What is the meaning of the German word 'spätlese' as applied to wine?
"style not commonly produced is fortified wine.) Due to the northerly location of the German vineyards, the country has produced wines quite unlike any others in Europe, many of outstanding quality. Between the 1950s and the 1980s German wine was known abroad for cheap, sweet or semi-sweet, low-quality mass-produced wines such as Liebfraumilch. The wines have historically been predominantly white, and the finest made from Riesling. Many wines have been sweet and low in alcohol, light and unoaked. Historically many of the wines (other than late harvest wines) were probably dry (trocken), as techniques to stop fermentation did not exist."
"Spätlese Spätlese (literal meaning: ""late harvest""; plural form is ""Spätlesen"") is a German wine term for a wine from fully ripe grapes, the lightest of the late harvest wines. Spätlese is a riper category than Kabinett in the ""Prädikatswein"" category of the German wine classification and is the lowest level of ""Prädikatswein"" in Austria, where Kabinett is classified in another way. In both cases, Spätlese is below Auslese in terms of ripeness. The grapes are picked at least seven days after normal harvest, so they are riper and have a higher sugar content. Because of the weather, waiting to pick"
"wines, Spätlese wines are much less common than in Germany. Spätlese Spätlese (literal meaning: ""late harvest""; plural form is ""Spätlesen"") is a German wine term for a wine from fully ripe grapes, the lightest of the late harvest wines. Spätlese is a riper category than Kabinett in the ""Prädikatswein"" category of the German wine classification and is the lowest level of ""Prädikatswein"" in Austria, where Kabinett is classified in another way. In both cases, Spätlese is below Auslese in terms of ripeness. The grapes are picked at least seven days after normal harvest, so they are riper and have a"
"German term ""Spätlese"". The minimum must weight requirements for Auslese is as follows: Chaptalisation may not be used. The requirements are part of the wine law in both countries. Many producers, especially top-level producers, exceed the minimum requirements by a wide margin, resulting in richer and sweeter Auslesen that may even exceed the minimum requirements for Beerenauslese, the next ""Prädikat"" in order. In Germany, it is common to add stars (usually * to ***) on the wine label, ""Fuder"" (vat) numbers or a golden capsule, to indicate this. The wines are occasionally made dry (trocken) in some areas, such as"
"rather give a Beerenauslese in modern terminology, and if bunches of such botrytis-affected grapes were mixed with more or less healthy bunches, it seems likely that the wine would be classed in the upper end of the Auslese range. In the 1971 German wine law, the Spätlese Prädikat was given its present interpretation. In the early post-World War II era, the semi-sweet wines that Germany for long has been associated with became more common, since new methods by stopping fermentation and using Süssreserve were introduced. The Spätlese wines represents the ""high end"" of these semi-sweet, rather than fully sweet, wines,"
"then introduced starting with Auslese (""Select harvest"") being introduced in 1787, and additional levels added later. The key to these developments was selection of bunches and grapes by level of ripeness and botrytis, thus giving different wines from the same vineyard. Therefore, the initial Spätlese terminology was for any late harvest wine, and the initial 1775 Spätlese wine was made from grapes that were affected by noble rot to the extent that they appeared unpalatable, and gave a very sweet wine. Such a wine would not really correspond to a modern-day Spätlese. Grapes of this character, vinified by themselves would"
"Auslese Auslese (literal meaning: ""selected harvest""; plural form is ""Auslesen"") is a German language wine term for a late harvest wine and is a riper category than Spätlese in the ""Prädikatswein"" category of the Austrian and German wine classification. The grapes are picked from selected very ripe bunches in the autumn (late November-early December), and have to be hand-picked. Generally Auslese wine can be made in only the best harvest years that have been sufficiently warm. A small proportion of the grapes may be affected by noble rot in some regions although this never dominates the character of the wine."
