Unit 6 - Day 1: The Mosel and Rheingau

Unit 6 of the Intensive Sommelier Training at the International Culinary Center covers Germany and Eastern Europe in four days. The first two days cover Germany and the final two cover Austria & Hungary and Greece & Eastern Europe. In this post I’ll cover what we learned on Day 1, an overview of German wine terms and categories as well as the Mosel and the Rheingau. I will then provide a review of the 9 wines we tasted in class.

Learning about each wine region in the world has its own unique challenges. For Germany, it is trying to learn a very complicated and detailed system of categorizing wine which entails and lot of very long and difficult to pronounce words. There is a lot more to understanding Germany than what I can cover so I’ll try to just keep the very basics.

Germany Overview

Germany is one of the coolest wine growing regions in the world so ripeness is at a premium and has become the dominating criteria for measuring the quality of grapes and grape regions. Almost all of the primary wine regions are located near the Rhine River, in the warmer southwestern part of the country. The best vineyards are grown on insanely steep lands that utilize the reflection of the sun off of the river to aid ripening the grapes and the best vineyards are south facing for optimum ripeness. Germany’s wine production is fairly small, only ¼ of that of France. With about 252,000 acres under vine they only have about 1.3% of the world’s vineyards of which about 60% is devoted to white wine production. In terms of total production, Germany ranks 9^th in the world.

German Grapes

Riesling

The top white grape of Germany is Riesling. Other important white grapes include Gewürztraminer, Müller-Thurgau, Silvaner, Scheurebe, Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), and Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris).

The top red grape of Germany is Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir). Other important red grapes include Dornfelder 
and Portugieser.

German Wine laws

While I found the wine laws of France and Italy to be challenging neither of them are as complex and bewildering as that of Germany. So, I won’t even attempt to go into all the details here but try to cover what needs to be known and remembered in order to hopefully pass the Certified Sommelier exam.

German Wine Region Categories

Germany’s wine growing regions are broken into 4 different categories. In order of size they are as follows:

German Wine Region Categories
Anbaugebiet	These are the designated regions for PDO wine, vineyards are divided into 13 such regions.
Bereich	A district within Anabaugebiet, they are often named after a famous village.
Grosslage	A group of vineyards that can cover an area in excess of 1000 hectares.
Einzellage	An individual vineyard. Although a single vineyard is not a guarantee of quality, the best wines are Einzellage.

The 13 Anbaugebietes of Germany

The largest designation for a wine-growing region is the Anbaugebiete. There are 13 Anbaugebietes which are designated regions for PDO wine in Germany. While a Certified Sommelier Exam might not require you to memorize all of them, a person should be familiar and be able to name the most important Anbaugebietes. But, if I can memorize all the Sub-AVAs of the Napa Valley I am sure I can memorize all of these. They are as follows:

• Mosel (formerly Mosel-Saar-Ruwer)
• Ahr
• Mittelrhein
• Rheingau
• Rheinhessen
• Nahe
• Pfalz
• Hessische-Bergstrasse
• Baden
• Württemberg
• Franken
• Sachsen
• Saale-Unstrut

German Wine Terms

German also has many unique terms, many of which may appear on the label of a wine bottle so Sommeliers are expected to know all of them. They are as follows:

German Wine Terms
Word	Definition
Deutscher	German
Edelfäule	Noble rot or Botrytis
Erste Lage	“First Site”. These are the best vineyard sites of the VDP members, grapes are limited to Riesling, Silvaner, Grauburgunder, Weißburgunder (Weissburgunder) and Spätburgunder.
Grosses Gewächs	“Great Growth’
Gutsabfüllung	Estate bottled
Trocken	Means “Dry” and may have up to 9g sugar/litre (w/ >2g/l of acidity)
Halbtrocken	“Off-dry”, it may also be labeled feinherb.
Füder	Large oak cask (Mosel) 1000 liters or 264 US gallons
Oechsle	Measurement of sugar level of must. This is similar to other regions which measure sugar levels by Brix.
Weisswein	White wine
Weissherbstbt	Rosé wine
Rotwein	Red wine
Sekt	Sparkling wine
Süssreserve	Sterilized grape juice used to sweeten wines

German Wine Quality Levels

Like may other wine growing regions in the world Germany has developed a system for categorizing wine and designating the quality on the label. They are as follows:

