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German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of German wine is produced in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where 6 of the 13 regions (''Anbaugebiete'') for quality wine are situated. Germany has about 103,000 hectares (252,000 acres or 1,030 square kilometers) of vineyard, which is around one tenth of the vineyard surface in Spain, France or Italy. The total wine production is usually around 10 million
hectoliter The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3 ...
s annually, corresponding to 1.3 billion bottles, which places Germany as the eighth-largest wine-producing country in the world. White wine accounts for almost two thirds of the total production. As a wine country, Germany has a mixed reputation internationally, with some consumers on the export markets associating Germany with the world's most elegant and aromatically pure white wines while other see the country mainly as the source of cheap, mass-market semi-sweet wines such as
Liebfraumilch ''Liebfraumilch'' or ''Liebfrauenmilch'' (, in reference to the Virgin Mary) is a style of semi-sweet white German wine which may be produced, mostly for export, in the regions Rheinhessen, Palatinate, Rheingau, and Nahe. The original German s ...
. Among enthusiasts, Germany's reputation is primarily based on wines made from the
Riesling Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...
grape variety, which at its best is used for aromatic, fruity and elegant white wines that range from very crisp and dry to well-balanced,
sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones ...
and of enormous aromatic concentration. While primarily a white wine country, red wine production surged in the 1990s and early 2000s, primarily fuelled by domestic demand, and the proportion of the German vineyards devoted to the cultivation of dark-skinned grape varieties has now stabilized at slightly more than a third of the total surface. For the red wines,
Spätburgunder Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French words for ''pine'' and ''black.'' The word ''pin ...
, the domestic name for
Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...
, is in the lead.


Wine styles

Germany produces wines in many styles: dry, semi-sweet and sweet white wines, rosé wines, red wines and sparkling wines, called Sekt. (The only wine style not commonly produced is fortified wine.) Due to the northerly location of the German vineyards, the country has produced wines quite unlike any others in Europe, many of outstanding quality. Between the 1950s and the 1980s German wine was known abroad for cheap, sweet or semi-sweet, low-quality mass-produced wines such as
Liebfraumilch ''Liebfraumilch'' or ''Liebfrauenmilch'' (, in reference to the Virgin Mary) is a style of semi-sweet white German wine which may be produced, mostly for export, in the regions Rheinhessen, Palatinate, Rheingau, and Nahe. The original German s ...
. The wines have historically been predominantly white, and the finest made from
Riesling Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...
. Many wines have been sweet and low in
alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...
, light and unoaked. Historically many of the wines (other than late harvest wines) were probably dry (
trocken ''Trocken'', German for ''dry'', is a classification of German wine that indicates a wine that is dry rather than off-dry (''halbtrocken''), sweeter (''lieblich'') or sweet (''süß''). ''Trocken'' wines are not devoid of residual sugar, but have ...
), 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 the United States, the Netherlands and Great Britain, which are the leading export markets both in terms of volume and value.German Wine Institute, German Wine Statistics 2019–2020
(PDF-file; 700 kB). Retrieved 9 May 2022.
Red wine has always been hard to produce in the German climate, and in the past was usually light-colored, closer to rosé or the red wines of
Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
. 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 Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...
.The wine regions of Germany
Perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of German wines is the high level of
acidity In computer science, ACID ( atomicity, consistency, isolation, durability) is a set of properties of database transactions intended to guarantee data validity despite errors, power failures, and other mishaps. In the context of databases, a sequ ...
in them, caused both by the lesser
ripeness In United States law, ripeness refers to the readiness of a case for litigation; "a claim is not ripe for adjudication if it rests upon contingent future events that may not occur as anticipated, or indeed may not occur at all." For example, if a ...
in a northerly climate and by the selection of grapes such as
Riesling Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...
, which retain acidity even at high ripeness levels.


