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In late summer and early autumn, when the grapes are ripe, the German culinary calendar is poetically named "Feather White". It is actually white grape juice that has just begun to ferment, with wisps of white flakes suspended in the golden liquid, like light feathers.
"It is not expensive, but you only see it on the market for about two months of the year, so it is a special ritual to drink it every year, a symbol of the joy of the harvest and the love of nature.
The normal production of wine involves the fermentation of grape juice over a long period of time so that the glucose and fructose are completely converted into alcohol. The "feather white" is the initial step in the winemaking process, usually using early-ripening white grape varieties in early fall and all varieties in late fall.
Due to the geographical and climatic conditions, white grapes are mainly grown in Germany's wine regions, so "feather red", made from red grape varieties, is relatively rare. The fermentation of freshly picked grapes is terminated after only two days of fermentation, when only a small amount of sugar is transformed into alcohol, so that the taste is still sweet and the alcohol content is about 4%. The unfiltered "feather white" is bottled and marketed directly, with visible flocculation in the bottle.
If the "feather white" is left at room temperature, the yeast will continue to work tirelessly to break down the remaining sugar, increasing the alcohol content in the bottle until it is completely transformed into wine. Since the raw material used to make Feather White is usually poor quality grapes that cannot be used to make a good wine for cellaring, no one would let the juice go from sweet to sour and end up in a bottle of low quality wine. Therefore, the best way to drink Feather White is to buy it and drink it now.
Buying wine from the supermarket and drinking it at home is not bad, but it lacks atmosphere. The Germans have invented a variety of festivals, and every autumn the "Feather White" theme is celebrated in several of Germany's major wine regions. The city of Landau in Rhineland-Palatinate, the largest German city in terms of vineyard area, has held the "Feather White Celebration" in October every year for nearly 70 years and is the most popular new wine-themed festival in Germany.
The "White Feather" festivals vary from region to region, and visitors can participate in a variety of activities, including vineyard walks, guided winery tours, wine tastings, live music, and parades, depending on their interests. If you can come to the wine region with a glass of "feather white", sit on the ground under the hillside covered with vines and quietly empty yourself, how peaceful and relaxing it will be.
If you like to have a good time, you can join the festive crowd, sing and dance like Germans to the live band, and laugh even if you don't know each other. Of course, don't forget to pick up a piece of "onion pie" at the food stall, a traditional German snack made of baked dough mixed with onions, salted bacon and cheese. It is a traditional German snack that is hot and crispy right out of the oven and is recognized as the perfect partner for the "feathered white.
The beverage has very demanding storage and transportation requirements. Firstly, it must be refrigerated to inhibit yeast activity and slow down the fermentation process through low temperatures; secondly, the grape must continues to produce carbon dioxide as it continues to ferment, so the container cannot be sealed, and a closer look reveals that the cap of the bottle containing the "Feather White" is half-unscrewed in order to release gas at any time to reduce pressure and prevent the bottle from blowing up; In this way, the bottle must always be kept with the top up, and if it is shaken violently, tilted inadvertently, or put down, the sticky juice will leak everywhere, so "Feather White" cannot withstand long hours and long distances.
If you happen to be in Germany in the fall, you may want to take advantage of this opportunity to enjoy more, miss another year to wait.