Misunderstood: The Case for German Wine

October puts us all in the mood for a good Oktoberfest, hoisting full steins of good German beer accompanied by sausages and other German goodies.  It’s always a fun time, but it also raises an interesting question, as to why Germany, a land with a history of winemaking, always seems to be in the back seat among the world’s winemakers.

A similar question was posed by our new German exchange student, who moved in with us last month and noticed my obsession with wine. 

“Are German wines really any good, or do we just say that because we make them?” he asked. 

“Yes, there are some outstanding German wines,” I responded.

“Why don’t you have any?” he asked.  Good question.  And he didn’t like the answer.

The problem with German wines isn’t the wine itself; it’s the label.  Most German wine labels include lots of information, much of which is completely unpronounceable.  Very little of that information actually tells the consumer what to expect in his or her wine glass.  We can tell from looking at the bottle that most German wines are white, but most German wine labels do not tell us the varietal (is it Riesling, pinot gris or gewürztraminer?) or whether the wine is sweet or dry.  There is no back label to describe the flavors or suggest food pairings.  This lack of information is a significant drawback in today’s wine world, where customers know what they want in a wine.  If he or she can’t figure out quickly from a label whether a particular wine is what he or she is looking for, he or she moves on, to French, Chilean, Italian or even California wines.

I think the problem is that in this arena, the Germans are glued to tradition – to the detriment of their wine industry.  A little explanation is in order here.

The wine world is often divided into “Old World” and “New World.”  The “Old World” usually refers to France, Italy, Spain, Germany and Portugal.  The “New World” typically refers to the United States, Australia, New Zealand and South America. 

In much of the Old World, the land planted with grape vines has been used to grow grapes and make wine for hundreds (in some cases more than a thousand) years.  That long period of time has given grape growers and wine makers a lot of time to experiment with types of grapes and styles of wine.  As a result of so many years of experimentation, it is now clear what grapes grow best in many of the Old World wine regions, and typically, once a region has become renowned for a particular type of grape, little else is planted.

That’s why “Burgundy” is now planted almost exclusively with pinot noir (a red wine grape) and chardonnay (a white wine grape).  That’s why Champagne is only allowed--by law--to be made from chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier.  And that’s also why, by law, only 14 grapes may be used in any bottle of wine labeled as “Bordeaux.” 

As the perfect varietals were identified for each region, local and national governments began adopting laws that made those varietals mandatory in those regions.  The idea was to preserve the quality reputation of the region’s wine.  It’s rather like quality control at McDonald’s.  No matter which McDonald’s you visit, you know what the Big Mac is going to taste like.  Similarly, no matter which “Chablis” you grab off the shelf, you know you are going to get a lovely, flinty, citrusy, perhaps minerally, chardonnay.  Thus, in the Old World, identifying the region where the wine was made is all the consumer needs to know in selecting a wine.

In the New World, things are different.  We are still experimenting with varietals and where to plant them.  After all, the very oldest vineyards in the New World are rarely older than about 150 years.  Many, of course, are significantly younger than that.  Because putting a region on the label of a New World wine is virtually meaningless to the average consumer, wine makers began identifying the varietal from which the wine was made (cabernet sauvignon, merlot, pinot noir, chardonnay, etc.).  Then they discovered that providing more information improved sales.  So they started including descriptions of the wine’s flavors and sometimes even food pairing suggestions.  Consumers loved it, and it was great for the wine industries in the United States and Australia.  About the only people who didn’t get excited about this innovation were the Old World winemakers.

They did, however, take notice, especially in France and Italy.  If you look closely at the French and Italian wine bottles in our local stores, you’ll notice that many of them now include the grape varietal on the label.  They understand the need to stay abreast of consumer trends.  Alas, the Germans are the exception; they haven’t yet caught on.

A German wine label will tell you the region from which the wine came (Mosel, Pfalz, Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Nahe, etc.).  Sometimes, it will even tell you the varietal (most of the really good wines are predominantly Riesling).  But most of the time, the label fails to tell you one of the most basic pieces of information a consumer wants:  Is the wine dry or sweet?

There are a number of terms that Germans use to describe the ripeness of the grapes that went into the particular bottle (in ascending order of ripeness, these are Kabinet, Spaetlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese).  But unfortunately, these terms vary in definition from region to region and do not correspond to particular levels of sweetness in the finished wine.  So, for most consumers, this information is useless.

There are also various levels of quality among German wines, which are also shown on the label:  Tafelwine (table wine), Landwein (wine from a particular region), QbA (quality wine from a particular region) and Praedikatswein (quality wine with special characteristics from a particular region with).  But even if you decide to narrow your selection down to a Praedikatswein, you still don’t know whether it’s going to be sweet.

It’s too bad that German wines have to be such a mystery, because some of them are really very good; many are even extraordinary.  They have pure fruit flavors, frequently some combination of peach, pear, apricot and/or citrus.  There’s often a hint of mineral, and the flavors are usually very concentrated.  They are terrific with a wide variety of food.  They are very aromatic, making it fun just to sniff the glass.  Unfortunately, even with formal education in wine, I still can’t predict most of the time whether a bottle of German wine is going to be sweet or dry, and without that basic piece of information, I can’t pair the wine with a meal.  Thus, I tend to pass over German wines, probably to my detriment.

So, my advice to our German exchange student is that if wants a future career that bring him a lot of benefit, he ought to go into business advising German wineries on their labeling and marketing practices.  If he succeeds, the sales of German wines will increase, and perhaps Germans will be known for something other than just their beer!