History


Early history

Viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ra ...
in present-day Germany dates back to
Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom ...
times, to sometime from 70 to 270 CE/AD (
Agri Decumates The ''Agri Decumates'' or ''Decumates Agri'' ("Decumatian Fields") were a region of the Roman Empire's provinces of Germania Superior and Raetia, covering the Black Forest, Swabian Jura, and Franconian Jura areas between the Rhine, Main, and ...
). In those days, the western parts of today's Germany made up the outpost of the Roman empire against the Germanic tribes on the other side of Rhine. What is generally considered Germany's oldest city,
Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley b ...
, was founded as a Roman garrison and is situated directly on the river Moselle (''Mosel'') in the eponymous wine region. The oldest
archeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes ...
finds that may indicate early German viticulture are curved pruning knives found in the vicinity of Roman garrisons, dating from the 1st century AD.Entry on "German History" in J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition, pp. 304-308, Oxford University Press 2006, . However, it is not absolutely certain that these knives were used for viticultural purposes. Emperor Probus, whose reign can be dated two centuries later than these knives, is generally considered the founder of German viticulture, but for solid documentation of winemaking on German soil, we must go to around 370 AD, when
Ausonius Decimius Magnus Ausonius (; – c. 395) was a Roman poet and teacher of rhetoric from Burdigala in Aquitaine, modern Bordeaux, France. For a time he was tutor to the future emperor Gratian, who afterwards bestowed the consulship on him. ...
of
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...
wrote ''Mosella'', where he in enthusiastic terms described the steep vineyards on the river Moselle. The wild vine, the forerunner of the cultivated ''Vitis vinifera'' is known to have grown on upper Rhine back to historic time, and it is possible (but not documented) that Roman-era German viticulture was started using local varieties. Many viticultural practices were however taken from other parts of the Roman empire, as evidenced by Roman-style trellising systems surviving into the 18th century in some parts of Germany, such as the ''Kammertbau'' in the Palatinate. Almost nothing is known of the style or quality of "German" wines that were produced in the Roman era, with the exception of the fact that the poet Venantius Fortunatus mentions red German wine around AD 570.


From Medieval times to today

Before the era of
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Em ...
, Germanic viticulture was practiced primarily, although not exclusively, on the western side of Rhine. Charlemagne is supposed to have brought viticulture to Rheingau. The eastward spread of viticulture coincided with the spread of Christianity, which was supported by Charlemagne. Thus, in Medieval Germany, churches and monasteries played the most important role in viticulture, and especially in the production of quality wine. Two Rheingau examples illustrate this: archbishop Ruthard of Mainz (reigning 1089–1109) founded a
Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...
abbey on slopes above
Geisenheim Geisenheim is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt in Hessen, Germany, and is known as ''Weinstadt'' (“Wine Town”), ''Schulstadt'' (“School Town”), ''Domstadt'' (“Cathedral Town”) and ''Lindensta ...
, the ground of which later became
Schloss Johannisberg Schloss Johannisberg is a castle and winery in the village of Johannisberg to the west of Wiesbaden, Hesse, in the Rheingau wine-growing region of Germany. It has been making wine for over 900 years. The winery is most noted for its claim to ...
. His successor
Adalbert of Mainz Adalbert I von Saarbrücken (died June 23, 1137) was Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1111 until his death. He played a key role in opposing Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor, during the Investiture Controversy, and secured the election of Lothair II ...
donated land above
Hattenheim Hattenheim is a ''Stadtteil'' in Eltville am Rhein, Hesse, Germany. It lies within the Rheingau wine region. Points of interest * Burg Hattenheim * Eberbach Abbey (Kloster Eberbach) * Schloss Reichartshausen * Steinberg, Kloster Eberbach ...
in 1135 to
Cistercians The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
, sent out from Clairvaux in
Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, sp ...
, who founded Kloster Eberbach. Many grape varieties commonly associated with German wines have been documented back to the 14th or 15th century. Riesling has been documented from 1435 (close to Rheingau), and Pinot noir from 1318 on Lake Constance under the name ''Klebroth'', from 1335 in Affenthal in
Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
and from 1470 in Rheingau, where the monks kept a ''Clebroit-Wyngart'' in Hattenheim. The most grown variety in medieval Germany was however
Elbling Elbling is a variety of white grape (sp. ''Vitis vinifera'') which today is primarily grown in the upstream parts of the Mosel region in Germany and in Luxembourg, where the river is called Moselle. The variety has a long history, and used t ...
, with
Silvaner Sylvaner or Silvaner is a variety of white wine grape grown primarily in Alsace and Germany, where its official name is Grüner Silvaner. While the Alsatian versions have primarily been considered simpler wines, it was included among the var ...
also being common, and
Muscat Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate was ...
, Räuschling and
Traminer Savagnin or Savagnin blanc (not to be confused with Sauvignon blanc) is a variety of white wine grape with green-skinned berries. It is mostly grown in the Jura region of France, where it is made into Savagnin wine or the famous vin jaune and ...
also being recorded. For several centuries of the Medieval era, the vineyards of Germany (including Alsace) expanded, and is believed to have reached their greatest extent sometime around 1500, when perhaps as much as four times the present vineyard surface was planted. Basically, the wine regions were located in the same places as today, but more lands around the rivers, and land further upstream Rhine's tributaries, was cultivated. The subsequent decline can be attributed to locally produced beer becoming the everyday beverage in northern Germany in the 16th century, leading to a partial loss of market for wine, to the Thirty Years' War ravaging Germany in the 17th century, to the dissolution of the monasteries, where much of the winemaking know-how was concentrated, in those areas that accepted the Protestant reformation, and to the climatic changes of the
Little Ice Age The Little Ice Age (LIA) was a period of regional cooling, particularly pronounced in the North Atlantic region. It was not a true ice age of global extent. The term was introduced into scientific literature by François E. Matthes in 1939. Ma ...
that made viticulture difficult or impossible in marginal areas. At one point the Church controlled most of the major vineyards in Germany. Quality instead of quantity become important and spread quickly down the river Rhine. 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 the establishment of many cooperatives. However, many notable and world-famous wineries in Germany have managed to acquire or hold enough land to produce wine not only for domestic consumption, but also export. An important event took place in 1775 at
Schloss Johannisberg Schloss Johannisberg is a castle and winery in the village of Johannisberg to the west of Wiesbaden, Hesse, in the Rheingau wine-growing region of Germany. It has been making wine for over 900 years. The winery is most noted for its claim to ...
in Rheingau, when the courier delivering the harvest permission was delayed for two weeks, with the result that most of the grapes in Johannisberg's Riesling-only vineyard had been affected by
noble rot Noble rot (french: pourriture noble; german: Edelfäule; it, Muffa nobile; hu, Aszúsodás) is the beneficial form of a grey fungus, ''Botrytis cinerea'', affecting wine grapes. Infestation by ''Botrytis'' requires moist conditions. If the w ...
before the harvest began. Unexpectedly, these "rotten grapes" gave a very good sweet wine, which was termed Spätlese, meaning late harvest. From this time, late harvest wines from grapes affected by noble rot have been produced intentionally. The subsequent differentiation of wines based on harvested ripeness, starting with
Auslese ''Auslese'' (literal meaning: "selected harvest"; plural form is ''Auslesen'') is a German language wine term for a late harvest wine and is a riper category than Spätlese in the '' Prädikatswein'' category of the Austrian and German wine cla ...
in 1787, laid the ground for the Prädikat system. These laws, introduced in 1971, define the designations still used today.


