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Published: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 / Updated: Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009 07:45 PM

Uncork some oom-pah this month

Starting on Sept. 19, and continuing for two weeks, Oktoberfest is celebrated in Munich, Germany. It started in 1810 to celebrate the marriage of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig. It lasted for five days and was so much fun they decided to celebrate the marriage again the following year.

Officially, the 176th anniversary was celebrated in 2009. The event was lengthened and moved to start in September for better weather conditions. More than six million people attend this great celebration to drink beer, eat, listen to great music, dance and have fun and enjoy the carnival atmosphere.

The celebration has spilled over into the United States where your favorite beer store will fills with a wide assortment of Oktoberfest beers brewed both in Germany and the U.S. This amber lager was started by a German brew master who was trying to imitate a Vienna Lager. An Oktoberfest beer's true brewing style is called Märzen. The key to this style is to create a richly flavored amber lager where the malted flavors shine.

There are several U.S. micro-breweries who produce this style of beer year round. But this time of year many companies look to jump on the beer wagon and get their Oktoberfest brews on shelves.

Fall is also a great time to talk about Riesling. Germany is famous for their Riesling, a sturdy grape that grows well in cooler climates. For many people, hering the word Riesling prompts them to say, “Oh, I don't like sweet wines.” Unfortunately, like many wines, sometimes people are only familiar with a few brands and judge a category of wine based on a limited tasting profile.

Like all wines there are many factors that help shape the Riesling that is poured into your glass at the ends of its journey. The first factor is when the grape is picked. The later its sits on the vine, the higher level of sugar the grape will have. For a Riesling, if you see the words “late harvest” on the label that is a sure sign of elevated sweetness.

Another factor is the fermentation process. The process of turning grape juice into wine relies on a yeast which converts the sugars in the juice to alcohol. A Riesling with an alcohol level above 12 percent is more likely to be on the drier side and likewise a lower percentage of alcohol relate to sweeter styles.

Just over the German border is the area Alsace, France. Here Rieslings are typically dry with good acidity and make great food wines. A good Alsatian Riesling will have a floral nose and an initial fruity sip, and will then finish crisp and clean.

Because of the vast number of Rieslings produced in Germany you have every style available. Better quality wines will have one of three words to help indicate its sweetness style. Kabinett has a very low level of residual sugar and has resembles biting into an apple, producing both sweet and sour in the same taste. Spatlese is a sweet level associated with a late harvest picking. Auslese, are generally very sweet, more like a dessert style.

With the holidays coming up, another German wine to seek out for something different is a Gluhwein. This special blend of wine and spices is sweet and can be consumed cold, similar to a sangria, or in the traditional style of warming it up for a perfect sip on a cold winter night.

Whether you break out your beer stein, pile up some sauerkraut on a bunch of bratwursts or pop a cork on some Riesling to wash down your schnitzel and spätzle, enjoy a taste of Germany, for October comes just once a year.