06/04/07 Reisling Part 1

Welcome to vine to Wine this is your host Linda Moran. My local newspaper wine writer devoted an article to the resurgence of Riesling. Today we begin a series aimed at helping you better understand Riesling. In the summer after work, and sometimes at lunch, I find myself dipping into the white wines in my cellar and chilling a great German Riesling. To understand German wines and the words used to describe them, you must first understand that German wines are defined by the grapes ripeness or level of sugar at the time of harvest. The most widely cultivated grape in Germany is Riesling  and the wines are described in six major categories of sweetness. So, in descending order from less sugar to the most sugar would be Kabinett spelledwith a K, Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Eiswein and Trockenbeerenauslese, knowing this really helps to choose a wine. Another technique the German's employ to make wine is to ferment a batch of wine to a very dry finish, this wine will have the term trocken, meaning dry, before the style. The wine maker may take a portion of that trocken wine and add unfermented grape juice from the same harvest to sweeten the wine up just a little. This resulting wine is call halbtrocken or half dry. It is a semi dry and very pleasant wine. As a bonus, most German wines are lower in alcohol and they are so refreshing along with a wonderful summer meal. Remember to send your wine questions to Linda at vine to wine dot net and thank you for joining me on today's Vine to Wine.