Edited to encompass more of the German label information...

The German wine label has been called (rightly) confusing. Some claim it's no worse than Burgundy, but then you can't buy Chambolle-Musigny Kabinett, Spatlese and Auslese from the same producer.

There's a lot of information on a German wine label. I will restrict this to the name of the wine for now. I can add more later if people are interested (further edits to this post).

Taking a commonly discussed wine as our strawman, I'll use 2002 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Spatlese. The vintage and grape are self explanatory. The rest...well...even a producer can lead to confusion.

Producer: Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben (commonly referred to as Christoffel) - This is one of multiple Christoffels out there. The same kind of thing goes for Prum, Haag and Haart (among others). There's more than one of them. The big thing is to get used to the labels, and use the full name if there's any chance of confusion. You can never be wrong with the full name. Also be careful...some people mistakenly use a vintner's name in place of the winery name. The prime example is Theo Haart. He is the winemaker at Rheinhold Haart. Unfortunately there is also a winery called Theo Haart. (Don't even get me started on Terry Theise desire to use Justen (the vintner) as the name for Meulenhof (the estate).)

Town/Vineyard: Urziger Wurzgarten - So you're a New Yorker. Well if you were from a town along a particular bend in the Mosel river you would be an Urziger. So the first word is the town with the -er attached (in most cases!!). Wurzgarten is the vineyard. (Cbmac has created some excellent primers on the towns and vineyards of Germany.) So Wurzgarten is a vineyard site in the town of Urzig. Of course it isn't always that simple. The Scharzhofberger (or the Josephhofer is another example) has no town preceeding it. It's a famous enough vineyard site to go on a label by itself. Think of it as Germany's version of La Tache but without the legal garbage that accompanies grand cru status.

----Vineyard classification in Germany is a very tricky/controversial subject that I wil leave for another time------

Finally we get to Spätlese, which is the prädikat. This will take a while.

Note 1: The pradikat data provided herein applies only to Riesling. In the somewhat bizarre world of German wine there are separate ripeness requirements for every single approved grape variety. So what’s kabinett for Riesling is not necessarily kabinett for Scheurebe (in fact it is not if I recall correctly). The same goes for Muscat (each kind of Muscat…), Kerner, Spätburgunder, etc.

The prädikat system:

Developed as part of the 1971 wine law (which also rewrote the boundaries of a number of vineyard sites), the prädikat system was meant to codify and clarify (?) the ripeness requirements for various levels of German wine. Prior to 1971, terms such as Cabinet (generally meaning a wine meant for keeping) and Feinste Auselse (roughly translatable to today’s gold capsule auslese) were used with little or no regulation. Certainly 1971 was an auspicious year to start such a system, as the exceptional vintage meant a full usage of the system, from QbA to TBA in its first year out of the blocks. Since 1971 there have been some revisions to the system, most notably the addition of the Eiswein prädikat in the ‘80s, but the majority of the system remains as imposed in 1971.

On to the system.

There are essentially three levels of wine in Germany. The first is tafelwein, equivalent to vin de table in France and actually controlled in its regulation through the European Union, not German wine law. With the exception of certain “experimental” lots (e.g. untraditional use of barrique) this category is not worth considering here.

The second category is Quälitatswein eines bestimmten Anbaugebeites, hereafter referred to as QbA. While not actually a prädikat, QbA (translatable as “quality wine from a specified region”) still has legal requirements on grape variety and ripeness. In that way it is frequently, and incorrectly, considered as a part of the prädikat system (even though the wines must pass the testing process and receive an AP number…more later). This does not mean that QbA is inferior wine. In fact many QbA wines are excellent and can represent remarkable value. QbA has also recently been used as the opening for the new styles of dry wines in Germany, with wines legally entitled to a prädikat instead being sold as QbA or with a new designation of Grosse Gewächs/Erstes Gewächs. This primer will not delve into the Grosse Gewächs discussion. That will have to come later.

