Wine · Terminology

Beerenauslese

Berry-by-berry selection of botrytised grapes — Germany's rich, rare, honeyed dessert wine.

Beerenauslese — "berry selection", usually abbreviated BA — is made from individually picked berries affected by noble rot. It sits near the top of the Prädikatswein ladder, above Auslese and below Trockenbeerenauslese.

The work is extraordinary: pickers go through the vineyard repeatedly, taking only the berries that have shrivelled properly. Yields are tiny, the wine is made only in vintages when botrytis behaves, and bottles are usually 375 ml for good reason.

In practice

  • Roughly 110–128 °Oechsle, well above Auslese.
  • Botrytis is effectively required in practice — the must weight is hard to reach without it.
  • Alcohol stays low, often 6–8%: the yeast gives up long before the sugar runs out.
  • Not produced every year; in poor botrytis vintages, none at all.

Where you'll meet it

BA against TBA and Eiswein

Beerenauslese Trockenbeerenauslese Eiswein
Must weight ~110–128 °Oe ~150–154 °Oe BA level
Botrytis Yes, extensively Yes, berries fully shrivelled No — must be healthy fruit
Concentration Fungal dehydration Extreme fungal dehydration Freezing
Sugar 90–180 g/L 200–400 g/L + 150–250 g/L
Character Honey, apricot, marmalade Raisin, treacle, saffron, dried fig Pure lime and peach, searing acidity

Tasting and serving

Serve cold, around 8 °C, in small measures — 60–75 ml is plenty. The combination of very high sugar with very high acidity means BA rarely feels heavy despite the numbers.

It pairs classically with blue cheese, foie gras and fruit tarts, and — the point often missed — it is complete on its own. An open bottle keeps for weeks in the fridge: the sugar and acid preserve it.

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