"of sugar is not the only factor balancing a wine. Dry German wines can be very balanced, and usually get higher ratings from German wine journalists than a comparable wine with more sugar. Many Spätlese wines will age well, especially those made from the Riesling grape. The minimum must weight requirements for Spätlese are as follows: Chaptalisation may not be used. The requirements are part of the wine law in both countries. Many producers, especially top-level producers, regularly exceed the minimum requirements. Legend has it that the introduction of the Spätlese category took place in the Rheingau winery Schloss Johannisberg"
"and a higher extraction of tannin levels. These wines are also increasingly labelled Erstes Gewächs and Grosses Gewächs rather than Auslese. Auslese Auslese (literal meaning: ""selected harvest""; plural form is ""Auslesen"") is a German language wine term for a late harvest wine and is a riper category than Spätlese in the ""Prädikatswein"" category of the Austrian and German wine classification. The grapes are picked from selected very ripe bunches in the autumn (late November-early December), and have to be hand-picked. Generally Auslese wine can be made in only the best harvest years that have been sufficiently warm. A small proportion"
"were introduced, and the original ""Spätlese"" was further elaborated, first into Auslese in 1787 and later Eiswein in 1858 (although Eiswein is usually made from grapes not affected by ""Botrytis""). In some cases inoculation occurs when spores of the fungus are sprayed over the grapes, while some vineyards depend on natural inoculation from spores present in the environment. The fungus perforates the grapes' skin, allowing water in the grape to evaporate during dry conditions, and thereby raising the sugar concentration in the remaining juice. Some of the finest botrytized wines are picked berry by berry in successive (French for ""selections"")."
"Beerenauslese Beerenauslese (literal meaning: ""selected harvest of berries"") is a German language wine term for a late harvest wine. Beerenauslese is a category in the ""Prädikatswein"" category of the Austrian and German wine classifications, and is a category above Auslese. Beerenauslese wines, often called ""BA"" for short, are usually made from grapes affected by noble rot, that is ""botrytized"" grapes. The grapes for ""Beerenauslese"" wines are those that have been individually picked. These wines are typically very sweet and rich, and most age very well. The finest Beerenauslese wines are generally considered to be made from the Riesling grape variety,"
"rotten grapes. But rather than a failed product, the wine turned out to be surprisingly good. Schloss Johannisberg began actively seeking to produce late harvest – ""Spätlese"" – wines affected by noble rot. The delayed courier therefore became to be referred to as the ""Spätlesereiter"". In 1778 Thomas Jefferson tasted a bottle of Spätlese that was given to him and was so impressed that he advised friends who were in Europe to go to the Rheingau to experience the wines and bring a case back to America. Terminology for different levels of late harvest wines, based on grape selection, were"
"only for domestic consumption, but also export. An important event took place in 1775 at Schloss Johannisberg in Rheingau, when the courier delivering the harvest permission was delayed for two weeks, with the result that most of the grapes in Johannisberg's Riesling-only vineyard had been affected by noble rot before the harvest began. Unexpectedly, these ""rotten grapes"" gave a very good sweet wine, which was termed Spätlese, meaning late harvest. From this time, late harvest wines from grapes affected by noble rot have been produced intentionally. The subsequent differentiation of wines based on harvested ripeness, starting with Auslese in 1787,"
"Rheingau winemaker Schloss Johannisberg is generally credited with discovering Auslese wine in 1787. Auslesen are sometimes considered a German dessert wine, especially the wines made from botrytis infected bunches, though it is not as sweet as Eiswein, Beerenauslese (BA), or Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) dessert wines. Auslesen can be enjoyed by themselves (""aperitif"" – an ""afternoon wine"") but are usually best accompanied with food, particularly those that exhibit the hearty characteristics of German cuisine. The term in Alsace most closely corresponding to Auslese in terms of must weight requirements is ""Vendange tardive"", even though this French term is linguistically equivalent to the"
"these grapes yielded very sweet must, they were pressed and an Ice wine was produced. Sweet wines produced from late harvested grapes were well-established as the most valued German wine style by the early 19th century, following the discovery of Spätlese at Schloss Johannisberg in Rheingau in 1775, and the subsequent introduction of the Auslese designation. These wines would usually be produced from grapes affected by noble rot. Thus, Eiswein is a more recent German wine style than the botrytised wines. Throughout the 19th century and until 1960, Eiswein harvests were a rare occurrence in Germany. Only six 19th century"
"high glass and half juice or wine. In the Palatinate, in Germany, a wine schorle may consist of considerably less than 1/2 water if it is ordered 'fett' (German for 'fat'). There is no specific word for Schorle in the English language. However, Spritzer is very similar with the slight difference of Schorle typically being a freshly mixed drink and not usually sold in cans or bottles as spritzers sometimes are. Schorle, Spritzer and Gespritzter are all expressions for similar variations of Schorle: Schorle (usually with the female German article “die”, but in Baden-Württemberg typically with the neutral German article"
"Trockenbeerenauslese Trockenbeerenauslese (literal meaning: ""dried berries selection"") is a German language wine term for a medium to full body dessert wine. ""Trockenbeerenauslese"" is the highest in sugar content in the ""Prädikatswein"" category of the Austrian and German wine classifications. ""Trockenbeerenauslese"" wines, often called ""TBA"" for short, are made from individually selected grapes affected by noble rot, i.e. """"botrytized"""" grapes. This means that the grapes have been individually picked and are shrivelled with noble rot, often to the point of appearing like a raisin. They are therefore very sweet and have an intensely rich flavor, frequently with a lot of caramel"
"indicated by the following designations for Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein. For sparkling wines (Sekt), many of the same designations are used, but have a different meaning. There are also color designations that can be used on the label: Some producers also use additional propriate designations to denote quality or ripeness level within a Prädikat. These are out of the scope of the German wine law. Especially for Auslese, which can cover a wide range of sweetness levels, the presence of any of these designations tends to indicate a sweet dessert wine rather than a semi-sweet wine. These designations are all unregulated."