The third category of wine is Quälitatswein mit Prädikat. This is the heart of the matter. “Quality wine with distinction” (or attributes) is the translation, and it opens up the world of fine German wine, and a whole lot of confusion for those who are first faced with a German wine label.

First off there are six levels of pradikat, though one (eiswein) is not really a separate level, just a specification of production tied to other levels. The levels are:

Kabinett: The first level of prädikat, and normally the lowest in alcohol

Spätlese: Literally meaning “late harvest”, and required to be harvested at least one week after the main harvest has started

Auslese: Meaning “selected harvest”, but with no requirement for late picking

Beerenauslese (BA): Meaning “berry selection”, and normally affected by botrytis. This is also the minimum level of ripeness required for a wine to be officially classified as an Eiswein.

Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA): Meaning “dried berry selection”, and normally affected by significant amounts of botrytis.

Each of these prädikats carries with it certain requirements for the ripeness of the grapes (actually the sugar content of the unfermented grape must) that vary by region and grape variety. This is specified by the öchsle scale (a measure of specific gravity of the must), and does not in any way indicate the amount of sugar in the finished wine.

Limiting this discussion to Riesling, and the six most famous wine regions of Germany, the minimum öchsle requirements are:

QbA: 51 (approx. 12.6 degrees Brix!!) for the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer and Mittelrhein; 57 for the Nahe and Rheingau; 60 for the Pfalz and Rheinhessen

Kabinett: 70 (approx. 17 degrees Brix) for the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Mittelrhein and Nahe; 73 for the Pfalz, Rheingau and Rheinhessen

Spätlese: 76 (approx. 18.4 degrees Brix) for the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer and Mittelrhein; 78 for the Nahe; 85 for the Pfalz, Rheingau and Rheinhessen

Auslese: 83 (approx. 20 degrees Brix) for the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer and Mittelrhein; 85 for the Nahe; 92 for the Pfalz and Rheinhessen; 95 for the Rheingau

Beerenauslese & Eiswein: 110 (approx. 25.8 degrees Brix) for the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer and Mittelrhein; 120 for the Nahe, Pfalz and Rheinhessen; 125 for the Rheingau

Trockenbeerenauslese: 150 (approx. 34 degrees Brix) for ALL SIX REGIONS

There are a couple of things to note here. First is that the ripeness requirements overlap. For instance an auslese in the Mosel may only legally be spätlese in the Pfalz. This is based on the climate in the various regions, and the likelihood (prior to the recent warmer years) of ripening grapes to the specified requirements. Second is that there are no requirements for the use of gold capsules, stars or any other special identifier. This is a loophole in the 1971 wine law that leaves everybody confused.

Again, the requirements listed above are for the unfermented grape must, and do not necessarily give an indication of the final residual sugar in the wine. The terms Trocken (dry) and Halbtrocken (“half-dry”) do have legal definitions, and when placed on the label indicate residual sugar content ranges. For trocken the range in 0-9 grams per liter of residual sugar, and for halbtrocken the range is 10-18 grams per liter. For about half of the trocken range the allowable residual sugar range is below the human detection threshold (commonly around 5 or 6 grams per liter), and given the acidity of most German Riesling, the average trocken wine will taste dry. Halbtrocken is completely within the detection threshold, but can end up tasting fairly dry due to the acidity. Even wines with higher residual sugars can taste dry if the acidity in the wine is high enough. (Tried any 1996 kabinetts folks?)

So it now seems perfectly clear. Right?

Heck, this is where it gets fun!

There are a whole bunch of things that can happen to totally confound the wine lover. Let’s take them one by one.

