German wine

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German wine is produced in many parts of Germany, which due to the northerly location has produced wines quite unlike any others in Europe, many of outstanding quality. Despite this it is still better known abroad for cheap, sweet, low-quality mass-produced wines such as Liebfraumilch.

The wines have historically been predominantly white, and the finest made from riesling. Many wines have been sweet and low in alcohol, light and unoaked. Historically many of the wines (other than late harvest wines) were probably dry (trocken), as techniques to stop fermentation did not exist. Recently much more German white wine is being made in the dry style again. Much of the wine sold in Germany is dry, especially in restaurants. However most exports are still of sweet wines, particularly to the traditional export markets such as Great Britain. Red wine has always been hard to produce in the German climate, and in the past was usually light coloured, closer to rosé or the red wines of Alsace. However recently there has been greatly increased demand and darker, richer red wines (often barrique aged) are produced from grapes such as Dornfelder and Spätburgunder, the German name for pinot noir.

Perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of German wines is the high level of acidity in them, caused both by the lesser ripeness in a northerly climate and by the selection of grapes such as riesling which retain acidity even at high ripeness levels.

Many wines in Germany are produced using biodynamic or organic farming methods. Chaptalization is allowed only up to the QbA level and all wines must be fermented dry. In order to balance the wine, unfermented grape juice, called Süssreserve, may be added after fermentation to balance the wine.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography and climate 3 Grapes 3.1 White wine grapes 3.2 Red wine grapes 4 Classification 5 Regions 6 References 7 See also

[edit] History

The Romans started cultivating vinifera vines in Germany in 100 BC. Later the Church began to play an important role in Germany, selecting the vineyard sites and experimenting with different vines. At one point the Church controlled most of the major vineyards in Germany. In the 1800s Napoleon took control of all the vineyards from the Church, including the best, and divided and secularized them. Since then the Napoleonic inheritance laws in Germany broke up the parcels of vineyards further, leading to cooperatives as no one now has enough land to sell an own brand of wine.

[edit] Geography and climate

The main wine-producing climate lies below the 50th parallel. Above this line the climate becomes less conducive to wine production, but there are still vineyards above this line.

Because of the northerly climate, there has been a search for suitable grape varieties (particularly frost resistant and early harvesting ones), and many crosses have been developed, such as Müller-Thurgau in the Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute. Recently there has been an increase in plantings of riesling as local and international demand has been demanding high quality wines.

The wines are all produced around rivers, mainly the Rhine and its tributaries, often sheltered by mountains. The rivers have significant microclimate effects to moderate the temperature. The soil is slate to absorb the sun's heat and retain it overnight. The great sites are often extremely steep so they catch the most sunlight, but they are difficult to harvest mechanically. The slopes are also positioned facing the south or south-west to angle towards the sun. The vineyards are extremely small compared to new world vineyards. This makes the lists of wines produced long and complex, and many wines hard to obtain as production is so limited.

[edit] Grapes

Overall nearly 135 grape varieties may be cultivated in Germany - 100 are released for white wine production and 35 for red wine production. According to the international image, Germany is still regarded to be a region for white wine production. Since the 1980s the demand for German red wine has constantly increased and this has resulted in a doubling of the vineyards assigned for the production of red wine. Nowadays nearly 35% of the vineyards are cultivated with red grapes. Some of the red grapes are also used to produce Rosé.

Out of all the below listed grape varieties, only 20 have a significant market share.

Leading grape varieties in Germany (status quo 2005) variety colour synonym area (%) area(ha) 1. Riesling white 20,4 20.794 2. Müller-Thurgau white Rivaner 14,1 14.346 3. Spätburgunder red Pinot Noir 11,4 11.660 4. Dornfelder red 8,1 8.259 5. Silvaner white 5,3 5.383 6. Blauer Portugieser red 4,7 4.818 7. Kerner white 4,2 4.253 8. Grauburgunder white Ruländer, Pinot Gris 4,1 4.211 9. Pinot Blanc white Klevner, Weißer Burgunder 3,3 3.335

Other relevant varieties in Germany variety colour synonym variety colour synonym Scheurebe white Trollinger red Gewürztraminer white Blaufränkisch red Lemberger Muskateller white Schwarzriesling red Samtrot Chardonnay white Cabernet Sauvignon red Sauvignon Blanc white Regent red

A complete overview may be provided by the below listed varieties, which are officially released for commercial cultivation. These include varieties only released for selected experimental cultivation.

released white grapes
Albalonga Arnsburger Auxerrois Bacchus Blue Silvaner Bronner Chardonnay Ehrenbreitsteiner Ehrenfelser Elbling Faberrebe Findling Fontanara Freisamer Früher Malingre Gelber Muskateller Gewürztraminer	Goldriesling Grauburgunder Gutedel Hibernal Hölder Huxelrebe Irsay Oliver Johanniter Juwel Kanzler Kerner Kernling Mariensteiner Merzling Morio-Muskat Müller-Thurgau (Rivaner) Muskat-Ottonel	Nobling Optima Orion Ortega Osteiner Perle Perle von Csaba Phoenix Prinzipal Regner Reichensteiner Rieslaner Riesling Roter Elbling Roter Gutedel Roter Muskateller Sauvignon Blanc	Scheurebe Schönburger Septimer Siegerrebe Silcher Silvaner Sirius Staufer Veltliner Weißer Burgunder Würzer

released red grapes
Acolon André Blauburger Cabernet Dorsa Cabernet Mitos Cabernet Sauvignon Dakapo Deckrot Domina	Dornfelder Dunkelfelder Frühburgunder Hegel Helfensteiner Heroldrebe Lemberger	Merlot Muskat-Trollinger Palas Portugieser Regent Rondo Rotberger Schwarzriesling	Spätburgunder St. Laurent Tauberschwarz Trollinger Zweigelt

See Also: List of grape varieties

[edit] White wine grapes

White wine accounts for 70% of the wine produced in Germany. Principal varieties are listed below; there are larger numbers of less important varieties too.

