2012 Riesling Spätlese Trocken Wallerath Schweicher Annaberg

[djewesbury]

I don't know why they write so much on the front label of Rieslings. I am still confused as to what a Spätlese Trocken as against a Feinherb Trocken is, and all the additional nomenclature seems excessive. The winemaker is called Wallerath and they're in the Mosel..

The merchant was very keen that I should take this and try it today, against other bottles I was eyeing that were more expensive. I am drinking it with Curried Prawns Amrita (my mother's recipe) and basmati.

The lightest yellow - pale white lemonade, no hint of straw.

Nose shows just the usual gooseberry / lychee Riesling characteristics - too cold to express itself much.

This is a very nice, light wine, it begins with very slight dryness and a touch of acidity, on the tongue it is bringing gooseberries (in season right now, over here) and something baked - a figginess? Unexpected, but very pleasant and adding complexity. In the finish it becomes very nicely dry, the tannin starts to show and the acidity leaves the tongue dry. A lovely, slightly sour finish which goes on for a long time.

Happy to drink the rest.

[AW77]

I don't know why they write so much on the front label of Rieslings.

I know it's confusing at first, once you get the gist of it, you really can get a lot of useful information out of the label.

I've never heard of this producer but from what you write I can get the following information:
2012: the vintage (obviously)
Riesling: the grape variety (obvious, too)
Spätlese: a "Prädikat" level that means late harvest, so the grapes were picked 7 days after the start of the harvest, in general this warrants for wines with a more full body as the grapes are riper
trocken: sweetness level, in this case dry
Wallerath: I guess this is the producer
Schweicher: Schweich seems to be the village where the wine is from ("-er" being the genitive case)
Annaberg: the vineyard in the village of Schweich where the grapes came from

I would suggest the following bibliographic format:
Vintage producer village vineyard grape variety Prädikat level sweetness level
2012 Wallerath Schweicher Annaberg Riesling Spätlese trocken

[djewesbury]

Thank you André, that's very helpful information! And your suggestion regarding bibliographic format makes perfect sense also.
What then does the designation 'Feinherb' refer to?

[djewesbury]

So this is the Good Riesling Schweich.

[AW77]

What then does the designation 'Feinherb' refer to?

You could translate it as "off-dry". It's not really dry, but not really sweet, too. So it's somewhere in between. The term became more fashionable recently among vintners as it is more flexibel than just labeling the wines "trocken" (dry) or sweet (actually the label would never state that the wine is sweet, the rule is that sweet is the norm, so if a wine is dry it should be explicitely labeled as dry). If the Riesling has a lot of acidity, then it tastes rounder if it is balanced with a little more of residual sugar. As a rule of thumb, you get an idea of how sweet or dry a Riesling is by looking at the alcohol content. If it is 11,5 % or more, then the wine will by fairly dry. The lower the alcohol content from the 11,5 % mark, the sweeter the wine will be. So a feinherb Riesling with 10,5 % will be less sweet than one with 10 or 9,5 %.

[AW77]

So this is the Good Riesling Schweich.

No doubt a witty allusion to "The Good Soldier Švejk". A good one too.

[djewesbury]

So this is the Good Riesling Schweich.

No doubt a witty allusion to "The Good Soldier Švejk". A good one too.

Thank you again André, we're a pretty tight team by now I think. And your information about dryness / acidity / alcoholic volume is all extremely useful. Looking forward to our trip.

[AW77]

And your information about dryness / acidity / alcoholic volume is all extremely useful. Looking forward to our trip.

Me too. Then we will test all this grey theoretical stuff in the field. You as an academic could label this "cultural studies". Perhaps you should publish an artical about it afterwards, perhaps with this title: "Transgressing Oenophile Boundaries: Gendered German wine labels as a critique of Post-Deleuzian Semiotics". I suggest the journal "Social Text".

[djewesbury]

And your information about dryness / acidity / alcoholic volume is all extremely useful. Looking forward to our trip.

Me too. Then we will test all this grey theoretical stuff in the field. You as an academic could label this "cultural studies". Perhaps you should publish an artical about it afterwards, perhaps with this title: "Transgressing Oenophile Boundaries: Gendered German wine labels as a critique of Post-Deleuzian Semiotics". I suggest the journal "Social Text".

I think we'd need Owen to co-author that one

[LGTrotter]

Semiotics. God forbid.

And apparently flybe do Exeter to Belfast for £68.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Semiotics. God forbid.

I take it you're not a fan of the Paolo Baldi detective stories then?

And apparently flybe do Exeter to Belfast for £68.

But how much do they charge for Belfast to Exeter?

[LGTrotter]

I have a shudder every time I think of a book 'structuralism and semiotics' which I was made to read. Talk about sucking all the joy out of a subject.

I must have got muddled about which thread I was on when discussing air fares. Often happens around that time of day.

[djewesbury]

And apparently flybe do Exeter to Belfast for £68.

Do it!!