Food Chemistry

910 20 Alcoholic Beverages

Table 20.10.(continued)

Cultivar Wine Acidb Must Matura- Yielde Comments about winef
typea weightc tion
charac-
teristicsd

Red wine cultivars
Burgundy,
blue, late

2–3 2 4 2–3 Full-bodied, strongly flavored with
a rounded bouquet, dark red mellow
wine
Heroldrebe A superior neutral wine with
a tannin-like astringency
Limberger, blue 2 2 5 2 Characteristically fruity, a somewhat
herbaceous, tarty and finely astrin-
gent bluish-red wine
Muellerrebe
(black riesling)

2 2 4 2 Reminiscent of late Burgundy, but of
lower quality
Portuguese, blue 2 1–2 1 3 A neutral mellow bluish-red wine
with a bouquet deficiency
Trollinger, blue 2 2 3 A mellow refreshing light wine with
a pungent flavor and light-red in
color

aQuality German wines are classified as table wines (Tafelwein, Oechsle degrees less than 60), quality wines

(with all the required characteristics of the growing region and an Oechsle degree of at least 60) and the special
high quality wines (Oechsle degrees at least 73). The latter are denotedaccording to increasing quality as Kabinett,
Spaetlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese and for the top quality as Trockenbeerenauslese. In addition to the rating, the
label might carry a designation as Eiswein (ice-wine, see text).
R: Riesling group of wine (superior, fruity wine with distinct acidity)
S: Sylvaner group (neutral wine devoid of a distinct bouquet)
M: Mueller-Thurgau group (light, flowery with discrete bouquet)
T: Traminer group (wine with a fine bouquet)
B: Bouquet group of wine (wine with strong and aromatic bouquet)
A: Auslese group of wines (fullbodied great wines).
b1: Low (approx. 50 g/l), 2: medium (approx. 5–10 g/l), and 3: high acidity (10–15 g/l).
c1: 60–70 Oechsle degrees, 2: 70–85◦C, and 3:>85 Oechsle degrees.
d1: Very early maturing (beginning–middle of September), 2: early (middle–end of September, 3: early-medium

(end of September, beginning of October), 4: medium late (beginning–middle of October), 5: late (middle–end of
October), and 6: very late maturing cultivar (end of October beginning of November).
e1: Low (60 hl/ha), 2: average (60–80 hl/ha), and 3: high yielding cultivar (≥90 hl/ha).
fThe wine organoleptic quality description has its own wine dictionary. Terms classify and refer to wine (1) aroma

or bouquet, (2) body, (3) sweetness and acids, (4) variety or cultivar, (5) age and (6) wine taste harmony (i. e. to
which extent are the constituents of wine agreeably blended or related).

• Sylvaner– grown in Pfalz, Rheinhessen and
  Franken regions of Germany.


• Mueller-Thurgau – grown widely in east
  Switzerland and in Germany; it is a cross
  between Riesling and Sylvaner.


• Gutedel(Chasselas, Fendant, Dorin) – often
  found in Baden, Alsace, West Switzerland,
  and France.


• Scheurebe– a favored cultivar in Germany, ob-
  tained by crossing Sylvaner and Riesling.
  
  
  • Morio-Muscat, a cultivar of exceptional bou-
    quet.
  
  
  • Veltliner– of significance in Austria, as is
  
  
  • Zierfandler.
  
  
  
  

Grape cultivars providing top quality red wines

are:

• Pinot Noir– the famous red vine cultivated in
  the Cote d’Or region of Burgundy, and also in
  Germany along the river Ahr and in Baden.