• Riesling (Klingelberger) is the benchmark grape in Germany and is the most commonly produced. The drawback to Riesling is that it takes 130 days to ripen and, in marginal years, the Riesling crop tends to be poor.
• Müller-Thurgau is an alternative grape to Riesling that growers have been using. Unlike the long ripening time of Riesling, this grape only requires 100 days to ripen, however this grape has a more neutral flavour than Riesling.
• Silvaner
• Kerner
• Bacchus
• Scheurebe
• Gewürztraminer
• Grauer Burgunder or Ruländer (Pinot Gris)
• Weisser Burgunder (Pinot Blanc)

[edit] Red wine grapes

Red wine only accounts for 30% of the production of Germany but has increased in recent years.

• Spätburgunder and Frühburgunder (Pinot Noir)
• Portugieser
• Dornfelder
• Trollinger
• Schwarzriesling (Pinot Meunier)
• Lemberger

[edit] Classification

Main article: German wine classification

• Deutscher Tafelwein (German table wine) is mostly consumed in the country and not exported.
• Deutscher Landwein (German country wine) comes from a larger designation and again doesn't play an important role in the export market.
• Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA) wines are simple wines that meet the first level of quality.
• Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP) wines are of greater quality. The grapes for these wines must meet a certain level of ripeness. As ripeness increases, the fruit characteristics and price increase.
  • Kabinett wines are made from grapes picked several days after the QbA grapes are picked. These are the first picked grapes of the Prädikat level.
  • Spätlese wines are made from grapes harvested 12-14 days after the Kabinett grapes are picked.
  • Auslese wines are made from grapes that have been hand-selected out from the other grapes. These grapes are late-harvest and have a high sugar content.
  • Beerenauslese meaning "berries selected out" are wines from grapes that have been left on the vine longer than the Auslese grapes. These grapes develop the fungus Botrytis, which removes the moisture from the grape. Thus these wines are very sweet and make good dessert wines.
  • Eiswein (ice wine) wine is made from Beerenauslese stage grapes that freeze naturally on the vine. Just when they are frozen, the grapes are harvested and crushed. The ice keeps the moisture isolated to achieve the high sugar content of these wines.
  • Trockenbeerenauslese meaning "dry berries selected out" are extremely expensive wines. It takes a person one day to pick enough grapes to make 7-8 bottles of this wine.

In addition, wines are classified by the Verband Deutscher Prädikatswein (VDP). Top wines are classified according to region and the very best vineyards.

On wine labels, German wine may be classified according to the residual sugar of the wine. Trocken refers to dry wine. These wines have less than 9 grams/liter of residual sugar. These bottles are usually identified by a yellow-colored capsule. Halbtrocken wines are off-dry and are identified by a green-colored capsule.

There are also several terms to identify the grower and producers of the wine.

• Weingut refers to a wine producing estate.
• Weinkellerei refers to a wine blended by a blender.
• Winzergenossenschaft refers to a winegrowers' co-operative wine.
• Gutsabfüllung refers to a grower/producer wine that is estate bottled.
• Abfüller refers to a bottler or shipper.

If the suffix "-er" appears after the name of the town, the wine comes from a particular vineyard located in that town.

Other entries

• Classic
• Öchsle scale
• Grosse Gewachs
• Liebfraumilch
• Blue Nun
• Lieblich
• Hock
• Federweißer
• Sekt (sparkling wine)

[edit] Regions

There are 13 regions where wine is grown in Germany:

1. Ahr

2. Baden

3. Franken

4. Hessische Bergstrasse

5. Mittelrhein

6. Mosel-Saar-Ruwer is located along the Mosel River and its tributaries, the Saar and Ruwer Rivers. This region produces wine that is light in body, crisp and with a high acidity. There is also a high minerality because of slate in the soil.

7. Nahe

8. Palatinate is the second largest producing region in Germany. This southern region produces wines that are more fruity and low in minerality.

9. Rheingau is small, but known for producing the best German wines. These wines have less acidity and more floral and spicy fruit flavors. The wines have less minerality and a higher alcohol content.

10. Rheinhessen is the largest production area in Germany.

11. Saale-Unstrut

12. Sächsische Weinstrasse

13. Württemberg

These 13 regions are broken down into 39 districts which are further broken down into collective vineyards of which there are 165. The individual vineyard sites number over 2,600.

[edit] References

• Stephen Brook, The Wines of Germany. ISBN 1-84000-791-5.
• Alfred Langenbach, German Wines and Vines. Vista Books 1962.
• S.F. Hallgarten, German Wines. ISBN 0-9507410-0-0.
• Andrew Barr, Wine Snobbery: An Insiders Guide to the Booze Business. ISBN 0-571-15060-8. Especially Chapter 8 on history of sweetness in German wines.
• Deutsches Weingesetz

[edit] See also

• German cuisine
• History of Wine
• German wine label