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
