Musings on the Vine A Collection of Thoughts, Suggestions and Opinions about Wine June 24, 2004 Volume 3, No. 3 Featured Region: Germany The wines of Germany are perhaps some of the most misunderstood wines in the world. The reasons for this common misunderstanding are numerous. For one, the German wine label is, without a doubt the most difficult and confusing label to understand. Number two, for many people, their only Originally, I was going to exposure to German wine has been the singularly awful Liebfraumilch (Blue crow about my newly Nun and Black Tower), wines of low quality with cloyingly sweet palates. acquired status (CWE) in this introduction, but instead I Number three, German wine laws, more so than most European countries are have decided to write about confusing and rely heavily on an understanding of the German language. our recent sojourn out west, to a place that can only be With this month’s feature it’s my hope to clear up many of these described as “our little piece misunderstandings and introduce my readers to the many wonderful wines of paradise”: the Grand being produced in Germany today. Teton National Park in Wyoming. What, you may Let’s start with an overview of German wine geography. It is a wonder that ask, was so wonderful about this most recent trip (our grapes ripen, let alone grow in Germany given the northern latitude and third in as many years)? tough winter climate. For this reason, all of the best wine producing regions Well, let me tell you. First, in Germany are found along rivers and lakes. The moderating effects of the scenery is magnificent. these bodies of water, combined with vineyards planted on south-facing Every view is a picturesque vista, a veritable feast for the slopes allow Germany to grow and ripen grapes suitable for winemaking. eyes with abundant flora and fauna. When you’re in the There are thirteen major winemaking regions in Germany, referred to as Tetons, you truly experience anbaugebiete. Of these thirteen regions, eleven are located near the western the beauty of America’s border clustered along the Rhine River and its many tributaries (such as the “purple mountain majesties.” Mosel and the Ruwer). The other two regions are found in what was once Second, our lodgings at The Jenny Lake Lodge were again called East Germany. The thirteen regions are: Ahr, Baden, Franken, simply magnificent. Angela Hessische Bergstrasse, Mittlerhein, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Nahe, Rheingau, Beaumont and her terrific Rheinhessen, Pfalz, Wurttemberg, Saale-Unstrut and Sachen. Of these, the staff have created the perfect most popular and probably most prevalent are the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, setting within which to enjoy the wondrous beauty of the Rheingau, Rheinhessen and Nahe. mountains. Immaculate lodgings and highly attentive As you might expect, because of the cool climate in Germany, the majority of staff cater to your every wine production is in white grapes. Because of the propensity of slate whim. A full range of throughout many of the vineyards along the Rhine, German wines can have a activities from hiking to characteristic flinty, gun smoke quality on the palate. This characteristic is a mountain trail horseback riding make for full days of natural complement to the numerous white varieties grown in Germany. The fun. varieties selected for propagation tend to be vines that are hardy and better (continued on page 2) able to survive the rigors of Germany’s often-harsh winter weather. © 2004 by Paul J. Malagrifa All rights reserved. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical without permission of the author. Page 2 of 10 Musings on the Vine Best of all, though is the food. Principal white varieties are: Riesling, Müller-Thurgau and Sylvaner. A Wonderfully sumptuous menus small amount of red wine is produced, the most noted being Spätburgunder artfully created and prepared by (known elsewhere as Pinot Noir). Oddly enough, Germany’s finest Chef du Cuisine Joshua Conrad. expression of Pinot Noir is grown in one of its most northerly areas: Ahr. The five course dinner menus were simply divine with near Now let’s look at those pesky German wine laws… German wine laws perfect treatments of foie gras, escargot, venison and rack of consist of two components: location and ripeness, with each having an lamb. The cuisine is interrelated hierarchy, hence the complexity and confusion. First location. complimented by a bevy of As I stated previously, Germany has thirteen major regions called superb wait staff, all highly professional without being anbaugebiete. Within each of these regions is a subset of lesser districts stuffy; friendly, attentive and called bereiche. Currently there are thirty-nine different bereiche spread always eager to please. amongst Germany’s major regions. These districts are further