German wines are a miracle. Germany’s vineyards lie along the 50th parallel—so do Labrador and Mongolia— making it the most northerly winemaking region on the globe. The climate at that latitude makes it tough for grapes to ripen, but it also gives German wines something, by nature, that other winemaking regions kill for: terrific acidity.  German wine differs from wines of other countries — it's light, lively, fruit-forward, yet terroir driven thanks to Germany's unique climatic and geological conditions as well as versatile thanks to their multiple wine making styles.
    With the exception of Saale-Unstrut and Sachsen in the east, the wine-growing regions are concentrated in the south and southwestern part of Germany. They are among the most northerly wine regions in the world and straddle the border between the humid Gulf Stream climate of the west and the dry Continental climate of the east.
    The long growing season and moderate summer temperatures bring forth filigree wines that are relatively low in alcohol. The diversity of German wine stems from the many soil types and grape varieties as well as vinification styles — there is no "uniform" type or style of German wine — and this diversity is reflected in Germany's 13 wine-growing regions.
    What distinguishes German wines, especially its white wines (85% of total German wine), is a ravishing balance between this tangy acidity and a bazooka- like delivery of fruit, especially in wines made from the Riesling grape. You’ll find this electric balance in any well-made German white wine, from dry to super- sweet.
    Lamentably, it’s still a chore to figure out what’s inside a bottle of German wine, despite an excess of information on a label (among which you actually can read the government I.D. number for the bottler). The keys is to keep things simple. All you really need to know is: at what stage of ripeness were the grapes picked, and how sweet the wine is.
    Better German wines are categorized by how ripe the grapes were when they were picked, the idea being that the longer a grape hangs on the vine, the sweeter and richer in flavor it gets. Wine made from very ripe grapes has very much flavor—and, sometimes, very much sweetness.
    If you know a little German, you can pick apart these words, but in ascending order of ripeness these categorizations are: kabinett, spätlese, auslese, beerenauslese, trockenbeerenauslese and eiswein.  What you need to know is that kabinett and spätlese can range from slightly to quite sweet, and that the other levels are all (by and large) noticeably sweet.  German wines are either dry (called trocken), slightly dry (halbtrocken) or they can range from semi-dry to very sweet.
    Trocken wines can be screechingly dry, or with the ever-so-slightest whisper of sweetness. Halbtrocken wines are about as “dry” as Brut Champagne—and several “dry” California or Australian Chardonnays—or about 1-2% residual sugar. Sweetness is perceptible, but it isn’t in the forefront.
    Remember that trocken and halbtrocken mark the level of sweetness in the finished wine notwithstanding the level of ripeness of the grapes when they were picked. For instance, you may see a spätlese trocken wine. This would be a very dry wine made from very ripe grapes.
    Of the several white and red grapes grown in Germany, the greatest is Riesling, hands down. Riesling is the Lay's Potato Chip of wine: Once you taste one, you can't sip just once. It combines exceptional finesse and elegance with buckets of flavor—and a razor’s edge acidity (Riesling can age for years).