W3 Wine School

Riesling Beerenauslese (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 Beerenauslese is a dessert wine.

Riesling Beerenauslese Flavors

Lemon
Lemon
Lime
Lime
Orange
Orange
Apple
Apple
Pear
Pear
Peach
Peach
Nectarine
Nectarine
Pineapple
Pineapple
Apricot
Apricot
Flowers
Flowers
Herbs
Herbs
Steel
Steel

Citrus, Apple, Pear, Peach, and Pinapple are typical Riesling flavors, with hints of Herbs and delicate Floral notes, almost perfumed.

Riesling Beerenauslese Profile

Beerenauslese wines are sweet (100 g/l sugar) aromatic, almost perfumed, with high acidity:

SUGAR:Sweet
BODY:Medium-Full
FRUIT:Medium-High
ACIDITY:High
Temperature Serving temperatures:
8-10°C (46-50°F)

Riesling Beerenauslese Food Pairing

Aperitif
Meditation
Aperitif
Cheese
Cheese
Fruit
Fruit
Dessert
Dessert

Riesling Beerenauslese is a dessert wine. It matches strong Cheeses (Salty Blue) and Fruit Desserts.

Excellent Pairings

Meditation. Foie Gras.
Fresh Fruit Tart with Berries and Custard.
Tarte Tatin. Pineapple.
Lemon Tart. Strawberries with Ice Cream.
Peaches with Ice Cream.

Cheeses

Aged Hard Cheeses. Comté. Gruyère. Salty Blue. Gorgonzola. Stilton.

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.


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