Riesling Auslese (Germany)
Riesling is the most planted wine grape in Germany.
It is used to produce dry, semi-dry and sweet white wines, sparkling wines, and dessert wines.
Riesling Auslese is a sweet white wine.
Riesling Auslese Flavors
 Lemon |
 Lime |
 Orange |
 Apple |
 Pear |
 Peach |
 Nectarine |
 Pineapple |
 Apricot |
 Flowers |
 Herbs |
 Steel |
Citrus, Apple, Pear, Peach, and Pinapple are typical Riesling flavors, with hints of Herbs and delicate Floral notes, almost perfumed.
Riesling Auslese Profile
Auslese wines are sweet (50+ g/l sugar) aromatic, almost perfumed, with high acidity:
| SUGAR: | Sweet | ||
| BODY: | Medium-Full | ||
| FRUIT: | Medium-High | ||
| ACIDITY: | High | ||
| |||
Riesling Auslese Food Pairing
 Meditation Aperitif |
 Cheese |
 Hot Mexican |
 Hot Asian |
Riesling Auslese is sweet and works well with Aged Cheeses, Spicy Asian Cuisine and Desserts. The food should never be sweeter than the wine.
Excellent Pairings
Hot Spicy Food. Indian. Thai. Mexican.Meditation. Crab. Foie Gras.
Tropical Dishes with Fresh Fruit. Avocado.
Aged 10-20 years: Braised or Roasted Fowl and Venison.
Cheeses
Aged Hard Cheeses. Comté. Gruyère. Goat. Pungent Cheeses.
Avoid. Chocolate.
Riesling Quality Hierarchy
Germany defines these quality Riesling wines (Qualitätswein mit Prädikat or QmP):
Riesling Kabinett
Riesling Kabinett is the lightest Riesling style.
Kabinett wines range from dry (Trocken 4-9 g/l sugar) to off-dry (Halb trocken 12-18 g/l sugar).
More mineral than fruity it pairs Sushi, Seafood, Veggies and Asian Cuisine.
Riesling Spätlese
Spätlese means "Late Selected". This Riesling is more concentrated and therefore has medium body.
Riesling Spätlese wines are richer than Kabinett wines because the grapes contain more sugar at late harvest. Spätlese wines can be off-dry (Halb trocken 12-18 g/l sugar) or dry (Trocken 4-9 g/l sugar).
Riesling Spätlese pairs Seafood, Shellfish, White Meat (Pork), Smoked Meat and Fish.
Riesling Auslese
Auslese means "Selected". Auslese Riesling grapes are hand selected from the most ripe bunches in late autumn.
Auslese wines are sweeter than Spätlese wines (50 g/l sugar). These wines are produced from hand-picked very ripe grapes that have more sugar than Spätlese.
Riesling Auslese wines pair rich food, foie gras and strong cheeses.
The high sugar ratio makes them great aging wines.
Riesling Beerenauslese
Beerenauslese means "Berry (Grape) Selected".
Theese wines are basically produced from hand picked grapes that have been infected by the Botrytis bacteria (Noble Rot) that dries out the grapes and concentrates the sugar.
Beerenauslese wines are dessert wines (100 g/l sugar).
The high sugar ratio makes them great aging wines.
Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese
Trockenbeerenauslese means "Dry Berry (Grape) Selected".
Trockenbeerenauslese wines are produced from individual selected Beerenauslese grapes.
Trockenbeerenausleses are some of the greatest sweet wines in the world (200 g/l sugar).
The high sugar ratio makes them great aging wines.
Riesling Eiswein
Eiswein means "Ice wine".
Eiswein is a sweet dessert wine made from grapes that have been picked when frozen and pressed when frozen. True Eiswein must be picked in the middle of the night, after two days of frost.
The high sugar ratio makes them great aging wines.