11 - Germany Flashcards
Outline the growing environment in Germany (climate, rivers and topography)
Climate
- Cool and continental
- Extremely cold winters
- Frost risk in spring
- 500-800mm of rain often in summers which are otherwise warm
- Autumns are long and dry
Rivers: important to moderate –> site selection
Topography: Taunus and Haardt provide shelter from wind and rain, vineyards generally below 200m
Baden: southerly, drier, warmer and sunnier
Match the soil type with regions and grape varieties
Outline the costs and benefits to growing vines on steep slopes
+ Increased sunlight interception
+ Faster draining soils
+ Less frost risk
- Cost of labour in tending and harvesting vines –> equipment winched up and down
- Specialist machines like caterpillar tractors can be expensive
- Soil erosion incurs significant costs
Outline why vintage variation has reduced and quality improved in recent years? (4)
Climate change - consistently warmer climate
Clonal selection - improved selection of clones suited to cooler conditions
Summer pruning - improving vine balance via green harvesting etc –> ripeness
Selective hand-harvesting
Outline changes in canopy management techniques
Individual stakes - used on steep slopes with cane tied to top –> falling out of use due to shortages of skilled labour
Single/double guyot - more popular after land consolidation
combined with…
1. VSP - favoured especially in larger vineyards
2. Pendelbogen - replacement-cane with bent to improve sap flow –> more viable buds
What % of vineyards are organic? Why is this not higher?
9%
- Disease risk from humid summers
- Steep slopes mean helis used to spray –> can drift into neighbouring vineyards
In which situations would hand-harvesting be used vs. machine harvesting?
Hand
- Sloped vineyards
- Grapes with botrytis - requires multiple passes
- HQ wines were selection is important
Machine
- Flat vineyards producing high vol wines (more common following land consolidation)
Which varieties are most widely planted in Germany?
Describe the characteristics of Riesling
- Late budding / ripening –> autumn conditions?
- Thick wood –> winter freeze
- High yielding while retaining acid
- Resistant to: downy, powdery mildew
- Susceptible to: BBR
- Flavour: green –> tropical; floral; toast, honey, petrol
- High acid with variety of sweetness
Why did Riesling plantings decline in the 1970/80s and why have they increased recently?
Difficulty achieving ripeness - less favourable sites struggle in cooler years
German crosses achieved minimum must weights more reliably
Improved vineyard mngt and rising temps have made it easier to reliably ripen Riesling
Describe the characteristics of Muller-Thurgau
- High yields: any time, any place
- Most planted in 70/80s - Liebfaumilsch (plantings have since halved)
- Simple fruit and floral aromas
- Med acidity
Describe the characteristics of Spatburgunder
- Early budding/ripening
- Yields and ripeness are opposed
- Vulnerable to: EVERYTHING (millerandage, downy, powdery, BBR, fan leaf, leaf roll, shrivelling, sunburn)
- Strawberry, raspberry, red cherry, oak, earth, game, mushroom
- High acid, low-med tannin, med alcohol
What factors have driven increased plantings of Spatburgunder in Germany?
Plantings have trebled and now most planted black grape
- Warming climate has made it easier to ripen consistently
- Introduction of higher-quality clones and better canopy management have also improved consistency
- Use of wholebunch has helped contribute tannins without use of costly oak
- Increased domestic and export demand
Describe the characteristics of Dornfelder
- 2nd most planted
- Deep colour, fruity/floral, high acid
Two styles:
- Sour cherry and blackberry, some RS, fruity and easy drinking
- More complex with tannic structure and some oak
Describe the characteristics of Silvaner
- Plantings 1/2 of 1980s
- Less acid /aromatics than Riesling
- Green –> tropical fruit
- Franken: HQ, earthy, med-med(+) acid, med bodied
Describe the characteristics of Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc)
Both increasingly popular - Rheinhessen, Pfalz, Baden
Grau - likes heavy soils. Stone + tropical fruit, honey. Dry - sweet, med acid, med-full body.
Weiss - citrus and stone fruit. Med(+) acid.
What other grapes are grown in Germany?
Chardonnay - since 1990s, HQ in Pfalz and Baden
Portugieser, Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunier), Trollinger (Schiava), Lemberger
(Blaufränkisch) - fruity, simple, early drinking
Why were crossings developed and how did they become so popular in Germany? What are they used for and what are their advantages and disadvantages?
