Most of the fun in tasting wine comes from enjoying the wide variety of flavors available. King Frosch wine flight selections make it easy and fun to experience and compare several wines that belong to the same family. Serve a wine flight at your next dinner party with a selection of King Frosch wines.
You can create flights of wines to compare and contrast wine flavors, to try something new and different. When serving flights, you should pour two ounces of three to four different – yet related – wines, along with a quick explanation of each so that you can enjoy the distinct nuances of the wines side by side.
King Frosch wines have numbers, but they are not always in the right order to drink as a flight. The order of the flight is actually determined by the residual sugar and dryness levels. You should always start with the wine that has the lowest residual sugar or dryness level and work towards sweeter wines.
Below we have divided our wines up into dryness categories. You can choose one from each level, or try all the dry whites, Noble Sweet whites, Mosel Rieslings, or compare all our Chardonnays.
The wine industry has a difficult time to give a clean and simple answer if a wine is dry or sweet. As mentioned above since perception of sweetness is highly individual and different than the actual measured values the industry gave up and just says dry or sweet if at all. Sometimes they use fruity as sweet and confuse the issue even more. The terminology “fruity” is coming from tasting like a fruit and a fruity wine must not be necessarily sweet.
We here at King Frosch try to fill in the void and defined some wins as off-dry and semi-dry, using basic logic, which means a semi-dry wine is not dry, but milder than dry. A semi-sweet wine is not very sweet but is sweet enough not to be called dry.
Very Dry
Bone-dry sipping wine or aperitif; great with fish/shellfish dishes and light flavored dishes with high acidity (i.e. Lemon)
Dry
Multipurpose wine, dry sipping wine or aperitif; great with light to medium flavored dishes; wonderful party wines; very versatile
Off dry or fruity
Wine with some hint of sweetness; great summer sipper; or with vinaigrette salads, lightly spicy dishes and dishes with light cream sauces
Semi-dry
Balanced, mild, smooth, but dry with maybe slight hint of sweetness, but not really noticeable.
Semi-Sweet
Rich sipping wine with noticeable sweetness; good with spicy food or dishes that have a fruit component (steak with baked banana, toast Hawaii, etc.
Noble sweet
Those wines, labeled Noble-Sweet represent the King-Class of wines, noble and high end in any means. Rich, full sweet wine that can be used for aperitif or as dessert (Auslese) wonderful complexity that do not need any company
Very Fruity
Very fruity, very rich, highly complex, can be used for aperitif or as dessert. Wunderbar! Great as standalone or poured over fruit, ice cream or other desserts.
About Tasting
Some people like this analogy to smelling perfumes – if you are sampling perfumes, you have to start with a light perfume first in order to appreciate the heavier scents later on. If you start with a heavy and complex perfume, your nose is not able to pick up the light perfume the way the light perfume should be appreciated, since the nose would still be occupied by the heavy perfume. In terms of wine, start with a light and dry wine with low residual sugar first, then go more complex, next try a semi-dry, semi-sweet, fruity, noble sweet, and very fruity like Ice wine or TBA.
Keep in mind that wines will taste different depending on what your palate has been exposed to. For example, if you drink a heavy red wine and then switch to a lighter wine without cleansing your palate, the light wine might not taste as good as it normally would. The same is true if you have been chewing gum or eating a mint.
King Frosch Sweet Whites Flight
Start with a King Frosch Sparkling Riesling, #21 and then try:
1. Semi-Dry Riesling #7
A taste of peach, some apricot, apple and a slight hint of honey make this wine wonderful, lively and fun to enjoy.
2. Semi-Dry Mosel Riesling #15
This Mosel Riesling is richly fragrant, clean, light-bodied with a lively, fruity acidity. Mosel wines are typical for their fantastic balance between acidity, fruit and sweetness. The unique acidity and light carbonation from the Mosel soil, mostly slate vineyards with natural calcium offer high level of minerals. The taste includes citrus and hint of green apple.
3. Off-Dry Chardonnay #11
Made from late harvest, fully ripened grapes, this Spaetlese was crafted in the German style using a “no oak” storage process. The result is a beautifully clean, straight-forward Chardonnay. Savor this classic, buttery smooth wine with a slight taste of citrus.
