The German Wine System


RWS German Wine Matrix		RWS Simple German Wine Matrix

The German Harvest

With approximately seven different harvest categories, the German harvest is the world's most selective.

During the four to eight weeks of harvest the winery will make several passes through the vineyards.

While the Öchsle scale is used to measure the sugar level in the grape (California used the Brix scale), the sugar level measured determines which harvest category the grapes will fall into. Great wine makers will exceed the minimum for each category and declassify the grapes, meaning grapes harvested as Spätlese can be marketed as a Kabinett wine. This is a standard procedure for top estates.

Refer to German Wine Matrix. The first column in the German Wine Matrix shows the minimum Öchsle (sugar level) requirements for each wine category and the region where it was harvested.

German Wines Paired With Food

Using the advanced matrix, German wines are available in four different harvest categories (side axis). Since the categories relate to ripeness measured by the sugar content of the grapes during harvest, it correlates with the fruit extract in the grapes, which results in differences of richness and weight or body on the palette. Think of Kabinett as skim milk, vs Qualitätswein and Spätlese as 2% and Auslese as whole milk.

Kabinett: Second row of the matrix.
Qualitätswein: Third row of the matrix.
Spätlese: Fourth row of the matrix.
Auslese: Fifth row of the matrix.

Each of the above four harvest categories can be vinified (fermented) in three different styles (top axis). The three styles of vinification are achieved by arresting the fermentation process at different points. The earlier the fermentation is arrested the fruitier the wine will be and the lower the alcohol content. The longer the fermentation continues the drier the wine becomes and the alcohol content will be higher accordingly.

Dry (trocken): Second column of the matrix.
Medium-Dry (halbtrocken): Third column of the matrix.
Fruity (no indication on the label): Fourth column of the matrix.

German Dessert Wines

German dessert wine spans a broad range of harvest categories. The lower left cell on the matrix defines the minimum Öchsle for the dessert wines. Here are the four most common categories:

Gold Kapsule Auslese (GKA): The first step in the dessert wine ladder.
Beerenauslese (BA): Intense dessert wine picked berry by berry.
Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA): Dried berries are collected berry by berry to make this fabulous category of the greatest German dessert wines.
Eiswein: Grapes were naturally frozen and harvested while frozen to leave the water content of the grapes back in the press and extract a concentrated fruit juice.

Matrix Summary

The matrix is not only of great help in understanding the German wine label, but also in gaining an appreciation for the production of German fine wine.

The matrix also shows how useful the German wine label can be when pairing the wines with food. However, one topic the matrix and the German wine label do not address is the quality of the wine. A wine's weight, sweetness or dryness has nothing to do with quality.

Great quality is determined by great wine makers devoted to producing wines reflecting the essence of great vineyards, especially in a great vintage. Great wine makers will still produce very good wines in difficult vintages, where others will fail.