1. Why is my kabinett so sweet?
Well probably because it’s not really kabinett. More than likely these days (2001 is perhaps the ultimate test case) the wine labeled kabinett is actually spätlese. It’s been declassified. So you’re getting a bargain right? Well yes, but if you’ve come to expect the light, fruity, just off-dry refreshing kabinett of yore (those of us who started drinking these wine prior to say 1998) then you are likely to be disappointed. Today’s kabinetts are monsters sold as kabinett because people buy kabinett. The $10.99 kabinett is a staple of the wine trade (at least the niche that is German wine), and without it the genre might actually flounder. So producers are “forced” to make something called kabinett. If they pick the grapes earlier (lower sugars but unripe skins/seeds) the wines can be green and nasty. So they take their lightest spätlese (or even auslese) and call it kabinett.

Don’t get me wrong. I love these declassified bargains. As an example, the 2001 J. J. Christoffel Erdener Treppchen Riesling Kabinett is legally an auslese. It was harvested at 87 öchsle (remember 83 is the minimum for auslese in the Mosel). Now it does not taste like an auslese, but it certainly does not taste like kabinett. I’m cellaring it with anticipation that it will react in much the same way as a good spätlese. If I want a kabinett I grab a bottle of 1997 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst or a Merkelbach wine. (Both of them are likely legal spätlese, but at least they taste like kabinett.)

So with a series of very hot years the genre of kabinett is a somewhat endangered species. What is a wine lover to do? You can drink QbA, but the alcohol content is likely to be higher. Most QbAs I run across are around 10% alcohol by volume, where kabinett hovers around 8 percent. I guess until we have a cooler year we will be drinking a lot of spätlese but not knowing it.

2. What do the stars/capsules mean?
Oh another one of my favorites. This is widely discussed on the wine bulletin boards every time a new vintage of Christoffel (stars), Selbach-Oster (stars), J. J. Prum (capsules) or Dönnhoff (capsules) is released. All the stars or capsules are is a way for a producer to designate selections of a certain pradikat. Unfortunately they don’t use them consistently. They have no legal requirement to do so.

And please let me stress that the “no star” wine is not a bad wine. It’s just a different wine, usually priced lower and thus a lovely bargain for the discerning wine geek. For what it’s worth, my favorite 2001 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Auslese is the no star, and I have tasted them all multiple times.

This gets even more complicated because some producers (e.g. Dönnhoff) use gold capsules for all of their auslesen. It’s only by knowing the AP number (that cryptic code number on the bottom of the label) that one can determine if the bottling in hand is the regular or gold capsule release. I have two versions of the 2001 Dönnhoff Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese. They have two different AP numbers. One is the “regular” bottling (my wife’s favorite wine in the world by the way), and the other is the gold cap. (By the way, David Schildknecht usually provides the AP number information in his reviews for Steve Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar.)

Stars can represent a stylistic choice as well. J.u.H.A. Strub has released three Niersteiner Paterberg Riesling Spätlese wines with stars. The 1998 and 2001 have three stars and the 2002 version has two stars. They basically denote an auslese level wine with no botrytis. So we have another variation on the theme.

Stars and capsules can be discussed till the proverbial cows come home.

There’s a whole lot more to talk about, but this is probably long enough for one post. I’ll do more based on comments/questions.

Just let me know what you want added. I can do things on AP numbers, Erstes Gewachs, etc.

Cheers!
RF

FANTASTIC and authoritative writeup, RieslingFan. Thank you for taking the time to do that.

We had some conversations last year that got sort of sideways and, I'm afraid, might have led to more confusion than understanding. Here'sone of those discussions.

I believe your comments should help clear any confusion that I or anyone else might have created. Thanks for getting me off the hook!

Bravo Rieslingfan. A very well written and helpful discourse.

Do you agree with the following advice to newbies confounded by all the information on a German wine label?

Assuming they don't plan to break the bank (i.e. say less than $35 to spend), the most important thing to look for is (1) that it is Riesling and QMP, followed by (2) is the wine "trocken" in which case it will be quite a different experience than regular Riesling, followed by (3) the producer, going for a top name wherever possible, followed by (4) the vintage - or at least avoiding weak vintages like 2000, followed by (5) whether it is a kabinett, spätlese or auslese.