Developed to cope with cool climate and ripen sufficiently to meet min. must requirements e.g. M-T in 1880s
Popular to use in mass-production e.g. Liebfraumilch
Advantages:
- Ripen sufficiently even in cool years (less important today)
- Easier to grow
- Higher yields
Disadvantages:
- Often lack acidity for balance (however Kerner has high acidity even into Pradikat)
- Generally less aromatic (however Scheurebe capable of full body with intense grapefruit and peach)
Which two winemaking techniques may be particularly useful when dealing with Germany’s climate?
- Enrichment - most of Germany in Zone A (up to 3% ABV)
- De-acidification:
Mostly for high volume production has riper vintages mean only the coolest sites / highest density struggle for ripeness
Why are large oak barrels (traditional) and SST (modern) preferred as fermentation vessels?
Large oak - e.g. 1200L Stuck –> minimise oxidative impact but are to buy expensive and difficult to clean. Reserved for some premium Riesling.
SST - reductive environment and easy temp control. Default option for mid and premium Riesling and other grapes
What options are available to a winemaker to make sweet wine? (4)
Which options are appropriate for producers of premium and mid-priced vs inexpensive wine?
- Use grapes with high ripeness - ferment until yeast dies around 5.5-8%
- Stop fermentation early - chill below 10c and/or add SO2, rack and sterile filter
- Ferment until dry –> add Sussreserve (unfermented grape must)
- Must has to be from same region / of same quality as base wine. Often must is divided at early stage and some fermented. Rest is clarified, chilled and dosed with SO2 to be added later. Issues with balance. Reduces ABV via dilution. - Ferment until dry –> add RCGM - only for Deutscher Wein
How has the style of German wines shifted in terms of style?
Vast majority now trocken or halbtrocken
Althought top producers continue to produce world-class Beerenauslese, Eiswein and Trockenbeerenauslese
Outline Germany’s 1971 wine laws.
Outline the geographical terms used under the 1971 laws. What is the issues with the current laws?
Difficult to distinguish the quality of vineyards
Both Einzellage and Grosslage must usually be preceded by village name
Goldtröpfchen is a very good vineyard producing world class Riesling –> Piesporter Goldtröpfchen
Michelsberg is a Grosslage producing high vol, inexpensive wine –> Piesporter Michelsberg
Outline the four-tier classification system within the VDP
Outline the revised German wine law introduced in 2021 and is fully implemented by 2025.
Outline the regional labelling introduced by the 2021 revision to Germany wine law
Outline the similarities and differences between requirements for Estes Gewachs and Grosses Gewachs within the new QbA 2021 regulations in terms of:
- Origin of grapes
- Grape variety
- Picking
- Yields
- Final dryness
- Tasting panels / testing
- Release dates
- Indication of smaller parcels
Describe the size, situation and growing environment in the Rheinhessen.
What kind of wine does the Anbaugebiete produce?
Size: largest by production, 25% of German vineyards
Situation: sheltered by Hunsruck and Taunus mountains
Growing environments:
1. Warm, fertile valley floors –> bulk production from grape blends and youthful Dornfelder produced via merchants
2. Rheinterrasse - steep, east-facing slopes near the Rhine (Nierstein and Oppenheim). Roter Hang is known for slate, clay, sandstone soils rich in iron –> HQ Riesling made by co-ops and small estates
3. Wonnegau - near Rhine (Worms) –> HQ Riesling and Spatburgunder
Describe the size, situation and growing environment in the Pflaz.
What kind of wine does the Anbaugebiete produce?
Size: slightly smaller than Rheinhessen in terms of plantings and production
Situation: located away from rivers, Haardt Mountains to west are continuation of Vosges –> rainshadow
The growing environment: generally warmer than regions to the north
- Mittelhaardt (north) - S/SE slopes with max protection from Haardt, soils vary widely including from limestone –> clay
- Südliche Weinstrasse (south) - fertile sandstone –> inexpensive wine with a recent increase in quality. Pinots are popular due to the cultural legacy of French rule.
Production: mainly white grapes with Riesling 1/4 of plantings. Dornfelder > Spat.
Describe the situation and growing environments in the Baden.
What kind of wine does the Anbaugebiete produce?
