Module 9: Chapters 13-15 - Germany, Austria, East/Cent Europe Flashcards
True or false: Germany is home to largely temperate vineyards.
False. Germany is home to some of the world’s coldest climate vineyards.
Where are some of the coldest growing sites in Germany?
Well above the 50th parallel, and far from a moderating large body of water.
What is Germany’s wine reputation built around?
Its world-class Rieslings.
What do German Rieslings have a reputation for?
Quality, complexity, and the ability to age for a long time.
Other than Riesling, what else is grown in Germany?
Other still whites, sparkling, and some cold-hardy reds.
Where does Germany rank amongst wine importers?
Consistently near the top, importing the wines it cannot grow, and growing what it can.
It also ranks in the top ten of wine exporters.
Except for a few small winegrowing districts, where are the winegrowing areas of Germany?
In the southwest quadrant, either along a river or on the shores of Lake Constance (Bodensee in German).
What is the lifeblood of the German wine industry?
The Rhine river and its tributaries.
What is formed by the Rhine River?
Most of the border with France and Switzerland. Flows out from Lake Constance westward forming the border with Switzerland before turning north past Alsace and eventually into the Netherlands and the North Sea.
What is the second most important river in Germany?
The Mosel. It flows out of the Vosges Mountains in France (where it is the Moselle), past Luxembourg, and northeast through prime German winegrowing regions, before emptying into the Rhine.
What are other significant tributaries of the Rhine?
The Ahr, Nahe, Main, and Neckar rivers.
Describe germany’s climate.
Northern continental. Mild summers, cold winters, and moderate precipitation year round.
What effect does this cool climate have on vineyard location and ripening?
The cool climate is why the vineyards are located along the moderating influences of rivers, otherwise the grapes have difficulty ripening before winter sets in.
Rivers reflects sunlight back onto the vineyards, helping to warm the vineyards
Southern facing hillsides have a distinct advantage in the northern hemisphere. What is advantageous about a northern facing slope along a river?
The river tends to reflect the light back onto the northern side, allowing for planting on that side of the hill.
What is unique about many of the top vineyard sites in the Mosel and Rheingau?
They have dark blue and red slate-based soils, which absorb solar heat during the day and radiate it back at night.
How many states (Lander) is Germany divided into, and where are the majority of the winegrowing regions?
16 Lander, with the winegrowing regions located primarily in Baden-Wurttemberg, Hesse, and Rhineland-Palatinate.
What grape varieties predominate in Germany? How many grapes are permitted?
White varieties, as would be expected from climate. More than 2/3 of the total permitted grapes are white.
More than 100 varieties are permitted, but in practice about 20 or so comprise the majority of the vineyard acreage.
What is the most planted grape in Germany?
Riesling, taking up more than 1/5 of the vineyard acreage, and is especially dominant in the Rheingau and Mosel areas.
What is Muller-Thurgau and how common is it?
It is a cross of Riesling and Madeline Royale, developed for hardiness. It does not resemble Riesling in either taste or longevity.
What are other common white varieties in Germany?
Silvaner, Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris, also called Rulander), and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc)
German Gewurztraminer is well known, but not widely planted.
Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Kerner (a Riesling and Schiava Grossa cross) are also present.
What is the leading red grape in Germany?
Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir), and third most planted after Riesling and Muller-Thurgau.
What are other important red grapes in Germany?
Dornfelder (renowned for deeply hued color and floral aromas), and Blauer Portugieser, which is common in light reds and rose.
German wine laws changed to follow EU guidelines. What year did the occur, and what were the broad changes?
2009, dividing wines into three broad categories, further defined by both geographic location and the degree of ripeness at harvest.
What are the levels of wine classification, in ascending order?
Wein.
ggA - geschützte geographische Angabe (This fulfills the PGI category of the EU pyramid)
gU - geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung (PDO)
Describe the Wein category.
Previously Tafelwein, or table wine, is used for basic wine. Very few quality guarantees. Mostly made for domestic market. Much of it is imported bulk wine from Italy which may be enriched or chaptalized to achieve final alcohol level.
To be Deutscher Wein, the wine must be 100% German in origin.
Describe the ggA category.
Formerly Landwein (country wine). Not considered quality wine, but are a distinct ste up from basic wine. Must be slightly riper at this level, with half a point more potential alcohol, but chaptalization is still permitted. A minimum of 85% of the grapes must be German in origin from one of the designated Landwein regions, and that region specified on the label. May be dry (trocken) or off-dry (halbtrocken) in style.
