Germany: Wine Law and Regulations Flashcards
Germany: Deutscher Wein
- formerly know as Tafelwein
- Wine without a Geographical Indication made from German grapes
- ABV % must be between 8.5% -15%
- Produced in any style
- Inexpensive wines made to be drunk young
- Together with Landwein only accounted for 4% of the 21 vintage
Germany: Landwein
- Equivalent to PGI wines
- 85% of the grapes must originate in the Landwein region named on the label
- ABV between 8.5% and 15%
- Mostly made in the trocken and halbtrocken style
Germany: Qualitatswein
- PDO category
- Grapes must come from 13 Anbaugebiete regions
- and must appear on the label
- Wines can be made in all style with the min ABV at 7% and no max for ABV %
- Enrichment is permitted
- Majority of everyday and high volume wines
- High qulaity examples are following VDPS and labelling dry wines are Qualitatswein trocken
- Must undergo blind lab tasting and analysis
- Those that pass must put their 10-12 digit AP number on the bottle
- This indicates where and when the wine was tested, location of the vineyard and bottlers lot number
Germany: Pradikatswein
- PDO regulations
- Grapes must come from Bereich -40 wine regions , name does not have to be on the label
- These wines are produced from the highest must weights and enrichment is not allowed
- Usually for Rielsing production
- Prodcution on average is half that of Qualitatswein
- Pradikat = distinction
- Six levels:
- Kabinett
- Spatlese
- Auslese
- Beerentrockenauslese
- Eiswein
- Trockenbeerenauslese
Germany : Kabinett
- lowest must weights
- light in body and highest in acid
- dry to medium sweet ( around 7% abv)
- Dry around 12%
- Kabinett Rielsing is light bodied, aromas of citrus and green apple
Germany: Spatlese
- Late picked
- fully ripe grapes picked about two weeks later than Kabinett
- Greater concentration of riper fruit and slightly higher ABV % , fuller body
- Dry to Medium Sweet min abv must be 7%
Germany: Auslese
- “selected harvest” , specially selected, extra ripe grapes
- Not always hand harvested but hand sorted
- Riper and concentrated flavours compared to Spatlese
- Honey and botrytis flavours
- Last category where wines can be dry bbut most are sweet with high acid
- Legal min abv 7%
- *
Germany: Beerenauslese
- BA - “selected berries”
- harvest by hand
- High must weights , the wine is always sweeet and ferments are long and slow
- Min 5.5% abv and usally around 5.5.-8% abv as the ferment stops naturally
- Typical for berries to be botryized
- Ripe, dried stone fruit
- Wines are only made in years that are suitable for BA and yields are very low and labour intense
- Rare and very prem prices
Germany : Eiswein
- Min must weights are the same for Ba but the grapes must be picked when they are frozen
- below 7 degrees . Harvest between December to Febraury of the following year ( harvest date is when harvest started )
- Grapes are pressed and small quantities of natually concentrated juice with high levels of sugar and acid
- Grapes must be very healthy
- Producers regularly lose grapes to disease and predators
- Some will cover crops in plastic to protect
- Eiswein is high in acid, pure peach and grapefruite flavours
- Rare and Super Prem $$$$$
*
Germany : Trockenbeerenauslese
- ” selected dried berries” - very high concentrated must weights affected by botyris
- Shrivelled raisin like grapes pressed to extract small amounts of juice
- Ferments alre long and slow - Max 8% abv
- Yields are so low that this wine is ony produced on some vintages and only around 100 bottles
- Most expensive wines in germany
Germany: Terms Indictating Sweetness
- German equivalent to the EU labels for sweetness :
- trocken - dry no more than 4g/l of RS ( or up to 9g’l where sugar does not exceed total acid by more than 2g/l - Rielsing )
- Halbtrocken: off dry - 4-12g/L of RS
( or 18g/L when sugar does not exceed total acid by more than 10g/L
Prodcuers now use Feinherb instead or fine dry
- Lieblich - Medium / Medium sweet - 12-45g/L of RS
- Suss - sweet - over 45g/L
Aslo Goldkapsel - or sweet wines with botrytis
Germany : Geographical Labelling Terms
- Bereiche - wine producing districts
- **Einzellagen - individual vineyard sites
- Grosslagen. -collective vineyard sites
- **
- These can only be used in Pradikatswein and Qualitatswein and must be preceeded by the name of the village eg. Piesporter (er =belonging to that village ) Goldtropfchen = village / vineyard
- Schloss Johnannisberg is so well know it does not need the village name
- In Rheinland-Pfalz the name of the individual plots within a vineyard are also allowed on the label along side the Bereich
- Other Labelling terms :
- Liebfraumilch - medium dry white wine of Qualitatswein level with min
- 18 g/L of RS - must be 70% Riesling, Silvaner , Muller -Thurgau na dKerner
- Grapes must come from one of the four regions but most are from Rheinhessen and Pfalz
*
Germany: VDP
Verband Deutscher Pradikatsweinguter
- A calling for a hierarchy of quality vineyard sites
- Various producers groups have tried to establish their own class system and more stringent rules for the wine production
- Founded in 1910, the VDP are a group of producers from Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Pfalz, Mosel who wanted to create a Cru sytem outside the system of must weight
- Today the VDP has 200 members across the regopns and may be identified by the VDP logo ( eagle with grapes ) on the wine capsule
- They account for about 5% of Germany’s total vineyard area and 3% of annual production ( 7.5% by value)
- Riesling accounts for 50% of the plantings
- The regualtions include grape growing and winemaking must be a lower max yields, hjigher min must weights, and growing grapes that suit the region, sustainable viticulture inlcdung organic, and emphasize the providence of the wine
- Most of production is dry but some have RS , especially in the Mosel
- Dry wines must be labelled Qualitatswein . Pradikats are only for wines with Residual sweetness
- Member must agree to be audited every 5 years and those who do not comply may be excluded
- *
Germany: The Four Categories of VDP
- VDP Gutswein - These are regional wines, similar in style to generic or regional wines of Burgundy . They must meet the general standards made by the VDP . Max yield is 75hl/hc
- VDP Ortswein - equal to village wines in Burgundy and produced wit grapes typical to the region . Max yield is 75hl/hc
- VDP Erste Lage - Premier Cru or First Class . Excellent qulaity wines with potential for ageing. More stringent grape growing and winemaking apply. Only grape varieties best suited to the a particular site or parcel may be used .
