Germans overcome wine production woes
This is the third in a seven-part series on wine by
Fine Arts staff member Larry Kubert
by Larry Kubert
Wine production in Germany is not easy. There are
problems which must be confronted: lack of sunlight,
too brief a summer, the danger of spring frost ruining
the grape crop, and extremely steep hills meaning
vineyards are terraced. Despite all these
inconveniences Germany produces some of the best
wines in the world.
The better German wines are white wines, almost
universally made from the Riesling grape, although
there are other varieties used (Scheurebe, Sylvaner,
Traminer).
Most German wines comes from the Rhine River
valley or the Moselle River valley in southwestern
Germany. The three major producing areas in the
Rhine Valley are the Rheingau, the Rheinhessen and
the Rheinfalz.
The Rheingau uses Riesling grapes almost
exclusively and produces a crisp, rich wine. The
Rheinhessen uses both the Riesling and Sylvaner
grapes. Rheinhessen wines tend to be softer than
those of the Rheingau. Liebfraumilch originated in
the Rheinhessen.
Often regarded as a separate wine, Liebfraumilch
can refer to any wine which comes from the Rhine
vineyards. Liebfraumilch , many times, is a blend of
lesser wines, but some reliable brands are Sichel's
Blue Nun, Langenbach's Crown of Crowns and
Hallgarten's Blackfriars.
The Rheinfalz produces a spicy, rich wine that is
best served with dessert or rich meats, such as game.
Another sweet wine made from the Rhine Valley
Riesling is May wine, a white wine flavored with the
European herb woodruff.
The Moselle River Valley wines are lighter and
drier than those of the Rhine and overall have a more
delicate taste. Having a very low alcoholic content
(usually not more than 10 per cent), the Moselle
wines are very good for lunch or dinner.
Moselle wines use Riesling grapes. The vineyards
are lined with slate, which keeps the soil moist.
During the summer it absorbs heat which is radiated
back to the plants at night.
Rhine wines are shipped in brown bottles,-Moselles
in green. Moselles mature rather quickly and should
be drunk relatively young (after four or five years).
German wine producers believe it's wrong to
mislead people. That's why German wine labels are
often confusing, they tell you everything you need to
know about the wine on the label, but in German.
On most German wine labels, the first word tells
what village the wine comes from: Bernkasteler from
Bernkastel or Piesporter from Piesport. The second
word indicates the site or vineyard. Thus, Oestricher
Doosberg is a wine from the Doosberg vineyard at
Oestricher.
There are exceptions to this rule, however. Certain
vineyards are so outstanding that it is not necessary
to identify the village. Three such examples from the
Rheingau are Steinberger, Schloss Johannisberger and
Schloss Vollrads.
After the village and vineyard comes the name of
the grape used, most likely Riesling. However, again,
the better vineyards don't name their grapes because
they assume it is commonly known they use nothing
but Rieslings. Instead they may use a word indicating
the ripeness and sweetness of the grape.
There are four categories used to indicate
sweetness and ripeness. Spatlese meaning
late-gathered (after the normal harvest); Auslese
meaning selectly gathered (especially ripe);
Beerenauslese meaning selected overripe grapes, and
Trockenbeerenauslese neaning selected dried or
raisinlike grapes.
Naturally, a wine bearing one of these names is
more expensive, not because it is much fuller, richer
and more powerful, but also because the wine
producer takes a great risk in waiting to harvest. If he
waits too long, frost might destroy the grapes.
If there are no label terms indicating use of
overripe grapes, the wine is probably from a normal
harvest and will be fairly dry.
Appearing next on the label is the vintage year.
Some of the better recent vintage years for Rhine and
Moselle wines are 1970er, 1969erand 1966er; 1967er
was a mixed and confusing year, with both great
wines and failures.
The rankings feine (fine), Feinste (finest) and
hochfeine (very finest) often are used by wine
producers before the terms Spatlese, Auslese,
Beerenauslese or Trockenbeerenauslese to further
classify the wines.
Some other German terminology occasionally seen
on a wine label is Wachstum, Gewachs or Kresenz
meaning "growth of" and is usually followed by the
name of the vineyard owner. Kellerabfullung or
Kellerabzug means cellar bottling and is the same as
Original-Abfullung which indicates that the wine also
was bottled by the man who made it.
Alsace, a French province to Germany, produces
some nice wine that has much the same lightness and
freshness that Moselles have.
Alsatian wines are sold in tapered green bottles
marked by the variety of grape: Riesling, Sylvaner or
Traminer. The Riesling and Traminer wines are
considered superior to the Sylvaner.
Rhine, Moselle
served cooled or
glasses.
and Alsatian wines should be
chilled in long-stemmed, clear
( i 'a -m
ECS CREAM EMPORIUM
Enjoy these
old-time
Treats
17th & Van Dorn Open until 10 p.m. Closed Monday
Halloween Costume Party
1 st prize $50
2 runners up $25 each
Bumpy Action
no cover charge if in costume
$1 cover charge if not in costume
Tues. Oct. 31
ROYAL GROVE
340 N. Cornhusker Hwy.
fHatfMiiiell'i
"Three LiVeS
at Sheldon Gallery
3,7fartd 9i p.m.
Wednesday, NoV.l
tl.oo
SPECIAL FILMS COMMITTEE MEETIfJG
Friday, October 27th 7:00 p.m.
AGENDA: We will be selecting films for the spring semester.
Anyone interested in films & the Committee is invited.
the Daisy
Gateway
WE ARE HAVING A
Halloween Happening
Sale
THE TREAT'S ON US TAKE
Off
Anything in our regular stock
Now thru Halloween!
Pb$ Save
40 O
Special Group of Sportswear
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the Daisy
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friday, October 27, 1972
daily nebraskan
page 9