🍷 Perlwein

Perlwein is a German and Austrian semi-sparkling wine with gentle bubbles. The word means pearl wine, as the bubbles in the glass look like tiny pearls. The gas pressure in the bottle is low, from 1 to 2.5 bar, which is clearly less than in Sekt.

Perlwein is often made simply by adding carbon dioxide to still wine. In that case the label must say the gas was added; on a German bottle look for “Perlwein mit zugesetzter Kohlensäure”. There is also Perlwein whose bubbles come from fermentation. It is usually a light, fresh, inexpensive wine, white or rosé, often slightly sweet, which on a German label may appear as halbtrocken (off-dry) or lieblich (medium-sweet).

In Germany Perlwein has a practical advantage: because of its low pressure it is not subject to the sparkling wine tax, so it costs less than Sekt. Perlwein is the German counterpart of what Italy calls frizzante.