The German term for “dry selected berries,” used to describe wines made from specially selected, overripe grapes that are left on the vine until nearly dry. Because these grapes—picked one by one at fullest maturity—are very concentrated in flavor and sugar, they produce extremely rich, nectarous wines. Trockenbeerenauslese is the highest subcategory of QUALITÄTSWEIN MIT PRÄDIKAT and ranks above KABINETT, SPÄTLESE, AUSLESE, BEERENAUSLESE, and EISWEIN. To attain the Trockenbeerenauslese category, the natural sugar content of the grapes must reach a certain minimum (150 OECHSLE, approximately 35 percent sugar by weight), depending on the region and the variety. The grapes are usually infected with BOTRYTIS CINEREA (Edelfäule in German), which shrivels them and thereby concentrates the sugar.

The superior wines made from these grapes are extremely sweet but have enough ACIDITY for proper BALANCE. Because of the extraordinarily high sugar content, these wines frequently have trouble FERMENTING and often contain only 5.5 to 6 percent alcohol (from a potential of 21.5 percent or more if fermented DRY). Trockenbeerenauslese wines are exceptionally rare and extremely expensive (even more than Beerenauslese wines) and are considered to be one of the world’s premier DESSERT WINES. They will AGE for many years, during which time they’ll develop even more complexity. AUSTRIA has a Trockenbeerenauslese category that’s similar and requires a minimum 156° OECHSLE.