Germany Study Guide Flashcards
The percentage of total German wines vinified dry shot up from 16-46% between what years?
1985-2015
Who brought Vitis vinifera vines to Germany?
The Romans
Which monastic order introduced Riesling and Pinot Noir to Germany?
The Cistercians
At the end of the 1800s, German wine was fetching higher prices than wines from what famous French region? What were the wines of the Middle Rhein region known as at that time that expanded to become a generic term for German wine?
Bordeaux
Hock
What events led to a spurred interest in viticultural science and the development of hardy new varieties, many of which were created for the purpose of boosted quantity and had a large impact on developing the image of Germany as a lower quality wine producing country in the mid 1900s? What is the major one of these crossing varietals?
The arrival of phylloxera and the annual struggle with the cooler climate
Müller-Thurgau
How did Nazi Germany majorly impact the German Wine Industry during and following WWII?
The Nazis drove out the Jews, who account for 60-70% of the wine merchant trade, and ended the wine auctions that had long ben a primary sales mechanism for quality wines.
As the tide turned against Germany, workers died and vineyards sustained bombing raids.
At the end of WWII, international boycotts commenced, the country cleaved in two, and the German vineyard had shrunk to fewer than 50,000 ha of vines.
What was the major style of German wine during the 1950s?
Sweet and cheap
What was the most widely recognized wine brand in Germany following WWII?
Liebfraumilch
What was the Flurbereinigung?
“Land Consolidation” refers to the land reformation in west Germany following WWII
Involved the consolidation of parcels of land previously divided by successive generations of inheritance and the physically reconstruction of the vineyards which included the destruction of ancient terraces that were previously vital for wine growing in the steep vineyards making way for mechanization.
What is the 1971 German Wine Law called? What did it attempt to impose?
Deutsches Weingesetz
attempted to impose new standards of quality and simplify label language
What three label terms were banned with the passing of the 1971 German Wine Law that caused producers to lose an informal means of classifying the Spätlesen and Auslesen wines of the Mosel and Rheingau? What creative solution did producers in the Mosel and Rheingau devise to indicate reserve wines that were previously designated by these three lost terms?
feine
feinste
hochfeine
Producers began bottling wines with a Goldkapsule to indicate a higher level of sweetness and distinction beyond a wine’s labeled Prädikat.
In some cases, an even longer golden capsule (lange Goldkapsule) indicated an even rarer and more special selection.
What does a Goldkapsule indicate on a bottle of German wine? How can its use indicate the level of Botrytis or lack thereof?
Indicates a higher level of sweetness and distinction beyond a wine’s labeled Prädikat.
Can be used for example on a wine of Beerenauslese wine that lacks signs of Botrytis for Beerenauslese and instead shows more varietal characteristics which is more common in Auslese wines.
Overall the Goldkapsule is a creative unofficial way of indicating that the wine is exceptional for its character and a longer capsule known as a lange goldkapsule may be used to indicate further refinement and higher quality.
In addition to the Goldkapsule what other creative code did producers in the Mosel come up with to indicate reserve bottlings among several of their wines bottled within the same prädikat?
The use of stars on the label (, **, or **)
At the dawn of the 20th century, what style were most German wines fermented in? What winemaking advancements led to a surge in the number of sweet wines produced in Germany by the 1950s? What happens in regards to label terminology that made it difficult to distinguish wines of high quality from wines of lower quality?
Most wines were fermented dry
New technologies such as sterile filtration allowed the production of sweet wines with ease
Label terms that were previously reserved for specialized wines became commonplace.
How did the German Wine Law of 1971 restructure legislation so that sweet wines of high quality could be distinguished from sweet wines of low quality?
Modified the requirements for legally recognized Prädikat shifting the obligation from sugar remaining to sugar occurring naturally in the grape.
Prior to the German Wine Law of 1971 what did a bottle labeled “Natur” indicate?
The wine should be completely natural, i.e., free of all additives, including Süssreserve and sulfur and also indicated that the wine did not undergo chaptalization.
What did the German Wine Law of 1971 result in regarding the number of the country’s Einzellagen (individual vineyard sites)?
Compacted the number of vineyards from 30,000 to around 2,700 hundred.
According to the German Wine Law of 1971, what is the min size in ha that a vineyard was allowed to be? Why is this considered a huge drawback for the industry?
min 5ha
It expanded some vineyards to include vineyards of lesser quality while eliminating others entirely
What is the larger catch-all term regarding the collection of certain vineyards that was established following the passing of the German Wine Law of 1971? What did this fail to do regarding label transparency?
Grosslagen
Failed to provide terminology indicating that the wine was bottled from a Grosslagen rather than a more site-specific einzellagen (single vineyard)
What terminology was established as a result of the German Wine Law of 1971 to indicate a region of production that was equivalent to French AOCs or Italian DOCs?
Anbaugebiet (literally, “quality wine from a growing region”)
What three tiers of wine quality were established following the establishment of the German Wine Law of 1971? In which tier was chaptalization forbidden?
Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiet
Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP) a subset of Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiet indicating quality wines with a special attribute (minimum level of must weight), which allowed Germany to retain some of its traditional terms-Spätlese, Auslese, and so on. Chaptalization was forbidden under this tier of quality.
Tafelwein (table wine)
What permitted practice in German winemaking following the German Wine Law of 1971 made it difficult to discern sweetness in wines despite the use of Prädikat terminology?
The addition of süssreserve, or sterilized fresh grape must for wines of any category, at up to 15% of the total volume of the wine.
Süssreseve could be added at an amount of what % to the total volume of bottled wine across all quality levels in Germany following the German Wine Law of 1971? What did this practice effectively make it difficult to discern despite a wine being labeled by different prädikat?
Up to 15% of the total volume.
Made it difficult to discern the level of residual sugar in the wine
What does A.P. stand for in regards to an AP Number on a bottle of German wine?
Amtliche Prüfungsnummer