broken into Breakfast and dinner were general sites called grosslagen. Currently there are one hundred and sixty always relaxing and enjoyable. Among our favorite staffers (in grosslagen varying in size from 125 acres to over 5,000 acres within the no particular order): Sam, K.C., different bereiche. Lastly, these general sites are broken down further into Mary Kathryn, Lucas, Emma, individual vineyards called einzellagen. There are well over two thousand Jim, Robert, Joey, Jeremy, Lee six hundred einzellagen spread throughout the many grosslagen, with one of Ann, Mary Sue and Jason. Lastly, it wouldn’t be a the smallest and most famous being the Doctor vineyard in Bernkastel. memorable vacation without the Generally, there is no way of knowing which location a wine is listing on its wine! The new wine list at the label unless one checks a wine map. Anbaugebiete are almost always listed lodge is a true compliment to the on a label, but a winery may list the bereiche, grosslagen or einzellagen, or five-star cuisine, filled with numerous great wines from combinations thereof. Very confusing indeed. However, it’s safe to say, as incredible sleepers like the Vega in most countries, the more specific the location listed, the better the Sindao Tempranillo to the presumed quality of the wine. awesomely hedonistic Pio Cesare Barolo. Angela has Ripeness. German wines in addition to listing one or more locations (within worked tirelessly to assemble a the aforementioned hierarchy) are all ranked according to quality. Further really first class list. And then there’s Dornans, a true oasis of delineation is made at the highest quality level, where a sub-ranking of grape wine and spirits literally in the ripeness is used to further specify quality. The German wine quality middle of nowhere (well, Moose, hierarchy consists of four levels, in ascending order from lowest to highest WY isn’t exactly nowhere, but it quality: Taflewein (Table Wine), Landwein (Land Wine), Qualitätswein isn’t quite Gotham, either.) Dennis was exceedingly helpful Bestimmer Anbaugebiet (QbA) (Quality Wine from a Specific Region), and in steering me to some Qualitätswein Mit Pradikat (QmP) (Quality Wine with Distinction). unbelievable wine finds. Great Generally, the best and most prevalent wine sold in the US is either QbA or values like the Hells Canyon QmP. In both cases, an impartial lab within the region tests the wines and if Retriever Red and Deer Slayer Syrah from Idaho (yes, Idaho…) found satisfactory, the wines are issued a certificate number called an Outstanding Dolcetto and Amtliche Prüfungsnummer or AP number. While this is helpful, remember Tempranillo from Abacela that those dreadful Liebfraumilch wines were certified QbA wines! The Vineyards in Oregon (yes, QmP level of wine is further broken into quality levels by grape ripeness. In Oregon…) and countless others from Francis Tannahill, also order of least ripe to ripest the six levels are: from Oregon (make sure you check out our Musings Wine Kabinett – Wines made from fully ripe grapes, dry, off dry or sweet. Reviews for complete Spätlese – Wines made from “late harvest” grapes, dry, off dry or sweet. descriptions.) If you want to Auslese – Wines made from bunch selected, “late harvest” grapes, dry, enjoy a truly memorable off dry or sweet. vacation, we can’t emphasize enough how great it is to spend Beerenauslese (BA) – Wines made from individually selected “late a week in the Grand Tetons at harvest” grapes, sweet. the Jenny Lake Lodge. Eiswein – Ice Wine; Made from BA quality grapes, frozen on the vine, Cheers! Paul & Betsy then crushed, sweet. © 2004 by Paul J. Malagrifa All rights reserved. No part of this newsletter may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical without permission of the author. Page 3 of 10 Musings on the Vine Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) – Wines made from individually selected “late harvest” grapes affected by noble rot (edelfäule), very sweet. While not always the case, the sweetness of finished wines is usually in proportion to the ripeness level. For instance, Kabinett wines are usually a lot drier than Auslese wines, but this is not always the case. Generally speaking, because most grapes grown in Germany have a higher degree of acid than grapes grown in warmer climates, most winemakers will intentionally leave a small amount of residual sugar in all of their wines to help balance and temper the acidity. However, in the QmP level of wine, there are very strict guidelines defining the limitation of residual sugar as a “Wine is a living specific function of total acidity. This means that at the QmP level, the blousy, cloying and flabby attributes one finds with overly sweet, imbalanced liquid containing wines won’t exist. The sweetness will always be in balance with the no preservatives. proportion of total acidity.