German Wine Quality Levels (From Lowest to Highest)
Deutscher Wein	These are Wines that do not have a geographical identification. This term replaces Deutscher Tafelwein and allows blending from across Germany. Some large-volume inexpensive export brands fall into this category.
Landwein	“Land Wine” are wines that are slightly riper and typically is made form grapes that are only ripe enough to produce wine and Chaptalisation is usually used in order to raise the alcohol level.
Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA) / Qualitätswein	QbA wines are produced from grapes grown exclusively in one of the 13 Anabaugebiet. Blending wines from grapes from other regions is forbidden.
Qualitätsweinmit Prädikat (QmP) / Prädikatswein	This means quality wine with special attributes and it represents the best dry, semi-sweet and dessert wines produce in Germany.

The Styles of Qualitätsweinmit Prädikat (QmP)

The Qualitätsweinmit Prädikat (QmP) category is further broken down into 6 ripeness categories. These designations will appear on the label and the Sommelier is expected to memorize all of them. They are as follows:

The Styles of Qualitätsweinmit Prädikat (QmP)
Kabinett	This designation applies to wines made from grapes that just qualify for minimum QmP ripeness levels, generally considered a normal harvest for Germany
Spätlese	Literal meaning: “late harvest” (plural form is Spätlesen) is a German wine term for a wine from fully ripe grapes, the lightest of the late harvest wines. Rieslings made in this style will have a little more body, have stone fruit and can be dry or sweeter than Kabinett.
Auslese	Made from individually selected extra-ripe bunches of grapes. This is also the highest Prädikatswein category that can appear as a dry wine.
Beerenauslese (BA)	Indicates a rare, expensive sweet wine that will have been made from individually selected extra-ripe bunches of grapes, preferably with acids and flavors enhanced by the effects of noble rot.
Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA)	Literal meaning “dried berries selection,” produced in minute quantities, in only the finest vintages from individual grapes that have shriveled to tiny raisins. After fermentation, they rarely have higher than 8% abv.
Eiswein	Literally “ice wine”, made from grapes that have been left on the vine until the weather is cold enough to freeze them, below - 8°C.

The Top German Wine Regions

In addition to knowing the grapes, quality categories, ripeness categories, and unique wine terminology of Germany the sommelier should also be familiar with the top 7 wine growing regions. They are as follows:

The Top German Wine Regions
The Mosel	Formerly called Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, it comprises the valley of the River Mosel from where it joins the Rhine at Koblenz, to the Luxemburg frontier and its two small tributaries, the Saar and the Ruwer.
The Nahe	The vineyards of the Nahe are spread over a wide area that lies in between the Mosel and the Rheinhessen. Dornfelder accounts for ¼ of the plantings.
The Rheingau	A small but prestigious region, Riesling dominates in excess of 80% that are made in a dry style. Germany’s best BA and TBA wines are made here too.
Rheinhessen	The largest vine-growing region of Germany in terms of area under vine. Müller-Thurgau is the most widely planted. Red varieties, mostly Dornfelder, Portugieser and Spätburgunder make up 30% of the grape mix.
Pfalz	The second largest wine-growing region in Germany, it is the driest of the German regions and red grapes (mostly Portugieser and Spätburgunder) account for as much as 40% of the vineyard area.
Baden	The warmest and most southerly region and third largest growing region in Germany. This is the only region in which red varieties are in the majority, mostly Spätburgunder.
Franken	White wine dominates in Franken, but Müller-Thurgau and Slivaner dominate as the most prestigious in the region. The best wines are from the south facing slopes around Würzburg. Wines are bottled in distinctive flask shaped bottles called bocksbeutel.

The German Wine Wine Ranking System

Every wine producing country in the world has its own governing body that sets standards of quality and regulates what is required for certain designations on wine labels. In France it is the INAO and the DOC system, in Italy they have their own DOC system, in Spain it is the DO system and in the USA it is the TBB that regulates the AVA system and American labeling laws. The purpose is to have a national system for designating, regulating and governing quality.

In Germany, in addition to government regulations and the regulations of the EU, they have a national association of producers committed to top quality known as Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP), which essentially means Association of German Quality Wineries. 

It began in 1910 as the Verband Deutscher Naturweinversteigerer, the organization originally strove to promote unchaptalized natural wines. 

In 1971 Wine Law abolished the use of the term “nature” and created the category of QbA, for which chaptalization is legal, the organization rewrote its internal constitution to promote superior standards while respecting new labeling laws, and changed its name to the VDP. 

