German Wine Law Flashcards
Why is German Wine so complicated?
One reason is that Napolean conquered Germany and applied his inheritance code to vineyards, fracturing them infinitely just like in burgundy. They tried to fix this in 1971 by consolidating the 30k+ sites to 2,600 vineyards to a minimum of 5 ha, but because the consolidation was beurocratic and unrelated to terroir, soil, or aspect, it’s still hard to navigate. The Pradikat system organizes wines according to grape ripeness, and as of 2021 the VDP system has been codified to make german wine law more like burgundy’s.
What are Germany’s Regional wines & PGI wines called?
Duetscher Wine and Landwein respectively.
If you list a vineyard/einzellagen on the label, what must your wine be?
Can be still or sparkling
Can be varietal or blend but
Must be Prädikat quality (Kabinett or above)
What are the german wine terms for:
area, region, village, vineyard, 1er cru, grand cru?
Anbaugebiet
Bereich or Grosslage
Ortswein or Gemeinden
Einzellagen
Erstes Gewächs
Grosses Gewächs
If your wine is Erstes Gewächs or Grosses Gewächs, what must it be?
single vineyard, single variety, and dry.
What is a gU? Ay associated rules?
gUs are single vineyards given PDO status. Only 6 exist in germany so far. Wines must be dry or auselese and sweeter.
What is qualitatswein?
The broadest category of PDO wine in Germany. Can be from any of 13 anbaugebiet, usually everyday wine of less ripe grapes; allows chaptilization
What are the Pradikat levels? How can you tell if a wine will be sweet or dry?
Kabinett, spätlese, auslese, beerenauslese, trokenbeerenauslese, icewein.
You can predict by comparing its prädikat level to its abv:
Kabinett will be dry if it’s 10-12% abv
Spatelese will be dry if it’s 11-13%
auselese will be dry if it’s 12-14.5%
Which Prädikat wines can be affected by botrytis?
Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trokenbeerenauslese
the former can be, the latter two are frequently
What is the quality pyramid for sparkling wines in Germany?
3 tiers
Deutschersekt: must be german grapes, can be charmat
Deutschersekt b.A: must be german grapes with at least 85% from an anbaugebiet, can be charmat
Winzersekt: estate fruit, traditional method, must state varieties and vintage, must see 9 months lees.
What are the VDP regulations for sparkling wine?
VDP.SEKT.STATUTE
Traditional method, any regional specialty grape or riesling or pinot noir, hand harvested, estate fruit.
vintage needs 2 years bottle aging
prestige needs 3 years
Grand Sekts need more
Can be Erstes Gewächs or Grosses Gewächs
What are Oschles?
degrees of sugar at harvest, used to determine ripeness
What’s the Oschles range for pradikatswein?
70-154
What’s Ortsteil?
Single vineyard, can be used instead of village on label
What’s the german wine term for monopole?
Alleinbesitz
