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Subject: German Riesling question

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ChangeMe

Grape Truck Driver
Posts:44

02/16/2005 3:51 PM
Hi Jeremy! This is NOT correct! Anybody who knows a bit more about german wines knows that. Where did you find these numbers? Less than 2 grams RS= Very dry to bone dry 2-6 grams RS= Dry wine 6-12 gram RS= Medium Dry 12-18 gram RS= Medium 18-24 gram RS= medium sweet 24+ = sweet I am sure that there are fellowmembers who can correct these. Medium dry german wine can have absolutely more sugar than this and still feel like mediumdry!!! Medium sweet wine can have a lot more sugar and still taste like mdium sweet.

stemor

Collierville, TN

Wine Thief
Posts:2818

02/16/2005 4:54 PM
Pickmeup, Jeremy doesn't post here anymore, although most of us (me included) wish he would. Although I like him and usually agree with him, he was clearly wrong on almost every point he made regarding German riesling. I'm not sure where our disconnect was, because he's very knowledgeable on most wine related subjects. By the way, welcome aboard! Glad to have another riesling drinker with us.

Cheers, y'all

Budman

Master of Wine
Posts:11879

02/16/2005 4:59 PM
stemor.. it may have something to do with New Zealand being south of the equator!

ChangeMe

Grape Puncher
Posts:986

02/17/2005 8:35 PM
Quote: Hi Jeremy! This is NOT correct! Anybody who knows a bit more about german wines knows that. Where did you find these numbers? Less than 2 grams RS= Very dry to bone dry 2-6 grams RS= Dry wine 6-12 gram RS= Medium Dry 12-18 gram RS= Medium 18-24 gram RS= medium sweet 24+ = sweet I am sure that there are fellowmembers who can correct these. Medium dry german wine can have absolutely more sugar than this and still feel like mediumdry!!! Medium sweet wine can have a lot more sugar and still taste like mdium sweet. Careful throwing around RS numbers on their own. Everything changes when you consider acidity. If a wine has 7 g/l of acidity it will (usually) taste sweeter than if it has 11 g/l of acidity and the same level of RS (above the taste threshold of course). Believe me, I have had 1996 Rieslings with 11.5 g/l of acidity and 30 g/l of sugar that tasted nearly dry.

Willard Brian User is Offline

Grape Picker
Posts:7

02/27/2005 10:46 PM
Perhaps someone can help me understand how German wines end up with residual sugar. I am by no means an expert but I understand fermentation stops for various reasons: cold, heat, addition of clear brandy, sulphur dioxide or alcohol levels kill the yeasts. I also understand that Riesling works well in cooler climates which gives the grapes their high acidity but German wines are usually lower in potential sugar based on their latitude and climate. No one has mentioned Sussreserve which is as I understand it, how the sweeness levels are determined. This is based on information in Wine Lover's Companion and Windows on the World Complete Wine course. Is this correct???? Thanks

ChangeMe

Grape Puncher
Posts:986

02/28/2005 12:19 PM
Quote: Perhaps someone can help me understand how German wines end up with residual sugar. I am by no means an expert but I understand fermentation stops for various reasons: cold, heat, addition of clear brandy, sulphur dioxide or alcohol levels kill the yeasts. I also understand that Riesling works well in cooler climates which gives the grapes their high acidity but German wines are usually lower in potential sugar based on their latitude and climate. No one has mentioned Sussreserve which is as I understand it, how the sweeness levels are determined. This is based on information in Wine Lover's Companion and Windows on the World Complete Wine course. Is this correct???? Thanks Partly correct. Sussreserve is one way to achieve a particular sweetness level. Another way is to chill the wine down and do a sterile filtering prior to the completion of alcoholic fermentation. (The way they don't talk about is to add a little Eiswein into the Auslese...shhhh.) The producers who are very good at pegging the right time to stop fermentation tend to not use sussreserve. But it's an art, and not everyone is equally good at it. Some casks just stop fermenting on their own as well. The 1998 Muller-Catoir Haardter Burgergarten Riesling Spatlese Halbtrocken just stopped ferementing with about 15 grams of residual sugar. So they left it that way.

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