Max yield is only 60hl/hc . Grapes must be harvest by hand and be ripe enough to qualify for Spatlese. Traditional winemaking techniques must be used.
Village and vineyard must appear on the label - VDP Gross Lage - Equal to a Grand Cru . Best parcels from the best vineyards. Parcels are narrowly demarcated by locals associations as those whose qualities stand out in the final wine. Outstanding with long ageing potential.
Strict rules apply:
Max yield is 50hl/hc. Grape varieites are more restricted and are regualted by the Anbaugebiete. Rielsing is always allowed except in botryised wines in the Ahr, as is Spatburgunder except for the Mosel and Nahe.
Dry wines can be release until the 1st September a year after harvest. Red wines must spend at least 12 months in oak and cannot be released until the 1st September a year after Harvest
Sweeter Pradikats wines may be realeased on the 1st May following the harvest.
Dry wines are deisgnated Grosses Gewachs but the term cannot appear on the label, instead the GG VDP trademark is used.
Only vineyard name appears on the label.
Germany: Rheingau Charta
1984 - promote dry wines from the best vineyards of the Rheingau
Erstes Gewachs is now the legally defined term for the best sites.
To use the term wines must be exclusively made from Rielsing or Spatburgunder. Grapes must be hand harvested and fro lower yielding vineyards. Dry with min must weight equivalent to Spatlese.
In 1999, the Rheingau Charta joined the VDP and can now use the GG instead of Erstes Gewachs
Germany : Revised German Classification System of 2021
The Quality Pyramid
Qualitatswein
PDO - must come from a defined region. Min must weight must be between 50-70 Oechsle. Enrichment is not allowed.
90% of all German wine production,
+ Pradikatswein (PDO)
a category within QW, with higher must min weights 70-154 Oechsle. Enrichment is not allowed.
Tiers:
-Kabinett
-Spatelese
-Auslese
-Beerenauslese
-Eiswein
-TBA Trockenbeerenauslese
____________________________________
Landwein ( PGI)
from one of the 26 defined Landwein areas eg. Rheingau Landwein. Label may state the name of the region when the grapes were grown but not the vineyard or village
____________________________________
Deutscher Wein ( no geogrpahic designation .
Basic wine in the EU Legislation. May state grape variey and vintage.
Germany: Qualitatsweine vs. Single Vineyard Wine
Qualitatsweine:
Vineyard
______________
Village
________________________
Region
_______________________________
Winegrowing area
or
Single Vineyard wines
Grosses Gewachs
____________________
Erstes Gewachs
_____________________________
Single Vineyard (Einzellage
The wine can be sweet or dry and must be made from one or more of the recommended grape varieties and be of Kabinett quality
____________________________________
Germany: Erstes Gewachs vs. Grosses Gewaches
Erstes Gewachs:
* Grapes must come from a single vineyard or smaller classifed site
* Wines must be made from a sinlge grape variety ( min 85%) and only recommended varieties
* The grapes must be picked selectively ( can be harvest by any means)
* Max yield 60hl/hc or 70hl.hc on steep slopes . Natural min abv% 11
* The wines must be trocken
* The wines have to pass a sensory test by a tasting commission if ordered by regional bodies
* The wines cannot be released until March 1 of the following year
Grosses Gewachs
All the same rules except:
* The grapes must be handpicked
* Max yield is 50hl/hc - ,min abv 12 %
* The wines have to pass a sensory test
* The wines cannot be released until the 1st September the year after harvest and June 1st of the second year for reds.
