The love for a sweet wine dates back to Ancient Greece, as chronicled in the works of Greek poet Hesiod in The Works and Days, back in 700BC. "Show them to the sun for ten days and ten nights, and then in the shade for five and on the sixth day put into the jars the gifts of Dionysus, generous in joys", he writes, believed to be describing the sweet wines of Cyrpus, made from sun-dried grapes. Yes, sweet wines were highly prized and ruled the world

Sugar has a big role in the wine making process. The easiest way to increase stability in wine is to increase the sugar content in the 'must' (freshly crushed grape juice that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit). To make sweet wine we need to concentrate the sugar level in the grapes; this can be done naturally by leaving the grapes to ripen longer on the vines: a more ripened grape means more sugar. This method is known and labelled as 'Late Harvest'. The other way to concentrate sugar in grape is to dry the grape naturally: this means picking the grape and then leaving them out to dry in the hot air where in the process of becoming a raisin their sugars will concentrate. This method is called 'Passito' and is a very famous style in Italy.

Another method is freezing. The grapes are left on the vine until winter, and as the water in the grape freezes the sugar begins to concentrate the grapes are harvested frozen and processed straight away. Of course, a special terroir and grape variety is required for this kind of process, known as making 'Ice Wine / Eiswein', made famous in Canada and USA. Another very interesting method happens with the help of a fungus called Botrytis Cinerea. This requires the very specific condition of humid mornings and warm-dry afternoons. The fungus attacks the grapes on the vine causing them to shrivel and dehydrate, concentrating the sugars. This method is called 'Noble Rot' and Germany is famous for this style; even the laws in Germany specifically define the influence of sugar in wines and the influence of noble rot.

Another method is freezing. The grapes are left on the vine until winter, and as the water in the grape freezes the sugar begins to concentrate the grapes are harvested frozen and processed straight away. Of course, a special terroir and grape variety is required for this kind of process, known as making 'Ice Wine / Eiswein', made famous in Canada and USA. Another very interesting method happens with the help of a fungus called Botrytis Cinerea. This requires the very specific condition of humid mornings and warm-dry afternoons. The fungus attacks the grapes on the vine causing them to shrivel and dehydrate, concentrating the sugars. This method is called 'Noble Rot' and Germany is famous for this style; even the laws in Germany specifically define the influence of sugar in wines and the influence of noble rot.

Let's explore these sweet wines a little further. i'm going to showcase the different levels of sweetness based on their label

terms defined by German wine laws. I will be tasting the wines of Dr Zenzen Sonnenhofberger from the Mosel region. This is a premium wine region, especially for those wines growing in the steep slopes, with stoney soils, with aspects facing directly to the sun these are the conditions for a very good quality wine of this style.

German is a cool climate region famous for their white grape varieties, especially riesling. In German labelling, categories are divided into Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein.

A basic Riesling will be labeled under Qualitätswein: the term Trocken indicates that the wine is dry; you'll also find Halbtrocken, which indicates that the wine is off-dry. For my tasting, the Schieferkopf Riesling Trocken-Sec Baden, is a dry yet very aromatic Riesling, ticking all the boxes of the characteristics of riesling which is high acidity, white flower aroma with a lot of citrus, green apple and freshness of cutting grass. Very refreshing.

As the Prädikatswein category is divided based on the levels of sugar in the wines, the sequences of below reviews will indicate the sugar level of the wines from dry to sweet wine. I am using all the Dr Zenzen Sonnenhofberger Mosel Riesling with different levels of sweetness and the terms used to define these levels.

First is Kabinett, where the grape is harvested during its fully ripe condition, which gives the wine an dry to off-dry, light to medium body. It has very aromatic aromas of white flower, peach, pineapple, apples, high acidity that balance the acidity with lots of minerality in the finish.

Second one is Spatlese, which falls into the late harvest style, featuring a medium-dry to medium-sweet and usually has more body compared to Kabinett. Still very refreshing and aromatic with perceived sweetness, ripe pineapple, candied apples, balanced acidity with a clean finish.

Next is Auslese, which has a style from dry to medium sweet, is richer, fuller in body and longer in finish, is more complex in the palate. Aside from the aromatic and riper fruit aroma and  taste, you might find nuttiness, with notes of almond and apricot.

Now we continue to the fungus influenced wines, where both Beerenauslese (BA) and Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) have been influenced by the Botrytis Cinerea. The grapes are handpicked and very carefully selected after being shrivelled by the fungus and only for exceptional year the TBA are made. Imagine it as making wine from raisins: it has concentrated all the flavour in the grapes: stone fruit, peach and apricot, almond, honey, vanilla. It has a full body, long finish, complex, with nice balance of flavour, sweet and acidity. It coats the entire palate with a silky mouth feel - the fresh acidity is still present and balances the wine.

The last one is the Eiswien concentrated by freezing the grape. The style tastes medium to sweet, medium to full body, long finish, fresh fruit character, very aromatic, still in the fruity component with no fungus flavour influence at all, I even smell the aroma of honey and jasmine note in the wine.

This was a very special flight of tastings; climbing the stairs of sweetness from the Dr Zenzen Sonnenhofberger Mosel Riesling variety, showcasing a real diversity of layers, flavours and textures.