Situation: southerly but split into multiple Bereiche including near Swiss border and between Franken and Wurttemberg. Main area benefits from the rainshadow near the Vosges
Growing environment: warmest, sunniest, driest region
- Kaiserstuhl: steep, S slopes –> full bodied, complex reds
- Ortenau: cooler, calcareous soil –> more acid, delicate fruit
Production: most white but best known for reds
- HQ reds esp with Spatburgunder often oaked
- High vol white blends esp. with M-T
- HQ Pinots and Chardonnay
- Riesling with Pradikats and body
- Co-ops account for 75% of production
Describe the situation and growing environment in Wurttemberg.
What kind of wine does this Anbaugebiete produce?
Situation: east of Baden, around Stuttgart
Growing environment: warm summer temp ideals
- Neckar: river and tributaries with steep, terraced vineyards
Production:
- Mainly light reds for domestic consumption, vast majority from single co-op Moglingen
- Most planted varieties: Trollinger, Lemberger and Schwarzriesling
- Lemberger is capable of making fuller bodied reds, sometimes with oak
- Riesling is half of white plantings
Describe the situation and growing environment in Mosel.
What kind of wine does this Anbaugebiete produce?
Situation: one of most northerly regions
Growing environment: best vineyards on steep, s-facing slopes. Mosel river can reflect some sun. Dark slate soils.
1. Middle Mosel: largest, best vineyards including villages like Urzig (Wurzgarten), Wehlen (Sonnenuhr), Bernkastel (Doctor), Piesport (Goldtropfchen)
2. Flatter sites e.g. Piesport –> M-T bottled by merchants
3. Sarr and Ruwer tributaries: sheltered valleys southerly-aspects, bit higher in altitude –> HQ
Production:
- 90% white, 60% Riesling
- Best-known for sweeter styles (balance acid)
- Drier wines become more popular
- Many small estates (JJ Prum) and large co-ops e.g. Moselland (20% of region’s production)
Describe the situation and growing environment in Franken.
What kind of wine does this Anbaugebiete produce?
Situation: W-shaped valley along river Main, further east than most –> continental climate
Growing environment: continental, south-facing slopes
- Wurzburg: S/SE slopes on chalk for Silvaner
- West: steep sandstone terraces, ideal for Spatburgunder e.g. Rudolf Furst
Production:
- Most white with M-T and Silvaner being most planted
- Silvaner: early budding/ripening, planted on best sites, dry, full-body, floral/west stone aromas
- Mostly local consumption but gaining export markets
Don’t forget the Bocksbeutel
Describe the situation and growing environment in Nahe.
What kind of wine does this Anbaugebiete produce?
Situation: between Mosel and Rheinhessen
Growing environment: large area with estates scattered –> variety of terroir. Hunsruck Mountains provide shelter. Slightly warmer than Mosel.
1. East - Schlossböckelheim to Bad Kreuznach: benefit from Rhine and Nahe with steep, s-facing slopes on mix of slate and sandstone
2. West - cooler conditions with later harvest e.g. Donnhoff
3. Flatter, more fertile sites - M-T for high-vol, good quality Grau and Weiss
Production: some red made as well, but 75% white
Describe the situation and growing environment in Rheingau.
What kind of wine does this Anbaugebiete produce?
Situation: south-facing section along the Rhine (and some Main), across river from Rheinhessen
Growing environment: Protected by Taunus mountains, width of Rhine increases moderating influence –> temp, frost risk, humidity. Quite a warm region overall. Soils vary including sand, loam, loess (near Hochheim in east) sandstone, slate (west)
- Steep slopes near villages like Rudeheim and Johannisberg - mid-slopes for best for dry wine
- Assmannshausen - western end with S/SW-facing slopes of top vineyard make full-bodied Spat
Production:
- White dominates (~90%) esp Riesling, mainly dry
- Good rep for sweet with bot as well
- Estates (Schloss) unusually dominant over co-ops
Describe the size, situation and growing environment in Ahr.
What kind of wine does this Anbaugebiete produce?
Size: very small, ~000s ha
Situation: northerly
Growing environment: narrow, sheltered valley with steep, south-facing slopes and darkslate + greywacke –> unusually warm
Production:
- Black grapes dominate (~80%) especially Spat –> dry, relatively high tannin, oak
- Traditionally grapes were harvested late and RS left over
- Co-ops produce 3/4 although small estates enjoying more success