Describe the gU Category.
Relatively new category (2009). Includes wines covered previously by QbA (Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete) and QmP (Qualitätswein mit Prädikat) categories.
All are PDO level, and must carry a place-name on the label, with 100% of the grapes coming from that region.
There are two subcategories of gU wine, name them.
Qualitatswein and Pradikatswein.
What is Qualitatswein?
The lower of the two levels. Defined as “quality wines from a designated region,” they represent the largest proportion of German wine output.
The wine must come from one of the 13 Anbaugebiete (specified winegrowing regions), be made with one of the approved grape varieties, and reach sufficient ripeness to be quality wine.
Chaptalization IS approved at this level.
Describe the Pradikatswein category.
Highest quality level designation. Defined as “quality wine with attributes,” and must be produced from the same 13 Anbaugebiete.
Chaptalization is NOT allowed for these wines.
How many subcategories (Pradikate) are there in Pradikatswein, and what are the based on?
There are 6 Pradikate based on ripeness levels achieved in the vineyard. In ascending order of ripeness: Kabinett Spatlese Auslese Beerenauslese Eiswein Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA)
Describe Kabinett.
Light to medium body wines at the lowest ripeness level of the Pradikat. Average 7-10% abv
Describe Spatlese.
Late Harvest. Wines of additional ripeness picked after a designated picking date. The additional ripening time gives the wine more intense flavors and aromas than Kabinett.
Describe Auslese.
Selected Harvest. Wines that have stayed on the vine long enough to have a required level of sugar. These wines can have an intense bouquet and palate, and a potential alcohol level in excess of 14%
Describe Beerenauslese. (BA)
Selected berries. Rich, sweet dessert wines from individually harvested berries that are sweeter than Auslese and may also be affected by botrytis.
What is the German term for botrytis?
Edelfaule.
Describe Eiswein.
Wines made from frozen grapes harvested at a BA level or higher. They have become overripe from staying on the vine until as late as January, and are harvested after they freeze in the vineyard. They are crushed immediately, and much of the water is discarded as ice, leaving a very high RS level.
Describe Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA)
Selected dried berries. Wines from individually picked berries that are overripe to the point of being raisins, and often further shriveled by botrytis. TBAs are considered amongst the world’s greatest dessert wines.
True or false: The Pradikat levels are indicative of quality.
False. While Kabinett are certainly the most basic, the differences after that are stylistic and a matter of taste rather than a scale of quality.
The three dessert wines make up a very small fraction of production.
What do the Pradikat levels ensure?
That the grapes used have achieved a minimum ripeness level. Riper levels are considered desirable, as underripe grapes may be highly acidic, lower in alcohol, and have less developed flavors.
How is ripeness measured in Germany?
Degrees Oechsle, a measure of the sugar present. The system is based on the density or must weight of the juice, so the more solids (primarily sugar) in the juice, the denser the liquid will be.
Does Oechsle value translate to sweetness?
Not necessarily. High sugar content can either lead to high alcohol content in a dry wine, or high sweetness in a low alcohol wine, or anywhere in between.
Roughly 2/3 of German wine production is dry.
Oechsle scale is based on density of grape must. Define.
Oechsle = (density - 1.0) x 1,000
Must with a density of 1.074 has a Oechsle value of 74 degrees. The values can range from the 40s (seriously underripe) to well over 150 in dried grapes.
Kabinett grapes typically range between 70 and 85 degrees.
There are 13 Anbaugebiete (recognized wine regions) for PDO wines. Both quality levels require a single Anbaugebiet as a place of origin.
How many divisions are the within the Anbaugebiete?
3.
- Bereiche: There are roughly 40 of these regional or district appellations, similar to AOC Cotes du Rhone of DO Catalunya, etc. Each Anbaugebiet contains at least 1 Bereich.
- Grosslagen: Approx 160 of these groupings of numerous vineyards into a convenient admin package. They are largely meaningless from a terroir standpoint, and each Bereich contains several Grosslagen.
- Einzellagen: More than 2,700 of these. Ostensibly they are single, but have been administratively cobbled together into new vineyards with a minimum of 5ha (12.4 acres). They are often divided among many owners, and each Grosslage contains numerous Einzellage.
German appellations are only meant to provide information that accompany the quality and Pradikat classifications. Is this more like New World or Old World?
