sugar in the raisin-like grape, these wines can only be made in a sweet style and make extremely sweet, concentrated and usually quite expensive wines.

Eiswein (say it – Ice-vine) (ice wine) wine is made grapes that freeze naturally on the vine and must reach the same potential alcohol level as Beerenauslese. The grapes are harvested and pressed in the frozen state (usually in the vineyard), it must legally be below -8°C at harvest to be classified as Eiswein to ensure the water remains frozen during pressing. The ice stays in the press during pressing and hence a concentrated juice flows off the press leading to higher potential alcohol levels, which in turn generally result in sweet wines. The taste differs from the other high-level wines since Botrytis infection is usually lower, ideally completely absent.