It is named for Ferdinand Oechsle (1774–1852) and it is widely used in the German, Swiss and Luxembourgish wine-making industries.
The mass difference between equivalent volumes of must and water is almost entirely due to the dissolved sugar in the must.
The regulations set out minimum Oechsle readings for each Prädikat, which depend on wine-growing regions and grape variety:[2] The sugar content indicated by the Oechsle scale only refers to the unfermented grape must, never to the finished wine.
Thus, all of these methods are similar and the differences are more cultural than significant, but all are equally valid ways to measure the density of grape must and other sugar-based liquids.
The Normalizovaný Moštomer (°NM) measures kg of sugar in 100 L of must and is used in Czech Republic and Slovakia.