Kabinett Riesling is a famous wine made of Riesling. This wine has garnered more appreciation in the wine world in the last few decades. It is acidic, light, and delicious, and you can store it for around ten years. You can consider this flavorful wine for your next party and impress your guests. More importantly, you can invest in a bottle now and store it for your future usage. The best thing about the Kabinett Riesling is that it fits most of our budgets and tastes. Also, you can pair it with many of your favorite foods.
If you are new to Kabinett Riesling, you can keep reading to know more about this wine. You can go ahead confidently with all the desired information.
Kabinett Riesling uses the Riesling grape variety. This grape variety has been a part of many famous wines. However, Kabinett will have a different flavor and aroma.
What Is Riesling?
Riesling is a white grape that contributes to many world-famous wines. The homeland of this grape is Germany, and its history dates back to Roman times. The cool climate of Germany supports this variety’s contribution to the wine world. Riesling ripens slowly and develops maximum flavor while retaining its acidity levels. The best Rieslings are available in cooler climates, including Germany.
These grapes will have fruity and flora aromas of grapes, pear, and apple. Also, the fragrance can extend to stone and citrus fruit flavors, including lime, apricot, peach, and lemon, when grown in moderate climates. Besides, they will have a high acidity level that enables this variety to age well and develop many additional flavors.
Additionally, manufacturers use Riesling for different wine styles, including bone dry and intensely sweet wines. Moreover, the aroma can make delicate medium-dry wines with tangy minerality and crispy acidity. These wines can balance with different flavors and low alcohol wines. However, Riesling Germany wines have unique names, including Kabinett and Spatlese. The Kabinett will be lighter in the body, but it will have high acidity. When it comes to sweetness, it can be medium-dry or off-dry. However, Spatlese will have more body, and the sweetness will range from medium-dry to medium-sweet.
What Is Kabinett Riesling?
As stated earlier, Kabinett wines use Riesling grapes. However, it is the lightest style of the Riesling that you will find in the German Pradikat system. The wine uses grapes with a 148–188 g/L sugar level. This unique quality makes it different from other Riesling wines. Also, these off-dry to dry white and fresh wines use the grapes of the colder regions of Germany, including Rheingau and Mosel Valley. The grapes in cold climates develop an intense floral aroma and fruit flavor. You can expect the flavors of the pear, peach, and delicious apple.
Additionally, the growers harvest these grapes earliest in the season. Hence, the Kabinett wines become crispy and dry. You can drink these wines with your meals. During manufacturing, they use barely ripe grapes. Therefore, Kabinett wines will have high acidity. More importantly, they will have the flavor of fresh fruits. Moreover, manufacturers use an off-dry or dry style during manufacturing.
You can enjoy your wine with high-acidity dishes. You can consider pairing the dry styles with apple, sushi, arugula salad, prosciutto, shrimp tempura, and pork schnitzel. However, the best pairing for off-dry styles is sour and sweet chicken.
Origin
Initially, Kabinett Riesling was available as a superior quality wine. The wine manufacturers were reserving this wine for later sales. However, in 1971, this wine came to the notice of the German law authorities and became a part of the German wine law as non-chaptalized and light wine. As Kabinett wines are non-chaptalized, they use the lowest alcohol content of all German wines. The range of alcohol content is between seven and eleven percent.
Additionally, Kabinett Riesling has high acidity and minerality. The residual sugar content of the wine balances minerality and high acidity levels. More importantly, this wine can age in a cellar for about one to ten years, depending on the style. The long cellar life makes it the best investment for all.
Style
As mentioned above, Kabinett has the lowest alcohol content. It has achieved an elegant and light character from the colder regions of Germany, including Mosel. Generally, these wines exhibit floral aromas, high acidic levels, and hints of minerality and slate. In colder areas, semi-sweet Kabinett wines are available with between 7 and 8% ABV alcohol content, and dry wines will have around 10-11% ABV alcohol content. However, the alcohol content might vary when made in other regions. We can take the example of the Kabinett made in Baden. It will have an alcohol content of around 13% ABV. Also, you can check the label to know the alcohol content. The alcohol content will also determine the taste.
The age requirement for Kabinett Riesling is five years. It requires five years for maturation to get the desired flavor and aroma. You can enjoy Kabinett Riesling when it is one and five years old. However, if you choose the best quality, you can store more than a decade.
Kabinett Riesling Tasting Notes
Kabinett Riesling will have a fruity and floral aroma. You can expect green fruit flavors of grape, apple, and pear. However, the fragrance can develop into stone and citrus fruit flavors. You can get this aroma from grapes grown in moderate climates. Also, its residual sugar will offset the natural tangy minerality and high acidity. As it ages, you can expect more complexity. Your wine can develop additional flavors, including toast, honey, or even petrol.
Kabinett Riesling Food Pairing
Now, you might have an idea about the food you can pair with Kabinett Riesling. While considering any food, you will have to understand that Kabinett has mouthwatering acidity. You will have to choose pairing food accordingly. However, it can pair well with your favorite Asian cuisine. You can enjoy your drink with Thai dishes such as seafood, green curry, fried fish, and sushi. Also, you can pair your wine with roasted chicken, smoked meat, chicken wings, Turkey dishes, and ham.