Or to put it more provocatively, what other countries put so much emphasis on brix/oechsle, and why should we care? I mean if it does not say trocken it is going to be the typical riesling sweet-acidic battle regardless of whether it is a kabinett, spätlese or auslese and (as you say) you never know these days exactly what sugar levels you're dealing with despite the label.

By the way, I only say that it should be QMP for simplicity's sake...I agree with you that there are a number of excellent QbA level wines. I have constantly raved ad nauseum about how great the 2001 Dr. Loosen Graacher Himmelreich QbA was.

And I say "assume less than $35" because above that level you start to get away from kabinett into solely spätlese and auslese territory.

cbmac,

If I were trying to help a newbie with German Riesling (which I do on a regular basis) I would go in the following order:

1. Producer (Prum, Donnhoff, etc. do very well in off years)
2. Grape (avoiding just about everything except Riesling, Scheurebe and Rieslaner to start off)
3. Vintage
4. Pradikat
5. Trocken or not is personal preference for dry or off dry wine, so I put it last

As for the $35, I can buy some mighty fine auslesen for that kind of money (e.g. J. J. Prum, Chrsitoffel, Gunderloch...)

For my next installment...

What in the heck is an AP number, and why should I care?

Well for starters, AP means Amtliche Prüfungsnummer, and it is the official number given to all German wines that pass a “quality control” check and qualify for QbA or QmP (see above) status. It’s a long string of numbers, sometimes presented with spaces between groups of numbers (making it easy to parse out), and sometimes as a long string.

The typical presentation of an AP number on a German wine label is as follows:

1 234 567 89 03

The 1 is the testing station in Germany where the wine was evaluated. There are (I believe) six of them (numbered 1-6) that are normally seen on bottles of wine sold from the “great” six regions.

The 234 indicate where the wine was bottled. This is a sub-regional designation, not a producer specific designation. Note that sometimes this is only a 2-digit sequence.

The 567 identify the bottler of the wine. In the case of the high quality producers it also indicates the producer. So the sequence of numbers on a bottle of J. J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese will be the same for this part as on their Auslese.

The 89 (sometimes this is 3 digits) is the sequence in which the wine sample was presented to the testing authorities for evaluation. So a wine with 01 was the first wine presented for testing in that year, 02 the second and so on. It is based on the year the wine was provided for testing, not the vintage.

The 03 signifies the year the wine was presented for testing. This is not the vintage, and in fact is normally the year after the vintage. In some cases it may be several years after the vintage (J. J. Prum is a good example here again) if a producer decides to do some late bottling for releases of more mature wines. So in that case a 1995 wine could be labeled with the finishing digit sequences of 07 03, indicating that the producer decided to submit the ’95 for testing in 2003.

So all of this can be somewhat confusing. The good thing is that in MOST cases it is irrelevant for the consumer. It is only in rare cases that multiple bottlings of the same wine are available in any one location (except at the cellar door). Our good friend J. J. Prum is the most famous exception to this rule, releasing wines willy-nilly to confound the poor consumer (wink, wink). Merkelbach is another producer with multiple bottlings, but they have another series of numbers (sigh…) to look out for (Muller-Catoir has an alternate system as well). Fritz Haag, Willi Schaefer and Zilliken are other friends to the consumer who bottle multiple wines distinguishable only by AP number.

So what are we all to do? Well first of all, if you are relying on a review, make sure the AP number is listed in the review. David Schildknecht (reviewer for Tanzer’s IWC) is very good about supplying AP numbers when multiple bottlings might hit US shores. Wine Spectator is inconsistent as is Pierre Rovani (Wine Advocate). Calude Kolm (Fine Wine Review) normally gives AP numbers when they are applicable. If the number is given be sure to read the fine print on the wine label and match up the numbers.

