¹ As an important aside, I was in Germany almost a month earlier than usual this year. I kept it in mind at every single tasting, but the significance of this shouldn't be underestimated. Three or four weeks may not seem like a lot, but given that the average Riesling I tasted might be assumed to have only become “wine” approximately five months ago, I was engaging with wines that were lacking around 20% of the development that I'm used to. For this reason and others, I'm going to be cautious regarding specific aromatic and flavour descriptors.

² In addition to achieving a minimum must-weight (measured in Oechsle and varying from region to region), wines labelled “Kabinett” must have a minimum of 7% alcohol in the finished wine.

³ Were they clumsily deacidified? The issue of acidity “management” is often congruous with chaptalisation, but it isn't always a topic that growers like to discuss.