New World. German regulations have only very loose restrictions on viticulture and winemaking, instead concentrating merely on where the grapes are grown.
Why is the Grosslage or Einzellage typically preceded by a village name on German wine labels?
Both Grosslagen and Einzellagen typically cross several towns, so the addition of the village is helpful.
For example, the famous Sonnenuhr vineyard crosses both Wehlener Sonnenuhr (the village of Wehlen) and Zeltinger Sonnenuhr (the adjacent village of Zeltingen)
Of the three subappellations of Anbaugebiete, which is likely to appear on a label?
Bereich, as in Bereich Bernkastel.
Neither Grosslage and Einzellage are likely to appear.
What is Gutsabfullung?
Estate bottled.
What is Erzeugerabfullung?
Producer bottled.
What does Abfuller denote on a German wine label?
A wine produced at a commercial winery that buys grapes from other sources.
What is the Amtliche Prufungsnummer?
The AP shows up on all German PDO wines, and is issued after government approval, identifying the wine and showing where the wine was tested and approved.
What is the VDP?
The Verband Deutscher Pradikatsweinguter, an organization of Germany’s leading wine estates dedicated to terroir driven viticulture.
The VDP announced Germany’s first classification system for individual vineyards. When, and what was its basis?
2002, using the system of vineyard classification in Burgundy as its model. It was refined further in 2012.
There are four levels of classification in the VDP. Desrcibe.
From highest to lowest:
- VDP Grosse Lage: A “great site.” A dry wine from a Grosse Lage vineyard may be designated by “GG” (Grosses Gewachs), and is labeled with the term Qualitätswein Trocken, while sweet wines will have a Prädikat level indication.
- VDP Erste Lage: “First site” Dry wines at this level are Qualitätswein Trocken, sweets have a Prädikat, and each region can define halbtrocken or feinherb wines.
- VDP Ortswein: “Classified site wine” Sourced from vineyards at the equivalent of a village level appellation.
- VDP Gutswein: Good entry level wines, equivalent to an estate wine or regional wine. The wines originate from an estate’s holdings within a region and meet stringent VDP standards.
VDP classification in the top three tiers uses the Prädikats in what way that is different than usual, how?
They use the Prädikat terms to indicate a level of sweetness, in a way that modern usage of Prädikat terms does not.
How are sweetness levels indicated on German wine labels, traditonally?
Trocken - dry - up to 9 g/L RS Halbtrocken - Off-dry - 9-18 g/L RS Feinherb - see Halbtrocken Lieblich (of halbsuss) - Half-Sweet - 18-45 g/L Suss - Sweet - More than 45 g/L
What was introduced by the International Riesling Foundation?
The Riesling Taste Profile. This is a scale permitted on the back labels showing a wine’s sweetness level. It has caught on among some German producers, and the winery places the arrow based on technical guidelines in concert with its own tasting assessment.
Where do the ripeness levels on the three dessert wines fall in degrees Oechsle?
BA and Eiswein - Typically between 110 and 125 degrees Oechsle.
TBA - Between 150 and 154 degrees Oechsle
What is the ideal temp at which to harvest Eiswein grapes?
18F. They are usually harvested before dawn or in the early morning.
While the harvest often begins in November and December, it can go into January or February. If that is the case, the finished wine will reflect the calendar year when growing began.
Red varieties have become more important in Germany. How much of the acreage do they now make up?
Having double in the last two decades, they now account for 36% of German wine acreage.
Where are most red wine vineyards found?
In the south, particularly in Wurttemberg and Baden.
Describe typical German red wines.
Often light in color and tannin, as the leading variety is Spätburgunder.
Germany also produces substantial rose. If made from a single variety of at least Qualitatswein quality, it may labeled Weissherbst.
Where do Germans rank in consumption of sparkling wine?
At the top. Much of German sparkling wine is called Sekt, typically made in tank method,though traditional is permitted. Off-dry and semi-sweet versions are permitted, widely produced, and very popular.
What is schaumwein?
Literally, foam wine. Fruity aerated wines produced by carbonation from Spatburgunder and a wide range of white grapes.
How much of German wine is made in the Mosel?
Almost 1/6
Describe the geography of the Mosel.
A tortuously snaking river that goes past Trier and Koblenz where it joins the Rhine. The banks are often very steep.
Where is Mosel?
The most northerly great wine region, making it hard to ripen even the most cold hardy grapes.
The best vineyards are those facing south on steep slopes, providing ideal sun aspect.