Does this AP number really assure anything?

Nope. The quality testing in Germany is about as tough as the intelligence testing to become President of the USA. All right, it’s a little tougher than Presidential intelligence testing, but not much. Only severe flaws are screened out through the testing process, leaving many wines to receive AP numbers that have obvious problems with balance, concentration, typicity (although I am loathe to go there…) and just overall quality. A bottle of Schmitt-Sohne Riesling gets an AP number, as does a bottle of Blue Nun. I wouldn’t dare to compare them to a bottle of Maximin Grunhaus Abstberg Auslese.

I read a review of the AP #3, but I can only find AP #4. Is it going to taste the same?

Maybe. It all depends on how attuned you are to German wine. I’ve lined up multiple APs of Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese and only found the barest differences, but in other years the differences were more pronounced. It is rare for one AP of a wine to be very fine and another AP of the “same wine” to be lousy. It has happened, but not often.

I found the J. J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese AP #12 and AP #17. The 17 is the better wine, right?

Not according to Manfred Prum. He claims very little differences between AP bottlings of the same wine, unless there is a white capsule on one bottle and a gold capsule on the other. Some of us geeks would care to differ with him, but not to a fault. Now when you get to later releases (e.g. a 1995 with an AP ending with 03) things get dicey. The wine is likely to be different than the 1995 you already have in your cellar (with a AP ending in 96), but not necessarily better. It will likely taste younger due to prolonged storage in the cool producer’s cellar. As with many things in life, it all depends.

Fuder number/lot numbers and lottery numbers…

As mentioned earlier, some producers (e.g. Muller-Catoir) have another system for differentiating the wines. If everyone (importers and reviewers included) just went by AP numbers this would be totally irrelevant. Unfortunately this does not always happen. Terry Theise uses Muller-Catoir’s (and Schmitt Wagner’s and Merkelbach’s) arcane cask numbering/lot numbering system in his catalog. For those who recall, this was a souce of significant confusion with regards to the 2001 Muller-Catoir Haardter Brugergarten Riesling Spätlese. There were two bottlings, referred to as #2133 and #2134 by Herr Theise (and by Rovani in his review of #2134…he did not review #2133). Unfortunately David Schildknecht used the AP numbers and totally threw people off. To make matters worse, Pierre Rovani said in his review that the 2134 was the AP number! Argh!!! Just for the record, the AP #9 corresponds to the #2134, and the AP#29 corresponds to the #2133. If you’re looking at a Catoir label, the #2134 appears on the upper right of the label in very tiny print. It refers to the 34th wine in the 2001 vintage (shortened to 21) by Catoir, and has no relation to when the wine was submitted for testing by the German authorities.

On a bottle of Merkelbach, look for the Fuder No on the front label. Terry Theise uses those designations as well. I would be very much happier if people dropped these arcane systems that only add to the confusion.

I’m sure there are more questions on AP numbers, but I’ll leave it for now. Please ask any me specific questions, and I will try to answer them.

From a practical standpoint, would you say the AP number is most important when you are trying to buy an auction wine (i.e. a wine --- usually Auslese, BA or TBA --- that was specifically prepared for one of Germany's famous auctions and is therefore better and a lot more expensive, e.g. up to $1000 a bottle)?

I know that auction wines sometimes have a special sticker, and occasionally a special capsule/extra star/etc, but usually have nothing but the number to differentiate them from "ordinary" long gold capsules and the like.

Or is there another time when the AP number is more important?

cbmac,

I would agree that the AP number is the most reliable indicator that you have the "right" wine. Stickers fall off (or in some cases don't get applied...) & capsules are not a good indicator (see Donnhoff).

AP numbers are equally important though in the cases where a producer makes multiple versions of the same wine. Daniel Vollenweider is a good case for this. His AP#3 and AP#4 2002 Wolfer Goldgrube Riesling Spatlese are dramatically different wines. Donnhoff's "regular" and "gold cap" Hermannshohle Auslese in 2001 are only distinguishable by AP number (I have both...it's the only difference).

