You may know that the different classifications of German
wine depend largely on the sugar content. German wine
styles include Spaetlese which literally means a wine
produced from late-harvest grapes but in fact means one
made from ripe grapes, Auslese which are late-harvest
wines, Beerenauslese sweet, botryised (attacked by a "good"
fungus) wine made from individually selected grapes,
Eiswein made from grapes that froze on the vine, and
finally Trockenbeerenauslese, individually selected
shriveled grapes that have a very high sugar content. I
heard about such wines decades ago, but for one reason or
another, only started tasting them recently.
I remember a Parisian friend who laughed and laughed at the
idea that the Germans would make a wine out of rotted
grapes picked individually off the vines, never knowing
that the French also do so. I have never tasted a top of
the line Sauternes but did taste a second quality one that
was boring. As I am writing these lines I see for sale a
1935 Sauternes for well over $400. What luck that the
closest bottle is a two-hour drive away.
Trockenbeerenauslese wine is produced in most German wine
regions, but usually represents only about one percent of
the total wine production. So these wines are not often
available, especially in a fairly moderate price range.
They are often sold in half-bottles. Given their sweetness
and their thickness, they are wines for sipping. A bit of
advice to the youth: If you are going to get drunk, stay
away from machinery, cars, boats, and power tools. And
don't get drunk or even drink a lot of such sweet wines.
You won't enjoy them at the time, and you'll feel really
sick afterward.
Unlike the other articles in this series, we are not
proposing any sample menu. And we didn't have the heart to
try this wine with cheese, whether high quality or not.
Actually sweet wines are often paired with cheese - but not
here.
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review
are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed Anselmann Ortega Trockenbeerenauslese 1999
11% alcohol about $28 (half-bottle)
Let's start by quoting the marketing materials. This
multi-award winning wine is made from the seldom seen
Ortega grape, a cross between Mueller-Thurgau and
Siegerrebe. Ortega's full-flavored nature and very bright
fruitiness make it a natural for creating dessert wines.
Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) is the German designation for
totally botrytis-affected wines, similar in style to
Bordeaux's Sauternes. The sweet, ripe, soft and very
approachable full-bodied wine is an excellent dessert onto
itself or serve it with mature cheeses. And now for my
review.
Alone the wine was very disappointing, perhaps because
decades passed between my first hearing of this wine, and
finally tasting it. The first pairing alongside an apple
cake with mint chocolate was excellent.
I then tried it with thin biscuits containing sliced
almonds and pistachios. The wine had a nice and thick
texture. The TBA was quite long and very powerful. A tiny
sip filled one's mouth. It was pleasantly sour. This is the
sort of wine that you don't want to have every day. I
didn't rush the pairings; this wine won't spoil, at least
not for a long, long time.
The next pairing was with high-quality chocolate-covered
orange peels. The wine had just the right acidity and
sweetness, however not very complex flavors. It was not
excellent but very pleasurable. Then I went to homemade
biscotti with fine apricot preserves. This dessert
intensified the TBA's fruit. Another pairing was with a
ripe honeydew. The wine was sweet and syrupy, the word
luscious came to mind and there were lots and lots of
flavors.
Then followed (perhaps weeks later) a homemade orange cake
with chocolate and fresh strawberries. The combo
intensified the wine's orange flavors. Another time I went
with a really fine chocolate covered vanilla ice cream bar.
At first the wine seemed to disappear but it was fairly
long. Sweet and sweet went together, and I felt decadent.
When the ice cream was gone, the drop or two of wine that
remained in the glass was mouth filling. We are almost at
the end of the bottle.
With an Almond Raspberry Crostata pie the TBA remained
strong and musky; the dominant taste was apricot. The last
pairing was with a very lemony French pie whose crust was
loaded with butter. Great combo. Citrus and more.
Final verdict. I like this wine, but there are plenty of
dessert wines to try and to retry.
----------------------------------------------------
Levi Reiss is the author or co-author of ten computer and
Internet books, but really would rather just drink fine
German or other wine, accompanied by the right foods. He
teaches classes in computers at an Ontario French-language
community college. Check out his global wine website is
http://www.theworldwidewine.com with a weekly column
reviewing $10 wines and new sections writing about (theory)
and tasting (practice) organic and kosher wines.
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