Kabinett is the lightest of all wines in the German Pradikat system. Measured in degrees Oechsle (a hydrometer scale measuring density of grape must), many wine growers have struggled to produce the differences that made sense of the Pradikat in recent years. Warmer, drier vintages have made it easier to produce Trockenbeerenauslese, or TBA, and inversely difficult to produce Kabinett.
How much sweetness?
Kabinett can be dry, Trocken, or sweet. If for example a wine is simply labelled Kabinett, you can expect a wine with a degree of sweetness. But how much sweetness? Each Pradikat will have a minimum Oechsle, but there is no maximum limit. Theoretically, a wine that has achieved the must weight in Oechsle degrees of a TBA, can be labelled a Kabinett. This may seem unlikely, but it’s perfectly legal and the closer the two Pradikats are, the more likely there is to be a crossover in style. In other words, a great many Kabinetts on the market today, including some of the most revered estates are in fact traditionally Spatleses.
Producer discretion
Clearly then, it’s up to the producer’s discretion and the connoisseur must choose wisely to suit their taste. There are of course regional differences, but there is also a literally infinite variety of interpretations if you take into account vineyard, vine, vintage and producer.
Incomparable wines
Kabinett, as most people understand it, carries some sweetness – a little bit of sugar to balance out the extremity of acidity. Lightness yes, but this is no vinous lightweight. Kabinett wines are incomparable. Intensity of aromatics and flavour, complexity of flavour and texture, a bracing coolness, sweet fruit brimming with the warmth of the sun and power and scintillating acidity. And all this at between 7-11 degrees of alcohol or less.
The iron rule when choosing wine is not to be absorbed by vintages, or vineyards even, but the producer. And this is especially so when choosing Kabinetts.
Read and repeat
So how do you know what style of Kabinett you are purchasing? Research is key, and even the reviews of wine critics don’t always shed enough light on what is actually in the bottle. It is necessary to ask your wine seller or research the generalities we all make when discussing wine producers. Great wine producers will not always craft a wine suited to your palate or requirements and even Germany’s benchmark estates are much debated amongst wine lovers.
Rather than rely on wine critics to magically deliver pleasure in the glass, get your wallet out and taste as many as you can to decide greatness for yourself!