Geography and climate

The German wine regions are some of the most northerly in the world. The main wine-producing climate lies below the 50th parallel, which runs through the regions Rheingau and Mosel. Above this line the climate becomes less conducive to wine production, but there are still some vineyards above this line and the effects of climate change on wine production are growing. 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 The Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute was founded in 1872 and is located in the town of Geisenheim, in Germany's Rheingau region. In 1876 Swiss-born professor Hermann Müller joined the institute, where he developed his namesake grape variety M ...
. Since several years ago 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 in the steep valleys, to absorb the sun's heat and retain it overnight. On the rolling hills the soil is lime and clay dominated. 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 and wine making is dominated by craft rather than industry wines. This makes the lists of wines produced long and complex, and many wines hard to obtain as production is so limited.


Regions

The wine regions in Germany usually referred to are the 13 defined regions for quality wine. The German wine industry has organised itself around these regions and their division into districts. However, there are also a number of regions for the insignificant table wine (''Tafelwein'') and country wine (''Landwein'') categories. Those regions, with a few exceptions overlap, with the quality wine regions. To make a clear distinction between the quality levels, the regions and subregions for different quality levels have different names on purpose, even when they are allowed to be produced in the same geographical area.


German wine regions

There are 13 defined regions ("Anbaugebiete") in Germany: #
Ahr Ahr () is a river in Germany, a left tributary of the Rhine. Its source is at an elevation of approximately above sea level in Blankenheim in the Eifel, in the cellar of a timber-frame house near the castle of Blankenheim. After it crosses fr ...
– a small region along the river
Ahr Ahr () is a river in Germany, a left tributary of the Rhine. Its source is at an elevation of approximately above sea level in Blankenheim in the Eifel, in the cellar of a timber-frame house near the castle of Blankenheim. After it crosses fr ...
, a tributary of Rhine, that despite its northernly location primarily produces red wine from Spätburgunder. #
Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...
– Germany's southernmost, warmest and sunniest winegrowing region, in Germany's southwestern corner, across river Rhine from
Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
, and the only German wine region situated in European Union wine growing zone B rather than A, which results in higher minimum required maturity of grapes and less chaptalisation allowed.Entry on ''"Baden"'' in J. Robinson (ed) ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition, p. 59, Oxford University Press 2006 . Most of the land is cultivated with Pinot family. That include Pinot Noir (Spätburgunder), Pinot Gris (Grauburgunder) and Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder). # The Kaiserstuhl region in the winegrowing region of Baden is Germany's warmest location. One of two wine regions in the state of
Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...
. #
Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...
or ''Franken'' – around portions of
Main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly the Main (river) in Germany * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *"Spanish Main", the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territories in the 16th and 17th centuries ...
river, and the only wine region situated in
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
. Noted for growing many varieties on chalky soil and for producing powerful dry Silvaner wines. In Germany, only Franconia and certain small parts of the Baden region are allowed to use the distinctive flattened
Bocksbeutel The Bocksbeutel is a type of wine bottle with the form of a flattened ellipsoid. It is commonly used for wines from Franconia in Germany, but is also used for some Portuguese wines, in particular rosés, where the bottle is called cantil, and i ...
bottle shape. #
Hessische Bergstraße The Hessische Bergstraße ("Hessian Mountain Road") is a defined region (''Anbaugebiet'') for wine in Germany located in the state of Hesse among the northern and western slopes of the Odenwald mountain chain. With only of vineyards it is the s ...
(Hessian Mountain Road) – a small region in the state Hesse dominated by Riesling. # Mittelrhein – along the middle portions of river Rhine, primarily between the regions Rheingau and Mosel, and dominated by Riesling. # Mosel – along the river Moselle (''Mosel'') and its tributaries, the rivers
