Spätlese
Spätlese (literal meaning: "late harvest"; plural form is Spätlesen) is a
The wines may be either sweet or dry; it is a level of ripeness that particularly suits rich dry wines from Riesling, Weißer Burgunder, and Grauer Burgunder grapes for example, as at Auslese levels the alcohol levels may become very high in a dry wine, leaving the wine unbalanced, making wines with at least some residual sweetness preferable to most palates. However, most German wines are traditionally dry, and the amount 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.
Characteristics
- Greater intensity and strength than Kabinett
- High level of acidity that curbs any overt sweetness
- Fleshy and intensely flavored
- Often tastes of apple, pear and honeysuckle
- Elegant nose with highly detectable aromas
Requirements
The minimum must weight requirements for Spätlese are as follows:
- In German wine, 76 to 90 degrees grape variety.[3]
- In Austrian wine, 19
History
The Spätlese courier at Schloss Johannisberg
Legend has it that the introduction of the Spätlese category took place in the
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.
Additional Prädikat levels
Terminology for different levels of late harvest wines, based on grape selection, were then introduced starting with Auslese ("Select harvest") being introduced in 1787,[7][8] 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 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.[citation needed]
Later history
In the 1971 German
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
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, Spätlese wines are much less common than in Germany.
See also
References
- ^ Deutsches Weininstitut (German Wine Institute): Quality categories Archived 2007-12-24 at the Wayback Machine, accessed on May 19, 2008
- ^ a b Wines from Austria: Quality Designations in Detail Archived 2008-05-13 at the Wayback Machine, accessed on May 19, 2008
- ^ Deutsches Weininstitut (German Wine Institute): Must weights Archived 2008-04-14 at the Wayback Machine, accessed on May 19, 2008
- ^ Wein-Plus Weinglossar: Mostgewicht, accessed on January 22, 2013
- ^ Wein-Plus Glossar: Spätlesereiter, accessed on January 22, 2013
- ^ A Short History of Riesling Archived 2006-08-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 1-56305-434-5
- ^ A History of Schloss Johannisberg Archived 2006-07-16 at the Wayback Machine