New Here With A ? About Reislings

[wondersofwine]

Welcome to the board. Come back often. Reading is a good way to enter the wine world (along with tasting).

Kabinett, Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese are designations about the ripeness of grape at harvest and sugar content (before winemaking I believe). While a winemaker can make a dry Spatlese Riesling (almost no residual sugar after fermentation) as a general rule German Spatlese are off-dry (somewhat sweet) unless the bottle says Trocken (dry). A QBA or Kabinett wine is usually drier than a Spatlese. Spatlese indicates "late picked" grapes-thus riper grapes. Auslese indicates specially picked grapes where determination is made cluster by cluster and perhaps pickers go through the vineyard several times picking the grapes at optimum ripeness.
Price goes up as you go from Kabinett level to Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, etc.
By the way, Dr. Fischer Ockfener Bockstein Spatlese and Auslese were my favorite wines when I lived in Germany. I understand that the winemaker from those days died (at a relatively young age) and his widow is managing the property now. There has perhaps been a decline in the quality of the wines since his untimely death. 2001 was a good vintage in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer area of Germany. I bought six bottles of the Dr. Fischer Ockfener Bockstein Spatlese only to read on another website that they thought the 2001 Kabinett was better than the Spatlese. If you can find it, Dr. Wagner Ockfener Bockstein is also quite good usually. Others you might like from the Mosel area are Urziger Wurzgarten, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Piesporter Goldtropchen, Erdener Treppchen. Some reliable producers are Christoffel, Fritz Haag, Monchhof, Dr. Thanisch, Selbach-Oster (known also for their dry Rieslings).
A knowledgable wine retailer can assist with vintages or you can check this website:
www.winespectator.com and click on Vintage Charts on the left. It has vintage ratings for California wines, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Germany, etc.
If you look thread the threads here such as Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot, etc. you will see descriptions of wines others have enjoyed and may be able to find them to buy. Also, if you can arrange wine tastings with friends, or attend a wine tasting at a wine shop or special event, that will help you expand the wine preferences. Take some kind of notes about who produced the wine you like--i.e., liked St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc, didn't care for Silverado Sauvignon Blanc, etc. That can guide further purchases or restaurant choices.

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 01-09-2004).]

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 01-09-2004).]