Now I don't get totally hung up on APs (I leave that to another internet wine personality), but they are important.

Hello, this is my first post here and I just wanted to thank cbmac for directing me here and also to thank rieslingfan for the thesis on German Wine Label's. I have recently "found" Rieslings and like many others was very confused by the somewhat intimidating labels. You have managed to break this down into easy to understand components. Thank you once again. I have searched out many of the posts relating to getting educated about German wines and feel like I am getting a grasp on the "lay of the land".

There is a real wealth of knowledge to be gained on this forum site. I do read books on wine subjects also, however books are not always as "entertaining" as message boards can be. Also many posters can get quickly to the heart of the matter instead of wading through things that are educational but not helpful if you are looking for a quick study.

Thank-you again.

ks

Welcome, ks!

cbmac and rieslingfan give very good advice, and there is always a lot of great info in this forum. Stay, have fun and post!

k_syrah - Welcome to VinoCellar!

k_syrah,

Welcome to VC, post often please.

Quote:

---

Ksyrah! Dude! Welcome!

---

If I am not mistaken K Syrah is a woman...at least on the WS boards she is. Good hearty welcome!

In that case... Welcome Dudette!

k syrah,

You are most welcome. If you need any more information please do not hesitate to ask. This primer is not (yet) exhaustive on the subject.

Hi All!

Thanks for the very warm and friendly welcome! Yes I am a gal, but you can call me "dude", it's all ok. I will look forward to posting here and will do so when I feel that I have something to contribute.



ks

k_syrah,

you from MI?

ombree,

yes I am from Michigan and still reside there. Too bad it's one of "those" states, that do not allow for out of state wine shipments. However, the natural beauty of the state does make up for some of those kind of things. Also it's the GREAT lakes state if you are so inclined to H2O, which I am.

ks

Ok, since everyone seems so friendly and helpful, hope you don't mind a few questions:

Regarding producers for newbies to try or to stick with, there were some mentioned. Prum, Donnhoff, Christoffel, Selbach-Oster. Is there a listing any place on these message boards of consistent top producers in say the < $35 range?

I know that Rieslings can age, but how long is typical in a good vintage like 2001 or how long in a not so great vintage? What changes occur in the wines as they age? Do they get sweeter, or not as sweet? I am familiar with aged bordeaux, ports and to a lesser degree with older Cali Cabs, and know what types of changes take place but obviously don't know a thing about how these wines age.

Capsules? I guess I have never really noticed the capsules on German Wines, but now that it is mentioned I recall that most are white. Is that correct? And if so, this talk of gold capsules indicates the producer wants to differentiate that wine and call special attention to it? Maybe I should save capsules for later distinction?

In any case, my interest stems from a recent global wine tasting where German Riesling's stood out as my "wines of the night" so to speak. I got the call. I answered with the purchases listed below. I liked all of them and the first one listed was my favorite of the bunch, because it was not overly sweet and it was , imho, complex in taste and finish and also the wine seemed in perfect balance between sweetness and acidity. The question here is, after more in depth sampling and tasting of my purchases I will probably want to make further purchases, some based on consumption in the next 6 months and some for ageing. Which if any of these would be age worthy candidate(s)? Which are more for drinking over the next 6-12 months?

2001 Eithelsbacher Karthauserhofberg Riesling Kabinett
2002 Mosel-Saar-Ruer Estate Riesling Monchhof
2001 Bretzenheimer Hofgut Scheurebe Kabinett, Dr Ganz
2001 Winkeler Hassensprung Riesling Kabinett, Prinz Von Hessen
2001 Niesteiner Hipping Riesling Auslese, H. Seebrich
2001 Oppenheimer Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett, Dr. Heyden


Thanks,
ks