Riesling is every sommelier’s secret weapon. It’s fairly priced, delicious, super versatile, and expressive.
If you’re shopping for German Riesling at the store, you may be a bit confused by the label, however. I totally get it. There are several rankings/systems/rules in place but two of them will really help you decide on the bottle you’re actually looking for.
First is Qualitätswein. This system encompasses most higher quality German wines. The following terms define the technical sweetness level of the wine by grams/L of residual sugar (RS). Residual sugar is the natural sugar leftover from the grapes after the fermentation process has ended.
- Troken / Selection: Dry style. <9 g/L of RS. For reference, this approximate amount of RS is considered dry for any wine.
- Halbtroken / Classic: “Half-dry.” <12g/L of RS
- Feinherb: A somewhat newer term and a bit controversial in what it actually means… It’s basically the same as Halbtroken with the potential to be slightly sweeter.
- Leibliche: Sweet wine <45 G/L of RS
- Süß or Süss: Even sweeter wine >45 g/L of RS
Below are the five levels of Pradikatswein “quality wine with specific attributes” that should be on the label somewhere (hopefully). This is in ascending order of grape ripeness at harvest, not technically the sweetness level.
See why I spent so much time studying German wine regions?
- Kabinett: Dry to semi-sweet. Usually crisp and acidic.
- Spätlese: “Late harvest.” Potentially fuller bodied dry – off dry.
- Auslese: “Select harvest.” Harvested even later. Affected by Noble Rot. Dry – sweet. This is not always in a dessert wine style.
- Beerenauslese (including Eiswein “ice wine”): “Select berry harvest.” Affected by Noble Rot (Eiswein is not). Sweet dessert wine.
- Trockenbeerenauslese: “Select dry berry harvest.” Affected by Noble Rot. Overripe. Super sweet. Super expensive.
It’s confusing to see a range of dryness levels, if not a bit frustrating. Keep in mind that when the grapes are harvested later, there are higher sugar levels. More sugar means more food for yeasts to consume and convert to alcohol and Carbon Dioxide. This is what leads to a higher potential alcohol content.
HOWEVER, the winemaker has the option to stop the fermentation process at any moment, depending on the style they are trying to achieve. If they stop earlier in the process, the wine has the potential to be sweeter because there are sugars that have not yet converted. If the winemaker prefers a more dry style, they will prolong the fermentation process.
Now, this is a rough rule of thumb and a brief overview – this part actually gets fairly technical, and I think it needs a separate blog post. But generally, if you want a sweeter Riesling, look for a lower ABV. If you prefer a dry style, look for something above 10% ABV or so.
The trick is finding that “sweet” spot (HA). You need a balance between sweetness and acidity, and it is quite the fine line. Acidity brings structure – we don’t want sugar water.
My boyfriend and I have been CRUSHING off-dry Spätlese Riesling lately (ABV is about 8%) and pairing it with spicy orange chicken…we have it once a week. Sweet wine with spicy food is a MUST TRY and honestly, probably the pairing I get the most excited about. Riesling is often the go-to for this.
Here are links for helpful wine category visuals, reading German wine labels, and the Pradikatswein/Qualitätswein system breakdown.
