Famed German Winemaker Ernst Loosen from the Mosel provides a quick guide to understanding German wine labels by understanding the logic behind the names of places, grapes and ripeness levels.
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Video Text with Dr. Ernst Loosen of the Mosel:
Yeah, because you know you it is it’s pretty easy to read the German label yes soon you understand the logic of it.
Because it’s always the same: There is the vintage, say 2011, and then the vineyard name. I know it is very long I also Ürziger Würzgarten (The Spice Garden of Ürzig) of course, II mean for a foreigner it is very difficult to pronounce it but at least you can explain it you can say first name is always the village. Ürziger. Ürzig is the village. E R means from Ürzig.
You know Ürziger means from Ürzig. Like New York / New Yorker. New Yorker is from New York you know. Ürziger is from Ürzig. Second. Wehlener is from Wehlen, you know, so the first name is always the village. The second name is the name of the vineyard in this village: Würzgarten. Würzgarten means the spice garden vineyard from Ürzig. Sonnenuhr, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, is the Sonnenuhr vineyard from Wehlen.
Then you have always the grape variety on the label in Germany in this case with us, Riesling. Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling.
So you know at least the grape variety, which you don’t know in France. And then you have okay prädikat. And if you understand the prädikat; Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese. Kabinett is early picked grapes, Spätlese is a later picked grapes,
Auslese is very late, selected fully ripe grapes. Then you at least know ok Kabinett seems to be a little bit lighter in style, a little more cream, you know because it’s early picked. Spätlese is a little bit more full-bodied you know a little more aromatic because it was later picked. Auslese are the fully ripe aromatic grapes which you select out. And then Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese are the grapes which have been shriveled and are noble sweet, you know? So if you learn only this little bit of sequence: Vintage, first name is village, second name is vineyard, Riesling grape variety that’s pretty and then you have the Prädikat.
And if you understand the Prädikat, Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese: early picked, later picked, fully ripe, late picked, then you at least can explain the label you know because this information is always on the label and if you have a GG you know it’s dry. (GG = Grosses Gewaches or Grand Cru).