What does “Sekt” mean?
German word for “sparkling wine”
Inexpensive Sekt
”- 90% of production
- Enourmous domestic demand (4.5 bottles per capita per year = highest in the world)”
Permitted Methods
All {except carbonation}
Sekt
”- Method: Tank
- No mention of grape varities or vintage {they’re NV}
- Made from base wine sourced from souther EU and made into sparkling in Germany
- Sold 6 months after 2nd fermentation has been started with a min of 90 days on lees {or 30 days if lees are stirred}
- Min 10% ABV, 3.5 atmospheres, come from EU, no CO2 added”
Sekt Flavor Profile
Light intensity, no autolytic notes, Brut or Extra Dry {notable RS + med acidity}
Deutscher Sekt
”- Method: Tank or traditional
- Vintage or NV
- Made from German-grown fruit {cannot state region of origin on label} , one variety {if 85% is one} or multiple grape varieties”
Deutscher Sekt bA
”- Method: Tank or traditional
- bestimmter Anbaugebiete = ““of a defined region”” meaning that it’s a quiality wine from one of the 13 defined wine-growing regions (e.g. Rheingau)
- Region must appear on the label”
What does Winzer mean?
Winegrower in German
Winzersekt
”- Method: traditional, min 9 mos on lees
- Estate-bottled, uses only grapes grown by the estate, vintage
- Most often Riesling {but range permitted}
- Vintage, grape, producer’s name must be on label
- Very good to outstanding”
Winzersekt Flavor Profile
”- Medium intensity
- Apple, peach with smoky autolytic notes
- High acid
- Brut”
Perlwein {aka Secco}
“this is not Sekt
- Method: Tank or carbonation
- Lower pressure {less than 3 atmospheres} which makes them cheaper than fully-sparkling wines {avoids the tax!}
- Often sweeter than Sekt {if ““Trocken”” it can have up to 35 g/L}”
Sekt - Growing Region
High volume areas of souther Europe
Sekt - Grape Varietyes
Low aromatic grapes from Italy, Spain, and France
Sekt - Harvest
”- Grapes picked early to retain acidity
- Grapes crushed in the region of origin and the juice chilled and transported by truck/train to Germany”
DD&W - Growing Region
- Cool continental climate
DD&W - Grape Varieties
”- Typically single variety {Chard/PN blends are made}
- Riesling = most prestigious
- PN, P Blanc, P Gris, Chard, Silvaner, Scheurebe”
DD&W - Harvest
”- Grapes are picked early with under-ripe grapes being selected out to create wines with high acidity and just-ripe primary fruit aromas
- Hand harvest for high quality”
Winemaking - Tank
”- Pressing
- 1st fermentation (16 - 18 deg) to maintain primary aromas
- Sugar + Yeast added
- 2nd fermentation in pressurized (reinforced) tanks
- Fermentation is arrested by cooling when desired pressure and residual sugar reached
- *high quality wines aged on lees for 3 - 6mos
- Wine is cold stabilised to precipitate tartrates
- Yeast removed via centrifugation or filtration
- Adjustmented to sugar and SO2
- Sterile filtration
- Bottling with a counter-pressure filler (like soda)”
Role of large Sekt-producing specialists?
Grapes grown in Germany may be made into base wine by the grower and then delivered to large Sekt-producing specialist companies for the second fermentation.
Winemaking - Traditional
”- Used for Champagne varieties and Riesling
- Issue with Riesling is whether or not the autolytic notes are desirable when using an aromatic variety
- Some prefer focus on primary aromas so time of lees may be the minimum required {9 mos}
- Some prefer to develop an attractive smoky note {rather than biscuit/brioche} so time on lees may be 18+ mos
- Mature sweet Riesling often used for dosage to add richness”
WInemaking - Transfer
Some companies use the transfer method for less expensive bottle-fermented wines.
Flaschengärung
‘bottle fermented’, but may be disgorged by the transfer method
Klassische Flaschengärung
‘Classic bottle fermentation’, which is second fermentation in this bottle and transfer method not allowed.
Sekt Market
“Sold in the supermarket:
- Low-end Sekt retailing for €4 = more than half of all sales
- Standard-quality retailing for €8
Sold from Cellar Door, specialist retailers, and {small portion} restaurants:
- High-quality = considerably more €”
