Traditional German wines are easy to spot on shelves; they're the ones have labels with . There's nothing approachable about this kind of labelling; either you know what a trockenbeerenauslese is, or you're left floundering, wondering what a Qualitatswein mit Pradikat might be, or if 'kabinett' and 'spatlese' might mean something useful. The Germans cling hard to their traditions, the chances of anyone making these labels even remotely user-friendly in the near future is slim, so grit your teeth and come with me down the riveting road of German wine labels.

The first rule of German labelling is that it's unlike wine-labelling anywhere else in Europe. It isn't based on the region in which the wine is made, but rather upon the sugar content of the grapes when they're harvested. When you're growing grapes as far north as the Germans do, getting grapes to mature is no mean feat, so the degree of ripeness - and hence the sugar content - is important. This means, in theory at least, that any vineyard can produce a top quality wine - provided the grapes can reach the required level of sugar content. Put another way, it means the German system rates the wine, not the vineyard.

There are three basic grades of wine, which in ascending order of quality are: tafelwein or table wine; the tersely named Qualitatswein bestimmten Anbaugebeit, and Qualitatswein mit Pradikat. These last two are thankfully often abbreviated to QbA and QmP. The major distinction of the QmP wines is that there cannot be any addition of sugar to the must; so whatever the final alcoholic level produced it has to be from the naturally occurring grape sugars. With these firmly committed to memory, let's look at the other words that turn up on labels.

'Kabinett' is common enough and is taken seriously by the German producers. Essentially it means wine that has come from specific barrels that the producer believes are his best, and is a fair guide to quality. 'Spatlese' means that the grapes were harvested late, which means that they produce less wine, but have a higher sugar content. 'Auslese' means that the wine was made from selected bunches of grapes - only the most ripe are used - and again it's a measure of quality. More expensive again are the 'Beerenauslesen', which are wines made from individually selected grapes from the selected bunches.

At the top end of the German wines is the 'trockenbeerenauslese', wine which is made from selected grapes that are allowed to shrivel on the vine, thus increasing their sugar content. This wine is the German equivalent to Sauternes, and like Eiswein - wine made from grapes that are picked and pressed when frozen - is a dessert wine.

Wine of the Week

Brauneberger Juffe, Riesling Spatlese, 1999

Very much a wine that can be drunk with pleasure without food, it has a residual sweetness with a faint acidity in the aftertaste. Intensely fruity and with a strong bouquet, like many Spatlesen from the Mosel, it's low in alcohol - 7.5%.

Available Berry Bros and Rudd, €17.95