What are the important side tributaries of the Mosel river?
The Saar and Ruwer Rivers. Until 2007 the region was called Mosel-Saar-Ruwer. Many of the most famous are on what is called the Mittelmosel.
How much of the Mosel acreage is planted to Riesling?
60%. Muller-Thurgau takes up much of the rest, but is slowly being replaced by Riesling or reds (reds are currently less than 10% of the plantings in the Mosel).
What is the hallmark of Mosel Riesling?
High acidity. This is balanced by rich stone fruit flavors, honey, and an occasional moderate sweetness.
Wines of the Mosel usually contain no more than 10% alcohol.
How many regions within the Mosel?
There are 6 Bereiche within the Mosel Anbaugebiet, including; Bernkastel Burg Cochem Saar Ruwertal
How much German wine is produced in the Rheingau?
2%, but its reputation is at least equal to the Mosel.
Describe the Rheingau’s geography.
It’s vineyards have the most favorable position on the Rhine. As the river passes the ities of Mainz and Wiesbaden, for about 15 miles the entire right bank has ideal southern exposure and river reflection. Along with red slate soils, this allows ideal ripening conditions.
How much of the Rheingau is planted to Riesling?
More than 75%. The southern exposure produces full-bodied Rieslings, and ripen Spatburgunder which takes up more than half of the remaining vineyard space.
How many regions within the Rheingau?
This Anbaugebiet has one Berich, Johannisberg, and more than 120 Einzellagen.
Where is the Nahe?
Southwest of the Rheingau, and west of Rheinhessen.
What does the Nahe produce?
Rieslings that are well respected if not well-known. Riesling is only about 1/4 of its production. White wine dominates the remainder.
Where is the Rheinhessen?
On the south and west bank of the Rhein, across from the Rheingau and north of Pfalz.
Where does Rheinhessen rank in terms of wine production and area under vine?
First in both. It has a warm, dry climate, and forms a low, flat plateau.
What is most of Rheinhessen planted to?
Riesling and Muller-Thurgau, with Dornfelder not far behind.
Where is the Pfalz?
West of the Rhine, with its southern tip not far from Alsace.
Where does Pfalz rank in terms of acreage?
First, producing nearly one quarter of Germany’s Riesling, and known for its simple, inexpensive wines.
What is another name for the Pfalz?
The English name is the Palatinate.
Where is Franken?
A large part of the Main River valley. Fairly sparsely planted.
What is grown in Franken?
The region is fairly cold, and its season is short, to Silvaner and Muller-Thurgau, which ripen early, are the most common.
What are Franconian wines known for?
Being everyday drinkers in a squat green or brown flask-shaped bottle.
What is Hessische Bergstrasse?
Literally translated, it is Hessian Mountain road. It’s a spur off the northern part of Baden. It has 1000 acres, almost half is Riesling, and is known for its whites.
What is grown in Wurttemberg?
70% is plante to red wine varieties like Trollinger, Schwarzriesling (Meunier), and Lemberger.
Where are the vines in Wurttemberg planted?
On the slopes of the Neckar River valley, with some as far south as the shores of lake Constance.
What is climatically higher in Wurttemberg than other German regions?
humidity and rainfall.
Where is Baden?
It stretches 150 miles along the east bank of the Rhine between Mannheim and Switzerland
Where does Baden rank in German wine acreage?
Third, after Rheinhessen and Pfalz.
How is Baden divided?
Two large unconnected segments along the Rhine, with three small subareas along western Lake Constance.
What is grown in Baden?
Spatburgunder is by far the most widely planted grape, followed by Muller Thurgau and Grauburgunder.
Where is Ahr?
It is one of the most northern, and smallest, of Germany’s wine region.
What is grown in Ahr?
Predominantly red wine (more than 85% of total production), mostly Spätburgunder, with Portugieser and Dornfelder.
Describe Mittelrhein.
A small region north of the Rheingau. Dotted with castles and planted to Riesling on steep banks.
What are two northernmost and easternmost Anbaugebiete?
Sachsen and Saale-Unstrut. Parts of former East Germany, they 2600 acres and produce little wine, but Riesling, Muller Thurgau, and Weissburgunder are most planted.
What resulted in Eastern European wine dropping in quality after WW2?
Soviet domination of the area, and their concentration on high output rather than quality.
What caused a downturn in Austrian wine presence on the world wine market?
A serious quality problem in the 1980s.