In 1984, a separate organization called Charta was formed to advance the classic, dry style of Rheingau Riesling.  These wines are indicated by an icon with two Roman arches. The Charta system the first major attempt by producers to validate dry wines within a system that only rewards sugar.  Charta did not achieve the impact on the German wine industry that they desired and only a handful of producers remain committed to the concept.  However, the VDP did take on the commitment to produce quality dry Riesling with an emphasis on terroir and vineyard site as a measure of quality rather than just levels of sugar.  The VDP now includes 200 members of Germany’s finest estates and promotes their wines through an extralegal, tiered hierarchy and a more restrictive classification of einzellagen than the government provides.

Prior to the 2012 vintage, Erste Lage (“first site”) wines represented the top tier of the VDP quality pyramid.  All wines at this level of quality carry a specialized logo—a “1” followed by a cluster of grapes.  They were the product of grapes harvested by hand at a maximum yield of 50 hl/ha, and at a minimum must weight equivalent to Spätlese. 

If dry, the wines are denoted by the initials “GG” (Grosses Gewächs), whereas lusciously sweet wines are labeled by traditional Prädikat levels.  Grosses Gewächs wines are legally considered trocken, and may not contain more than 9 g/l of residual sugar.  In the Rheingau, Grosses Gewächs wines frequently carry the alternative label of “Erstes Gewächs”, a trademarked term established by Charta. 

While “Grosses Gewächs” is forbidden by German wine law from appearing on the bottle (which is why they only have “GG” on the label) 

“Erstes Gewächs” is authorized to appear on the wine label.  Grape varieties approved for Erste Lage wines vary according to each anbaugebiet, but 55% of VDP estate vineyards are planted to Riesling.  Grosses Gewächs wines have some release date restrictions which are as follows: 

Grosses Gewächs Release Dates
White wines	May not be released before September 1 of the year following the harvest.
Red wines	Receive +1 year of ageing than wine wines.
Erste Lage wines labeled by Prädikat	May be released as soon as May 1 of the year following the harvest.

The einzellage must be listed on the label—in the style of the Grand Crus of Burgundy, the village name is dropped—and the vineyard site must be approved by the VDP.  While a site may be recognized by both the German Wine Law and the VDP, the VDP’s demarcation is often much narrower, representing a return to pre-1971 vineyard boundaries.  

In 2012, the VDP elected to create a new 4-tier system intended to mirror the model of Grand Crus in Burgundy.  From this point on, Erste Lage wines are now known as Grosse Lage, although the designation Erste Lage may still appear on the label but now with less prestige.

Here is where it may seem a bit confusing…

Producers of Grosse Lage wines will be held to the preexisting standards for top sites, and the wines may be dry (“GG”) or sweet (labeled by Prädikat).  Producers of sweet wines may make a range of Prädikat levels from a Grosse Lage site, but only one dry wine may be produced in each of the top vineyards.  The former Erste Lage logo will be applied only to wines of Grosse Lage quality and an indication of either “Grosse Lage” or “Erste Lage” will appear on the capsule.  The Grosses Gewächs category is reserved for Grosse Lage, so producers of Erste Lage dry wines must label their products as “trocken” (Dry).  In addition, while all VDP members are committed to “Grosse Lage”, individual member organizations in each anbaugebiet may choose whether or not to develop an “Erste Lage” designation.  

Below the Premier and Grand Cru categories of Erste Lage and Grosse Lage, the VDP hierarcy includes the tiers of Ortswein and Gutswein, modeled on Burgundy’s village and regional wines.  At these levels, maximum permitted yields are 75 hl/ha, and the wines show less and less site specificity.  As in Burgundy, Orstwein may be produced from typical grape varieties sourced from multiple vineyard sites in a single village whereas wines in the Gutswein category may be produced from grapes sourced from an estate’s holdings anywhere within a single anbaugebiet. But, estate-bottling is mandatory.  

The VDP logo must appear on the capsules on all member estates’ bottles which has a stylized eagle clasping a cluster of grapes.  While the association’s has definite influence on wine production it does not yet have any legal status from the state and membership is completely voluntary.  The system itself is even open to interpretation, and exemptions from one requirement or another may be granted to individual estates which can lead to more confusion. This reflects the difficulty of creating a singular classification system for an entire country, but this is not unique to Germany as many other countries have similar challenges.