Start with a King Frosch Sparkling Riesling, #21 and then try:
1. Noble Sweet Mosel Riesling #16
Mosel wines are known for their fantastic balance between acidity, alcohol, fruit and sweetness. This noble-sweet Mosel Riesling Auslese (select picking) is from the steep hills where the geology gives this part of the Mosel a structure and soil of pure slate, which is both highly porous and efficient reflector of heat, this offers the grapes the most of every ray of sun. The noble-sweet with an apple finish makes the wine refreshing and delight to enjoy. It is clean, light bodied, with a lively, fruity acidity.
2. Noble Sweet Riesling #8b
Crafted from a late harvest of select, very ripe Rheinhessen Riesling bunches, this Auslese has a bit more bite and complexity than other noble sweet wines. The honey taste is complemented with juicy apple flavor, a hint of grapefruit and subtle earthy undertones. There is an excellent balance between acidity and sweetness.
3. Noble Sweet Chardonnay #12
Now you can compare the taste of the Chardonnay grape with the Riesling, with no “oak” interference. This noble-sweet, late harvest Chardonnay brings a round taste of sweetness to this normally dry grape, enhancing its world famous flavor. Full-bodied, wine with buttery overtones and complex flavors.
King Frosch Red Flight
Start with a King Frosch Sparkling Riesling, #21 and then try (Note: This flight goes from dry to sweet. Not all the wines are dry.):
1. Dry Dornfelder #2
The intense, deep red color offers a peppery, earthy taste with dry berry undertones and nice light tannins. A pleasure to drink, this medium-bodied wine starts out dry and stays dry. Produced with no artifical flavors or additives, you taste the natural grape and terroir.
2. Pinot Noir #4
Also known as Pinot Noir, this dry German Spätburgunder can easily be compared to a $30 wine. It’s a smooth, elegant, easy to drink, velvety wine with a distinctive bouquet reminiscent of almonds or blackberries. Crafted in traditional German style, it is medium in color, body and has a lighter tannic acidity than its counterparts from warmer climates.
3. Semi-Dry Dornfelder #1
It has intense dark cherry color and an aroma reminiscent of forest fruits and elderberries. The taste starts out with lots of sweet berry, but before you can say fruity, the tannins come in and provide for a soft, dry finish.
4. Semi-Sweet Pinot Noir #5
The grapes for this German Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) Auslese were hand picked from select ripe bunches in late November and early December. This medium-bodied, velvety smooth, semi-dry to noble sweet red is excellent as an aperitif or dessert wine, but is meant to be enjoyed with food.
There is that famous often used procedure: SEE, SWIRL, SMELL, SIP , SAVOR
What does this do? It is all about enjoying.
With wine in the glass let’s give our eyes some eye candy and just look what we see. When looking at a white wine, determine the shade. Is it clear? A light yellowish or light greenish or dark yellow (golden) or rose or brown? Whatever it is, let’s enjoy the color and bank the experience. There is usually no quality determination to be made by just the color. It is a hint to the varietal and age. Some wine lovers prefer their reds deep, ox blood deep red and believe that is the only way reds should come. It is only a personal preference and not a quality marker. For example, high quality Pinot Noirs can appear very light red in color.
Swirl the wine in the glass gently, ideally on a flat surface and allow the wine to air. This aerating generates an oxidation reaction which will bring out the wine’s aroma and flavor. Some wine lovers hold their hands over the glass in the last seconds before their go to the next step (in order to even intensify the aromas/flavor concentration.
Smell:
Here actually hold your full nose (don’t be shy) in the glass -without dipping it in the juice- and get a nose full of that smell of wine. Just recognize the memory and cross-reference it to the sip later and build this way your experience and memory. One needs a little more experience to actually judge what is going on. The ‘smell’ of the wine is in direct relation to individual character and quality. It points in the right direction, however some wines, i.e. mature Rieslings sometimes smell like “Petrol” and to some consumers it is off-putting, but the wine is outstanding and sought after by the experienced Riesling fan! A petrol smell is a sign of a young Riesling and mostly excellent wine.
Sip:
The Sip is the major part allowing your senses enjoy what just entered your mouth. We have five basic tastes in your mouth, sweet, salty in the front and sour and bitter in the back, the fifth sense, the umami, the savory component, as we call it the 3-D effect, a correlation between all those sensations.
In order to fully allow all those senses to be in high gear, after you sip the wine, draw in some air in such way, that you allow the air breathing over the wine, then swish the wine around in your mouth and may act like that you would bite on it before you swallow and savor it.
By all doing this you allow your senses to capture all aromas/flavors and characteristics of the wine vs. someone who just drinks the wine like a gulp of water and has no chance to discover the nuances.