"since they are not allowed to be chaptalized. From the 1980s, and even more from the 1990s, production of dry wines became much more common in Germany. Thus, wines designated ""Spätlese trocken"" in many cases came to represent the best dry wines from many wineries. From the early 2000s, the new designations Grosses Gewächs and Erstes Gewächs have become more common, with the result that remaining Spätlese trocken wines rather represents the second-best dry wines. In Austria, which largely abandoned the semi-sweet wine category in the wake of the 1985 diethylene glycol scandal in order to concentrate more on dry"
"wines at higher Prädikat levels tends to vary from year to year depending on vintage conditions, and all wines with higher designations sell at a premium price. As the sweet wines were more favoured at the time of the scandal than they have been in the 1990s and 2000s, and since the Prädikat designations were almost universally recognized throughout the German-speaking countries, a cheap Auslese or Beerenauslese was often identified as a ""bargain"" by many German consumers. Many of the cheap sweet wines exported from Austria were blends from different grape varieties, and several of them did not carry any"
"In some places it is said that wine spritzers make poets sing and nations come together. The word comes from the German ""spritzen"" ""spatter, squirt, spray, sprinkle"", i.e. adding water and thus diluting the wine so that it can be consumed in larger, thirst-quenching amounts. Alcoholic spritzers are increasingly available ready-mixed in cans; their relatively low alcohol and calorific content means they are often marketed at women. In Hesse, ""gespritzt"" usually refers to a mixture of soda water or lemonade and ""Apfelwein"" (in Central Hessian dialect, ""Ebblwoi""), an alcoholic drink from fermented apple juice somewhat similar to dry hard cider."
"the bottle type is actually called ""vin du Rhin"", i.e., ""Rhine wine bottle"". Without being mandated by law, this bottle format is also common and traditional in many German regions, particularly for Riesling and other traditional white wine varieties. There are two late harvest classifications, Vendange Tardive (VT) and Sélection de Grains Nobles (SGN). ""Vendange Tardive"" means ""late harvest"" (which in German would be ""Spätlese""), but in terms of must weight requirements, VT is similar to Auslese in Germany. ""Sélection de Grains Nobles"" means ""selection of noble berries"", i.e. grapes affected by noble rot, and is similar to a German"
"on rare occasions a Gespritzter is also called “Sprüher” or “Sprühwein”. In some areas of Lower Austria it is also called “Siphon”. In Styria it is called “Mischung” (mixture). In the state of Vorarlberg the names “white-sweet”, “white-sour”, ""red-sour” and ""red-sweet” are common. These are Gespritze served in 0.25 litre stemware or glasses with a handle. The mixing ratio is about 50% white or red wine with 50% sparkling water (sour) or Lemonade (sweet). The name Gespritzter is universally understood but rarely used. The Styrian name “Mischung” is largely unknown here. A “Gespritzter” or “die Gespritzte” (for females) is also"
"at time of harvest. Within the Qualitätswein mit Prädikat classification, there are four levels of late harvest wines, roughly ranging from dry to very sweet: Spätlese (""late harvest""), Auslese (""selected harvest""), Beerenauslese (""selected berries harvest"") and Trockenbeerenauslese (""selected dried-berries harvest"") with the last two levels being botrytized. Ice wines are popular in the cold northernly wine regions of Germany and Canada where the grapes can freeze on the vine. As the grapes are pressed, the frozen water crystals are eliminated leaving the highly concentrated sugar behind. Raisin wines are sometimes made from grapes that have been left on the vine"
"Vendange tardive Vendange tardive (""VT"") means """"late harvest"""" in French. The phrase refers to a style of dessert wine where the grapes are allowed to hang on the vine until they start to dehydrate. This process, called passerillage, concentrates the sugars in the juice and changes the flavours within it. The name is sometimes written as the plural form, ""vendanges tardives"", referring to the fact that several runs through the vineyard is often necessary to produce such wines. In others countries such as Germany or Austria the term Spätlese is used to describe wine using the same making process. Alsace"
"Vendange tardive Vendange tardive (""VT"") means """"late harvest"""" in French. The phrase refers to a style of dessert wine where the grapes are allowed to hang on the vine until they start to dehydrate. This process, called passerillage, concentrates the sugars in the juice and changes the flavours within it. The name is sometimes written as the plural form, ""vendanges tardives"", referring to the fact that several runs through the vineyard is often necessary to produce such wines. In others countries such as Germany or Austria the term Spätlese is used to describe wine using the same making process. Alsace"