VDP Classification and Corresponding Maximum Yields
Gutswein	Regional Wines (max. 75 hl/ha)
Ortswein	Village Wines (max. 75 hl/ha)
Erste Lage	“Premier Cru” Wines (max. 60 hl/ha)
Grosse Lage	“Grand Cru” Wines (max. 50 hl/ha)

The Mosel

The Mosel Anbaugebiet used to be known as the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. The vineyards are planted on the steep slopes in the valley of the Mosel River from where it joins the Rhine at Koblenz, to the west along the Luxemburg frontier and its two small tributaries, the Saar and the Ruwer Rivers. Mosel is the 3^rd largest wine-producing region in Germany and probably the most well known. 

More than half of the vineyards are dedicated to Riesling. Since it is one of the most northern Anbaugebiets ripeness is at a premium. Typically wines are low in alcohol and have very high acidity that is almost always softened with a touch of sweetness. 

Traditionally wines from this region are bottled in tall, slender “Rhine” bottles made from green glass. The Mosel is home to 6 Bereiche, 19 Grosslagen and more than 500 Enzellagan. The most well-known Bereiche are Zell and Bernkastel home to the famous Grosslage of Michelsberg near the village of Piesport.

The Rheingau

Rheingau is located on the north banks of the Rhine River directly across from the Rheinhessen. The region is made of a large hillside that rises from the river bank that gets steeper as it increases in altitude. The Rheingau has a warmer climate which is surrounded by forests which protects it from the cold, northern weather conditions. 

 

Almost all of the vineyards face south maximizing their exposure to the sun to achieve optimal ripeness. Mists that can arise from the river can encourage botrytis during the harvest season which enables the Rheingau to produce not only dry wines but sweet wines as well. The most important white grape is Riesling and red wine production is focused on Spätburgunder. There is only one Bereich in Rheingau, the famous Johannisberg. There are also 10 Grosslagen and more than 100 Enzellagan.

Learning Objectives of Unit 6 – Day 1: The Mosel and Rheingau

At the beginning of class lectures a list of learning objectives is provided to the students. By the end of the class, the students should have a certain degree of understanding from their own reading and the lectures and be able to provide the answers to a list of questions. The Learning Objectives for Unit 6 - Day 1 along with the answers are as follows.

By the end of class, students should be able to answer the following questions:

(1) Define anbaugebiet and identify common ones found in the market.

Answer: The largest designation for a wine-growing region. Some of the most commonly found on store shelves include: Mosel, Rheingau, Rheinhessen and Pfalz.

(2) State the 4 historic quality levels of German wine

Answer: Deutscher Wein, Landwein, QbA, QmP

(3) State the 6 Prädikat levels for QmP wines from lowest to highest sugar levels

Answer: Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese (BA), Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA), Eiswein.

(4) Discuss the term Grosses Gewächs

Answer: Meaning “Great Growth” or “Grand Cru”

(5) Define the terms Halbtrocken and Trocken

Answer: Halbtrocken = “half dry” (Off dry); Trocken = “Dry”

(6) Define Sekt

Answer: German sparkling wine

(7) Identify the term for Estate Bottled in Germany

Answer: Gutsabfüllung

(8) Define the term Süssreserve

Answer: Sterilized grape juice used to sweeten wines.

(9) State why wine can be made at 51° latitude in German and how they differ from Alsace.

Answer: Germany can ripen grapes by growing them on steep aspect near the river which moderates temperatures and reflects the sun’s rays and the soil also reflects heat from the sun. The result of the cooler temperatures is lower alcohol than than Alsace Riesling.

(10) Describe the attributes of any wines tasted today

Answer: See below

The Wines

On the first day of Unit 6 we tasted the following wines from the Mosel and Rheingau:

1. 2010 Karl Johann Moliter Assmannshauser Höllenberg Spätburgunder Trocken Rheingau

This is a clear red wine, ruby at the core to garnet at the rim, low intensity, day-bright with medium viscosity. On the nose it is clean with moderate intense aromas of bing cherries, ripe plum, a hint of cloves, white pepper with a hint of smoke and a touch of white mushrooms. On the palate it has flavors of raspberries, plum skins, dried cherries with a hint of chalk and stems. It is dry with low tannin, medium+ acidity, medium alcohol and body and a medium length finish. The smokiness, mushroom and chalky notes make it seem old-world but the fresh fruit makes it seem more new world in style. I have experience about a dozen or so Pinot Noirs from German and thus far I think is one of the best I have had and it sells for only $22 per bottle.