Recommendations
If you find a wine you really like and would like to stock up on a particular vintage, here are our storage recommendations. The wines should be stored horizontally, at best, in a year-round constant temperature ranging from 8-12o C/46.4-53.6o F. Great variations in temperature interrupt the aging process. The cellar should be dark and have a humidity of 50-70% in order to keep the corks moist. There are also special “wine refrigerators” on the market, but these are not necessary if you follow the guidelines above. Whichever storing method you chose, the wine should be stored horizontally, slightly tilted forward, so that the liquid is touching the cork so that the cork stays moist and as a result, expands, creating the necessary seal for the bottle. If the cork is not in contact with liquid, it will dry out, air will leak in, and the wine might go bad. Therefore, the small air bubble in the bottle must be situated in the back of the bottle, not against the cork.
Suited to Aging
Both German red and German white wines are well-suited to aging. Top-quality growths often reach their peak only several years after bottling. The longevity of a wine is influenced by its alcohol, residual sweetness, and acidity. Although red wines are usually lower in acidity, tannins contribute to their aging potential. Please note: allowing a white wine to age may result in a changed flavor profile, as well as a deepening of color to a darker shade of yellow or amber.
Experts around the world seem to agree that wine has a protective effect on the cardiovascular system. Alcohol increases the “beneficial” cholesterol HDL (high density lipoprotein), and lowers the “detrimental” cholesterol LDL (low density lipoprotein), which helps reduce the development of arteriosclerosis. Alcohol also helps reduce the risk of thrombosis by inhibiting the coagulation of blood platelets. At the same time, wine drinkers absorb numerous substances that are healthful, so-called polyphenols. These play a positive role as antioxidants, thereby protecting blood vessels from premature aging and, perhaps, preventing the development of cancers.
These recommendations do not apply to pregnant women, those who are prone to addiction or those with chronic liver disease. However, healthy people and those at risk of cardiovascular disease can profit from moderate, but regular, wine consumption. Although earlier studies focused primarily on the healthful effects of red wine, the latest research shows that moderate consumption of white wine is equally beneficial.
PLEASE NOTE:
As always, please consult your physician if you have any questions about the effects of wine on your health and whether or not you should follow these recommendations. This website makes no claims of health benefits from drinking our wines, we are simply reporting the results of international studies.
acidity — the liveliness and crispness in wine that activates our salivary glands
aeration — the deliberate addition of oxygen to round out and soften a wine
aging — holding wine in barrels, tanks, and bottles to advance them to a more desirable state
alcohol — ethanol (ethyl alcohol), the product of fermentation of sugars by yeast
anosmia — the loss of smell
appellation — a delineated wine producing region particular to France
aroma — the smell of wine, especially young wine (different than “bouquet”)
astringent — tasting term noting the harsh, bitter, and drying sensations in the mouth caused by high levels of tannin
balance — a term for when the elements of wine – acids, sugars, tannins, and alcohol – come together in a harmonious way
barrel — the oak container used for fermenting and aging wine
barrique — a 225-litre oak barrel used originally for storing and aging wines, originating in Bordeaux
bitter — a taste sensation that is sensed on the back of the tongue and caused by tannins
blend — a wine made from more than one grape varietal
body — a tactile sensation describing the weight and fullness of wine in the mouth. A wine can be light, medium, or full bodied.
Bordeaux — the area in Southwest France considered one of the greatest wine-producing regions in the world
botrytis — a beneficial mold that pierces the skin of grapes and causes dehydration, resulting in natural grape juice exceptionally high in sugar. Botrytis is largely responsible for the world’s finest dessert wines. (see “noble rot”)
bouquet — a term that refers to the complex aromas in aged wines
breathing — exposing wine to oxygen to improve its flavors (see “aeration”)
brettanomyce — a wine-spoiling yeast that produces barnyard, mousy, metallic, or bandaid-ish aromas
brilliant — a tasting note for wines that appear sparkling clear
brut — french term denoting dry champagnes or sparkling wines
bung — the plug used to seal a wine barrel
bung hole — the opening in a cask in which wine can be put in or taken out
chaptalization — adding sugar to wine before or during fermentation to increase alcohol levels. Chaptalization is illegal in some parts of the world, and highly controlled in others.
