Germany Flashcards
What is one variety Germany is synonymous with? What is its history of how it got here?
Riesling, it covers nearly 1/4 of vineyard land, and as a country is the number one producer worldwide. Wines are produced from dry to lusciously sweet, and the sweet wines are among the world’s finest.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the top wines commanded prices similar to classed growth Bordeaux, and are still enjoyed by a loyal following today.
What style of wine is Germany unfavourably synonymous with? Why?
Inexpensive wines with medium sweetness, produced from varieties such as Müller-Thurgau and Kerner, specifically developed to produce high yields in a challenging climate.
By the 1980s, this style, often referred to as Liebfraumilch on export markets and labelled under brand names such as Black Tower and Blue Nun, accounted for nearly 60% of all exports.
Sales of this style have plummeted since the 1980s as consumers, especially in the domestic market, look for drier styles of wine, but Germanys reputation is only just starting to recover.
What is the history of German wine trade from the 12th - 16th century?
Some of the most famous and influential vineyards date back to the Middle Ages, when Schloss Johannisberg and Kloster Eberach were planted in the Rheingau.
During this period, there was rapid expansion, and by the beginning of the 16th century German wines were widely exported, helped by proximity of vineyard area to the River Rhine, one of the most important waterways in Europe.
What is the history of German wine trade from the 17th - end of the 19th century?
The industry went into rapid decline in the early 17th century due to the Thirty Years’ War. The flatter valley plains where vines had originally been planted were taken over for grain production for bread and beer. Vineyards were pushed onto the steeper hillsides, which remain a distinctive feature of viticulture today.
It took several centuries for the German wine industry to recover. The 1830s saw the introduction of new laws based on the must weight of grapes, a principle that dominates wine law today.
Germany only became a unified country in 1871. Before that, it had been a collection of states that were often at war with each other and not always free to trade amongst themselves.
What did Germany see through in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?
The foundation of some now-famous wine institutes, eg, Hochschule Geisenheim University in Rheingau, and the Julius Kühn-Institut in Pfalz. These played a vital role in modernising the wine industry and making it one of the most technologically advanced.
By the end of the 19th century, Germany had established a reputation for establishing some of the world’s finest white wines, but soon underwent a major decline due to the setbacks of phylloxera and mildew, then the two World Wars. The area under vine halved in the 50 years to 1945 (although it has more than doubled again since)
What effect did the two World Wars have on German wine production?
They had a devastating effect on Germanys economy and exports. High volumes of inexpensive branded wines started to be produced.
Grapes that could reliably ripen each year, such us Müller-Thurgau, were usually a key part of the blend, and grapes would be sourced from multiple regions to ensure sufficient volume.
What is Flurbereinigung?
A program of vineyard restructuring implemented after the second World War. It involved the consolidation of many small, fragmented vineyards and the building of access roads, both aimed at increasing efficiency and enabling mechanisation, reducing the cost of viticulture. Without this, many vineyards would have become economically unviable (in some areas, such as the Mosel, where consolidation wasn’t always possible, abandoned vineyards can still be seen. Though in some cases, well-established producers or motivated younger winemakers have now re-cultivated such sites.)
What was key about 1971 in German wine law history?
The fifth German wine law was passed that laid the foundation for modern wine production, establishing protected geographical labelling and classification of wine styles based on must weights.
What is the current state of Germanys image regarding wine production?
Bulk wines still dominate production, but in the past 30 years or so, there has been an increased focus on quality, which is slowly attracting global consumers back to German wines.
