Riesling Kabinett
The travel was easy this morning. Basically, it required rolling out of bed. We're still in the northern Rhein/Rhine region of Germany and we're drinking Riesling. More specifically, we're drinking Riesling Kabinett.
It sure does seem like a strange name. Kabinett translated to English means cabinet. So, in Germany, the wines classified Kabinett are considered good enough that the winemaker, rather than selling them, might want to keep them in his own cabinet or kabinett.
In the German wine classification taxonomy, the grade of a pradikat wine is determined by the specific mass of the must (the juice with stems, seeds, and skins). For wines of the region, this is measured on the Oeschle Scale, presumably named after a scientist with the last name Oeschle. When the must has a specific mass at 20C/68F in excess of 1 kilogram, each gram in excess of 1 kilogram is an Oeschle point, designated as Oe. For our Riesling to be of the Kabinett quality, the wine must generally be at least 82 Oe (as low as somewhere around 65 or 70 Oe in some parts of the country).
Riesling Kabinett grapes are typically picked in mid-late September. They are quite acidic and almost always low in alcohol, at least by American wine standards. Many Kabinetts have less than 8% alcohol by volume (ABV) and extremely few are as high as 11% ABV.
Upon opening our bottles, we get a small variety of aromas, but almost all have quite intense ultra-ripe apricot on the nose surrounded by lemon and other citrus fruit as well as the characteristic hints of gasoline (it sounds so much better when the Europeans refer to it as petrol) and lanolin.
On the palate, we find more stone fruit varying from bottle to bottle among, peach, nectarine, and apricot with intense minerality and white floral notes. As the wines hit the mid-palate, we note a spritz of lemon-lime soft drink with just a hint of effervescence to it.
Some of our Kabinetts are sweeter than others. Wines that have been fully fermented lose much of their residual sugar, but many winemakers will choose to stop fermentation earlier in the process (this is more difficult to control) producing a lower alcohol wine with more residual sugar.
Pair the dryer Kabinett with shellfish, light white fish (think sole, for example), and particularly acidic vegetables such as asparagus. Barely sweeter Riesling Kabinett pairs quite nicely with sushi particularly when served with wasabi as the acidity highlights the fish/shellfish while the sweetness cuts through the wasabi. And, last but not least, consider the even more sweet Riesling Kabinett with the traditional foods of India and Thailand.
It sure does seem like a strange name. Kabinett translated to English means cabinet. So, in Germany, the wines classified Kabinett are considered good enough that the winemaker, rather than selling them, might want to keep them in his own cabinet or kabinett.
In the German wine classification taxonomy, the grade of a pradikat wine is determined by the specific mass of the must (the juice with stems, seeds, and skins). For wines of the region, this is measured on the Oeschle Scale, presumably named after a scientist with the last name Oeschle. When the must has a specific mass at 20C/68F in excess of 1 kilogram, each gram in excess of 1 kilogram is an Oeschle point, designated as Oe. For our Riesling to be of the Kabinett quality, the wine must generally be at least 82 Oe (as low as somewhere around 65 or 70 Oe in some parts of the country).
Riesling Kabinett grapes are typically picked in mid-late September. They are quite acidic and almost always low in alcohol, at least by American wine standards. Many Kabinetts have less than 8% alcohol by volume (ABV) and extremely few are as high as 11% ABV.
Upon opening our bottles, we get a small variety of aromas, but almost all have quite intense ultra-ripe apricot on the nose surrounded by lemon and other citrus fruit as well as the characteristic hints of gasoline (it sounds so much better when the Europeans refer to it as petrol) and lanolin.
On the palate, we find more stone fruit varying from bottle to bottle among, peach, nectarine, and apricot with intense minerality and white floral notes. As the wines hit the mid-palate, we note a spritz of lemon-lime soft drink with just a hint of effervescence to it.
Some of our Kabinetts are sweeter than others. Wines that have been fully fermented lose much of their residual sugar, but many winemakers will choose to stop fermentation earlier in the process (this is more difficult to control) producing a lower alcohol wine with more residual sugar.
Pair the dryer Kabinett with shellfish, light white fish (think sole, for example), and particularly acidic vegetables such as asparagus. Barely sweeter Riesling Kabinett pairs quite nicely with sushi particularly when served with wasabi as the acidity highlights the fish/shellfish while the sweetness cuts through the wasabi. And, last but not least, consider the even more sweet Riesling Kabinett with the traditional foods of India and Thailand.
Comments
Post a Comment
I'd like your feedback and questions.