2. 2012 Von Hövel Riesling Trocken Rheingau

This is a clear white wine, straw in color, star-bright, medium intensity, and low viscosity. On the nose it is clean with moderate intense aromas of lemon-lime (like a can of Sprite that is been open all day), ripe pears, with mild floral notes of honey suckle and orange blossoms and just a hint of stale beer. On the palate it has flavors of green apple, pear, and apricot with a slight salty minerality and a hint of bitter orange peel on the finish. It is dry with medium+ acidity, medium alcohol and body and a medium length finish. This wine sells for about $44 per bottle.

3. 2010 Schloss Schönborn Riesling Trocken Rheingau

This is a clear white wine, straw in color, star-bright, medium intensity, and medium viscosity. On the nose it is clean with moderate intense aromas of green apple, petrol, ginger ale, pistachio and a hint of cheese rind. On the palate it has flavors of instant lemonade mix, tart lemon candy, lime, with chalky notes. It is dry with medium+ acidity, medium alcohol and body and a medium length finish. This wine sells for about $27 per bottle.

4. 2009 Schloss Schönborn Erbacher Marcobrunn Riesling Spätlese Rheingau

This is a clear white wine, golden-yellow in color, star-bright with medium concentration and medium+ viscosity. On the nose it is clean and youthful with moderate intense aromas of ripe pineapple, canned peas, white flowers and a hint of cheese with minor petrol notes. On the palate it has flavors of lime, dried mango, pineapple and pistachio. It is dry with medium+ acidity, medium alcohol and body and a medium length finish. This wine sells for about $40 per bottle.

5. 2010 Dr. Nagler Rüdesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling Grosses Gewächs Dry Rheingau

This is a clear white wine, golden-yellow in color, star-bright with medium concentration and medium viscosity. On the nose it is clean and youthful with moderate intense aromas of ripe pineapple, apricots, white flowers, honey and graham crackers. On the palate it has flavors of stone fruits, nectarines, dried apricots, and lime with a hint of minerality and notes of bitter orange on the finish. It is dry with medium+ acidity, medium alcohol and body and a medium length finish. This wine sells for about $30 per bottle.

6. 2011 Dr. Fisher Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett, Mosel

This is a clear white wine, pale straw in color, star-bright with low concentration and medium viscosity. On the nose it is clean with moderate intense aromas of lemon-lime, dried apricot, floral soap, musk, and a hint of petrol/kerosene. On the palate it has flavors of canned peaches, mandarin oranges, honeydew melon, and lime. It is off-dry with medium+ acidity, medium alcohol and body and a long finish. This wine sells for about $17 per bottle.

7. 2012 Dr. Loosen Erdener Treppchen Riesling Spätlese Rheingau

This is a clear white wine, straw in color, star-bright with low concentration and medium viscosity. On the nose it is clean with moderate intense aromas of lemon-lime, lychee, orange zest and hint so floral soap. On the palate it has flavors of lemon-lime, canned peas with a hint of chalk. It is off-dry with high acidity, medium- alcohol with a medium+ length finish. This wine sells for about $30 per bottle.

8. 2005 Schloss Schönborn Erbacher Marcobrunn Riesling Spatlese Rheingau

This is a clear white wine, straw in color, star-bright with medium concentration and medium viscosity. On the nose it is clean with moderate intense aromas of lemon-lime, lemon custard, key lime pie, ginger, and petrol with a hint of toasted marshmallow and caramel. On the palate it has flavors of lemon meringue pie, caramel popcorn, and coconut butter. It is sweet with high acidity, medium- alcohol, it is medium bodied with a medium+ length finish. This is a great wine and an excellent alternative to the ocean of Chardonnay on the market. It sells for about $30 per bottle.

9. 2006 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Mosel

This is a clear white wine, yellow-gold in color, star-bright with medium concentration and low viscosity. On the nose it is clean with moderate intense aromas of Meyer lemon, lemon custard, oxidized pear, ripe pineapple, and clover honey. On the palate it has flavors of pineapple, red apple, dried apricot, ginseng, green tea, saffron, honey and a hint of mint. It is sweet with medium+ acidity, low alcohol, it is medium+ bodied with a medium+ length finish. This wine sells for about $45 per bottle.