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The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig decided a few days ago that the addition of sugar during fermentation may only be used to increase the alcohol content of the wine. It may not circumvent the prohibition of sweetening wine with sugar. The complaint was filed by a winemaker from Rhineland-Palatinate who, in March 2015, had added sugar to a Riesling from the 2014 vintage for a second enrichment. However, only about ten percent of the sugar was fermented.
The winery owner had already received an official examination number for this Riesling wine. However, during a company inspection, the samples taken showed a residual sugar content of 17.1 g/l with a glucose-fructose ratio of 47 to 53. The plaintiff explained that the added sugar had apparently not been completely fermented during the second enrichment. As a result, the Chamber of Agriculture of Rhineland-Palatinate withdrew its approval. The reason given was that, contrary to what was stated in the application, the wine had been sweetened, i.e. produced using an unauthorised oenological process.
The winegrower had appealed against this decision through all instances. However, the appeal, his lawsuit and the appeal were unsuccessful. According to EU law, "quality wine may not be sweetened with sugar", the judges at the Federal Administrative Court now emphasized. Sugar may only be added during the fermentation phase in order to increase the natural alcohol content of the wine. "A test number may not be assigned to such a wine", the Leipzig judges clarified.
(uka / Photo: German Wine Institute)