Germany : Mosel, Rheingau, Pfalz, Rheinhessen

Question 1

Which emperor overturned Domitian’s 92 AD ban on new vineyard plantings?

Answer 1

Emperor Probus at the end of the 3rd Century.

Question 2

What does einzellagen mean?

Answer 2

Vineyards

Question 3

Which anbaugebiete is the Kloster Eberbach monastery?

Answer 3

Rheingau

Question 4

Who founded the Kloster Eberbach monastery and when?

Answer 4

The Cistercian monks in 1136

Question 5

What does alleinbesitz mean?

Answer 5

Monopole

Question 6

Which commune in the Rheingau is the famed walled Steinberg vineyard?

Answer 6

Hattenheim

Question 7

What was the minimum size of registered vineyards (with some exceptions) mandated by the 1971 German Wine Law?

Answer 7

5 hectares

Question 8

What does edelfäule mean?

Answer 8

Noble Rot

Question 9

Where is the Geiseheim Wine Institute located?

Answer 9

Rheingau, founded in 1872

Question 10

What is the parentage of Muller-Thurgau?

Answer 10

Riesling x Madeleine Royale

Question 11

What grape is usually used for Liebfraumilch? Is it put on the label?

Answer 11

Muller-Thurgau

It cannot carry a name on the label.

Question 12

What does VDP stand for?

Answer 12

Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter

Question 13

What are the main white grapes of Germany?

Answer 13

Riesling
Muller-Thurgau

Silvaner
Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris)
Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc)
Kerner
Bacchus

Question 14

What are the main red grapes of Germany?

Answer 14

Spatburgunder

Dornfelder
Blauer Portugieser
Trollinger (aka Schiava)
Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunier)

Question 15

What is Weissherbst?

Answer 15

A saignée rosé wine made from a single variety and of at least QbA quality.

Question 16

What are the two tiers of German quality wine?

Answer 16

Qualitatswein

Pradikatswein

Question 17

What are the pradikat levels?

Answer 17

Kabinett
Spatlese
Auslese
Beerenauslese
Trockenbeerenauslese
Eiswein

Question 18

What are pradikat levels determined by?

Answer 18

The level of sugars in the grape at harvest, measured by degrees according to the Öschle scale.

Question 19

What is the minimum abv for Pradikatswein?

Answer 19

7% (But only 5.5% for Beerenauslese, TBA, Eiswein)

Question 20

Many of the country’s superb Grosses Gewachs dry wines are released as QbA (instead of pradikatswein).

True or False?

Answer 20

True

Question 21

What is the Öschle range for each Prädikat level?

Answer 21

Kabinett 70-85
Spatlese 80-95
Auslese 88-105
Beerenauslese 110-128
Trockenbeerenauslese 150-154
Eiswein 110-128

Question 22

Is chaptalization legal for QbA?

Answer 22

Yes

Question 23

When was Charta founded and why was it formed?

Answer 23

1984 - formed to advance the classic, dry style of Rheingau Riesling.

Distinguished by an icon of three Roman arches, styled from the balcony of Graue Haus, in Winkel

Question 24

Trocken wines are legally allowed to contain a maximum of how much residual sugar?

Answer 24

9 g/L

Question 25

Grosses Gewachs are which style of wine?

Answer 25

Dry

Question 26

What are the four tiers created by the VDP in 2012

Answer 26

Grosse Lage
Erste Lage
Ortswein
Gutswein

Question 27

What are the maximum yields for each tier of the VDP Classification?

Answer 27

Grosse Lage “Grand Cru” max. 50 hl/ha
Erste Lage “Premier Cru” max. 60 hl/ha
Ortswein Village Wines max. 75 hl/ha
Gutswein Regional Wines max 75 hl/ha

Question 28

The German Wine Institute at Mainz created a simplified hierarchy for drier styles of wine, debuting with the 2000 vintage: what were the new terms?

Answer 28

Classic and Selection were intended to replace the more cumbersome halbtrocken and trocken, respectively.

Question 29

Classic wines with the German Wine Institute represent what type of wines?

Answer 29

Single varietal wines with a maximum rs of 15 g/L, show minimum alcohol content of 12% (11.5% in the Mosel), and omit any mention of a vineyard on the label.

Question 30

Selection wines with the German Wine Institute represent what type of wines?

Answer 30

Single vineyard wines from a single variety, with a maximum rs of 9 g/L (12 allowed for Riesling). Yields are limited to 60 hl/ha, grapes are hand-harvested and wines may not be released prior to September 1 of the year following harvest.

Question 31

What was the Mosel region known as prior to 2007?

Answer 31

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer

Question 32

What is the Goldkapsel in the Mosel?

Answer 32

Its used almost exclusively by Mosel producers as a means of subverting the 1971 German wine law, which ruled that additional qualifications of the prädikat level, such as feine and hochfeine, could not be listed on the bottle.

Question 33

What are the 6 bereiche of the Mosel?

Answer 33

Bernkastel
Burg Cochem
Saar
Ruwertal
Obermosel
Moseltor

Question 34

The Middle Mosel is primarily in which bereich?

Answer 34

Bernkastel

Question 35

Trittenheim, Piesport, Brauneberg, Bernkastel-Kues, Graach-an-der-Mosel, Wehlen, Zeltingen, Ürzig and Erden are all in which bereich of which anbaugebiete?

Answer 35

Bernkastel

Mosel

Question 36

What are the soils of the Middle Mosel and what do they contribute?

Answer 36

Dark blue Devonian Slate - Absorptive blue slate retains heat and the river reflects warmth onto the vines, allowing them to ripen in a region where the annual average temperature is 49 degrees F, 8 degrees colder than the grapevine’s ideal annual temperature.

Question 37

What is Piesport’s greatest vineyard?

Answer 37

Goldtröpfchen

Question 38

Which three vineyards feature sundials?

Answer 38

Juffer-Sonnenuhr
Wehlener Sonnenuhr
Zeltinger Sonnenuhr

Question 39

Where is the famed Doctor vineyard?

Answer 39

Bernkastel-Kues

Question 40

What is the dominant grape in the Obermosel and Moseltor bereiche in the Mosel?

Answer 40

Elbling