Germany Flashcards
What did the German Wine Law of 1971 do?
Condensed the 30,000 einzellagen (divided up due to Napoleonic Code) into 2,600 registered vineyards, each with a minimum size of 5 hectares.
Established the top two categories of German “quality” wines (although together they account for 95% of the wines produced each vintage): Qualitatswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA) and Pradikatswein.
What vineyards are exceptions to the German Wine Law of 1971?
Doctor–Bernkastel
Kirchenstuck–Forst
Freundstuck–Forst
Schloss Vollrads “Ortsteil”–Rheingau
Which producer first noticed the benefits of noble rot (edelfaule) and propagated the auslese (1787) and eiswein (1858) categories?
Schloss Johannisberg
What white grapes are found across Germany–they occupy 2/3 of vineyard acreage?
Riesling Muller-Thurgau Silvaner Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) Kerner Bacchus
What red grapes are found throughout Germany?
Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir)--1/10 of total vineyard acreage Dornfelder Blauer Portugieser Trollinger Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunier)
What is Weissherbst?
A German saignee rose wine made from a single red varietal
Translates to white autumn
Higher quality German wines are generally varietal wines and must contain ______% of stated varietal.
85%
What are the 13 anbaugebiete of Germany?
- Mosel**
- Ahr
- Mittelrhein
- Rheingau**
- Rheinhessen**
- Nahe**
- Pfalz**
- Hessische-Bergstrasse
- Baden**
- Wurttemberg
- Franken**
- Sachsen
- Saale-Unstrut
What are the pradikat levels and how is it determined?
Determined by the level of sugars in the grape at harvest, measured in degrees by the Ochsle scale, each anbaugiete has its own minimum requirements for each grape, so pradikats are expressed as a range (for the minimum–there is no maximum):
Kabinett: 70-85* Ochsle Range Spatlese: 80-95* Auslese: 88-105* Beerenauslese: 110-128* Trockenbeerenauslese: 150-154* Eiswein: 110-128*
What does GG stand for on a German wine label?
Grosses Gewachs
Indicates a dry wine (labelled as Trocken except for Grosse Lage sites)
In Rheingau GG wines often carry the alternative label of Erstes Gewachs (trademarked by Charta) and it can appear in full on wine labels.
Prior to 2012 what did Erste Lage mean?
Top tier of the VDP quality pyramid, Erste Lage translates to “first site” and the label had a special logo of a “1” followed by a grape cluster.
Hand harvested grapes with a minimum must weight equivalent to Spatlese
In 2012 what did the VDP change to create it’s new 4-tier quality structure?
- All Erste Lage wines became known as Grosse Lage (essentially the “grand cru” of Germany) and can be labeled GG or pradikat
- Post 2012 anything labeled Erste Lage indicates sites of premier cru status
2012 VDP 4-tier structure
- Grosse Lage (grand cru)
- Erste Lage (premier cru)
- Ortswein (village level)
- Gutswein (regional level)
Soil type in Mosel
Slate
6 Bereiche of Mosel
- Bernkastel–largest bereich, aka “Mittelmosel”
- Burg Cochem
- Saar–higher altitude than Mittelmosel, cooler
- Ruwertal–includes town of Ruwer, with exception monopole vineyards Maximin
Grunhauser Abtsberg and Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg - Obermosel
- Moseltor
What anbaugebiete has nearly 80% of its vineyards planted to Riesling?
Rheingau
What is the Rheingau’s sole bereich?
Johannisberg
How do the soils in Rheingau differ from the upper slope vineyards to the lower ones?
Upper slope: slate
Lower slope: clay, loess, alluvial sand, red slate
What village in Rheingau produces the majority of the region’s Spatburgunder?
Assmannshausen
What anbaugebiet has more land under vine than any other?
Rheinhessen (larger than the entire Rheingau)
What white grapes are prominent in Rheinhessen?
Riesling is resurgent and Silvaner is a regional specialty as Muller-Thurgau’s influence wanes.
What region in the world has more acreage devoted to Silvaner than any other winegrowing region in the world?
Rheinhessen
Pfalz is a natural continuation of _____ which boarders it to the south?
Alsace
In addition to Riesling, what other wines/grapes are present in Pfalz?
Pinot varieties are coming a long way
Scheurebe has a reputation for sweet wines
The Nahe river is a tributary of the _______?
Rhine
What is the premier grape in Nahe?
Riesling, generally sweet
What producer makes some of the most well known and expensive wines from Nahe?
Donnhoff
What is the world’s most northerly wine region dedicated to red wine?
Ahr
What wine does Ahr produce?
88% of production is red, primarily from Spatburgunder
What anbaugebiet is known for Silvaner?
Franken
What river is Franken centered along?
Main
What wines are produced in Baden?
Primarily reds since it’s too hot for Riesling–usually Spatburgunder