citric acid — one of the three predominate acids in wine
claret — the name the English use when referring to the red wines of Bordeaux
class growth — see cru classe
closed — term describing underdeveloped and young wines whose flavors are not exhibiting well
complex — a wine exhibiting numerous odors, nuances, and flavors
cork taint — undesirable aromas and flavors in wine often associated with wet cardboard or moldy basements
corked — a term that denotes a wine that has suffered cork taint (not wine with cork particles floating about)
cru classé — a top-ranking vineyard designated in the Bordeaux Classification of 1855
crush — the English term for harvest
cuvée — in Champagne, a blended batch of wine
demi-sec — french term meaning “half-dry” used to describe a sweet sparkling wine
dry — a taste sensation often attributed to tannins and causing puckering sensations in the mouth; the opposite of sweet
earthy — an odor or flavor reminiscent of damp soil
enology — the science of wine and winemaking (see “oenology”)
fermentation — the conversion of grape sugars to alcohol by yeast
fining — the addition of egg whites or gelatin (among other things) to clear the wine of unwanted particles
finish — the impression of textures and flavors lingering in the mouth after swallowing wine
flavors — odors perceived in the mouth
foxy — a term that describes the musty odor and flavor of wines made from vitis labrusca, a common North American varietal
fruity — a tasting term for wines that exhibit strong smells and flavors of fresh fruit
full-bodied — a wine high in alcohol and flavors, often described as “big”
herbaceous — a tasting term denoting odors and flavors of fresh herbs (e.g., basil, oregano, rosemary, etc.)
hot — a description for wine that is high in alcohol
lees — sediment consisting of dead yeast cells, grape pulp, seed, and other grape matter that accumulates during fermentation
leesy — a tasting term for the rich aromas and smells that results from wine resting on its lees
length — the amount of time that flavors persist in the mouth after swallowing wine; a lingering sensation
malic acid — one of the three predominate acids in grapes. Tart-tasting malic acid occurs naturally in a number of fruits, including, apples, cherries, plums, and tomatoes.
malolactic fermentation — a secondary fermentation in which the tartness of malic acid in wine is changed into a smooth, lactic sensation. Wines described as “buttery” or “creamy” have gone through “malo”.
mature — ready to drink
mouth-feel — how a wine feels on the palate; it can be rough, smooth, velvety, or furry
must — unfermented grape juice including seeds, skins, and stems
negociant — French word describing a wholesale merchant, blender, or shipper of wine
noble rot — the layman’s term for botrytis
nose — a tasting term describing the aromas and bouquets of a wine
oak/oaky — tasting term denoting smells and flavors of vanilla, baking spices, coconut, mocha or dill caused by barrel-aging
oenology — the science of wine and winemaking (see “enology”)
open — tasting term signifying a wine that is ready to drink
oxidation — wine exposed to air that has undergone a chemical change
phenolic compounds — natural compounds present in grape skins and seeds
phylloxera — a microscopic insect that kills grape vines by attacking their roots
plonk — British slang for inexpensive wine; also used to describe very low-quality wines
rough — the tactile “coarse” sensation one experiences with very astringent wines
sec — French word for “dry”
spicy — a tasting term used for odors and flavors reminiscent of black pepper, bay leaf, curry powder, baking spices, oregano, rosemary, thyme, saffron or paprika found in certain wines
structure — an ambiguous tasting term that implies harmony of fruit, alcohol, acidity, and tannins
sweet — wines with perceptible sugar contents on the nose and in the mouth
tannins — the phenolic compounds in wines that leave a bitter, dry, and puckery feeling in the mouth
tartaric acid — the principal acid in grapes, tartaric acid promotes flavor and aging in wine
terroir — French for geographical characteristics unique to a given vineyard
texture — a tasting term describing how wine feels on the palate
typicity — a tasting term that describes how well a wine expresses the characteristics inherent to the variety of grape
ullage — the empty space left in bottles and barrels as a wine evaporates
vegetal — tasting term describing characteristics of fresh or cooked vegetables detected on the nose and in the flavors of the wine. Bell peppers, grass, and asparagus are common “vegetal” descriptors.
vinification — the process of making wine
vitis vinifera — the species of wine that comprises over 99% of the world’s wine
vintage — the year a wine is bottled. Also, the yield of wine from a vineyard during a single season.
weight — similar to “body”, the sensation when a wine feels thick or rich on the palate
wine — fermented juice from grapes
yeast — a microorganism endemic to vineyards and produced commercially that converts grape sugars into alcohol
yield — the productivity of a vineyard
young — an immature wine that is usually bottled and sold within a year of its vintage. Wines meant to be drunk “young” are noted for their fresh and crisp flavors.