"mineral water and lemonade. In the Palatinate, the ratio of wine is often much larger; depending on the waiting staff, the glass is filled almost completely with wine and diluted with only a spritzer of water, especially in wine bars and at wine festivals. In the Palatinate, schorle is traditionally served in a special glass that holds 0.5 liters, a Palatinate pint glass. A regional term for this glass is “Dubbeglas”. Similarly to schorle, wine is sometimes mixed with cola: red cola and white cola, meaning cola mixed with red or white wine respectively. Schorle is also called Gespritzter in"
"requirements may be 150 grams per liter, but in exceptional circumstances, the wines may contain more than 300 grams of sugar per liter and may approach the very rare ""Tokaji Eszencia"" in concentration. Trockenbeerenauslese Trockenbeerenauslese (literal meaning: ""dried berries selection"") is a German language wine term for a medium to full body dessert wine. ""Trockenbeerenauslese"" is the highest in sugar content in the ""Prädikatswein"" category of the Austrian and German wine classifications. ""Trockenbeerenauslese"" wines, often called ""TBA"" for short, are made from individually selected grapes affected by noble rot, i.e. """"botrytized"""" grapes. This means that the grapes have been individually"
"a portion of selected unfermented grape must, free of microorganisms, to be added to wine as a sweetening component. This technique was developed in Germany and is used with German-style wines such as semi-sweet Riesling or Müller–Thurgau. The technique not only raises the sugar level of the wine, but also lowers the amount of alcohol. Under German law, no more than fifteen percent of the final wine's volume may be the reserved juice. This practice is allowed also for Prädikatswein, the highest level in the German wine classification. It is often used for semi-sweet Kabinett and Spätlese, but more rarely"
"come across as less elegant and usually without the potential to improve with cellaring. In Alsace, the term most closely corresponding to Beerenauslese is Sélection de Grains Nobles. The minimum must weight requirements for Beerenauslese is as follows: Chaptalisation may not be used. The requirements are part of the wine law in both countries. Many producers, especially top-level producers, exceed the minimum requirements, resulting in richer and sweeter wines that can exceed the minimum requirements for Trockenbeerenauslese, the next ""Prädikat"" in order. In Germany, it is common to add a golden capsule to indicate a superior wine. Beerenauslese Beerenauslese (literal"
"some areas of Germany but this doesn’t always mean the same thing: In Hesse ‘Gespritzer’ stands for a 2:1, sometimes even a 3:1 mixture of apple wine and sparkling water. At traditional apple wine pubs, this mixture is only served in corrugated apple wine glasses. Today it is also known as Sauergespritzter , so that it can be differentiated from ‘Süßgespritzten’, which is made with Lemonade. In Rheinhessen a ‘Gespritzter’ or ‘sauer Gespritzter’ is a mixture made out of white wine or red wine together with sparkling water. In addition, there are also mixtures with cola or Lemonade. In Bavaria"
"of Germany, the notable exception being Mosel. Wine with very similar characteristics but made from higher quality grapes can be labeled as Spätlese or Auslese. In the U.S. and the UK, perhaps the best known example has been Blue Nun, which no longer uses the ""Liebfraumilch"" designation. While the term ""Liebfraumilch"" is associated with low quality wine, German wine classification requires it to be at the ""Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete"" (QbA) level—the second rank of four. It must also be from Rheinhessen, Pfalz, Nahe or Rheingau, the grapes used must be at least 70% Riesling, Silvaner or Müller-Thurgau, and it must"
"single variety of grape with that particular variety needing to be denoted on the wine label. ""Rotling"" refers to a rosé that is either made from multiple grape varieties that can either be all red wine varieties or a mixture of white and red grape varieties. This designation is required on all Tafelwein (table wine), Landwein (""country wine"" similar to the French ""vin de pays"") and ""Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete"" (QbA) level but its presence on the label is optional for Prädikatswein (the highest classification of German wine). In the Baden region, ""Badisch Rotgold"" is a specialty rosé made from Spätburgunder"