Saar Saar or SAAR has several meanings: People Given name * Saar Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player * Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist * Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor Surname * Ain Saar (born 1968), E ...
and Ruwer, and was previously known as ''Mosel-Saar-Ruwer''. The Mosel region is dominated by Riesling grapes and slate soils, and the best wines are grown in dramatic-looking steep vineyards directly overlooking the rivers. This region produces wine that is light in body due to lower alcohol levels, crisp, of high acidity and with pronounced mineral character. The only region to stick to Riesling wine with noticeable residual sweetness as the "standard" style, although dry wines are also produced. # Nahe – around the river Nahe where volcanic origins give very varied soils. Mixed grape varieties but the best-known producers primarily grow Riesling, and some of them have achieved world reputation in recent years. # Palatinate or ''Pfalz'' – the second largest producing region in Germany, with production of very varied styles of wine (especially in the southern half), where red wine has been on the increase. The northern half of the region is home to many well-known Riesling producers with a long history, which specialize in powerful Riesling wines in a dry style. Until 1995, it was known in German as ''Rheinpfalz''.Wein-Plus Glossar: Pfalz
accessed on December 16, 2007.
# Rheingau – a small region at a bend in the Rhine that provide excellent conditions for winegrowing. The oldest documented references to Riesling come from the Rheingau region and it is the region where many German winemaking practices have originated, such as the use of ''Prädikat'' designations. Dominated by Riesling with some Spätburgunder. The Rheingau Riesling style is in-between Mosel and the Palatinate and other southern regions, and at its finest combines the best aspects of both. #
Rheinhessen Rhenish Hesse or Rhine HesseDickinson, Robert E (1964). ''Germany: A regional and economic geography'' (2nd ed.). London: Methuen, p. 542. . (german: Rheinhessen) is a region and a former government district () in the German state of Rhineland- ...
or Rhenish Hesse – the largest production area in Germany. Once known as Liebfraumilch land, but a quality revolution has taken place since the 1990s. Mixed wine styles and both red and white wines. The best Riesling wines are similar to Palatinate Riesling – dry and powerful. Despite its name, it lies in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, not in Hesse. #
Saale-Unstrut Saale-Unstrut is a region (''Anbaugebiet'') for quality wine in Germany,Wein.de (Germa ...
– one of two regions in former East Germany along the rivers Saale and
Unstrut The Unstrut () is a river in Germany and a left tributary of the Saale. The Unstrut originates in northern Thuringia near Dingelstädt (west of Kefferhausen in the Eichsfeld area) and its catchment area is the whole of the Thuringian Basin. ...
, and Germany's northernmost winegrowing region. # Saxony or ''Sachsen'' – one of two regions in former East Germany, in the southeastern corner of the country, along the river Elbe in the state of Saxony. #
Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Württ ...
– a traditional red wine region, where grape varieties Trollinger (the region's signature variety), Schwarzriesling and Lemberger outnumber the varieties that dominate elsewhere. One of two wine regions in the state of Baden-Württemberg. These 13 regions (''Anbaugebiete'') are broken down into 39 districts (''Bereiche'') which are further broken down into collective vineyard sites (''Großlagen'') of which there are 167. The individual vineyard sites (''Einzellagen'') number 2,658.


Sorted by size

Data from 2016.


Tafelwein and Landwein regions

There are seven regions for Tafelwein (''Weinbaugebiete für Tafelwein''), three of which are divided into two or three subregions (''Untergebiete'') each, and 21 regions for Landwein (''Landweingebiete'').Weinverordnung (WeinV 1995), updated until Art. 1 V v. 11.3.2008 I 383
§ 1 for Tafelwein and § 2 for Landwein.
These regions have the following relationship to each other, and to the quality wine regions:


Grape varieties

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 considered a region for white wine production. Since the 1980s, demand for German red wine has constantly increased, and this has resulted in a doubling of the vineyards used for red wine. Nowadays, over 35% of the vineyards are cultivated with red grapes. Some of the red grapes are also used to produce rosé. Out of all the grape varieties listed below, only 20 have a significant market share.


Grape variety trends over time

During the last century several changes have taken place with respect to the most planted varieties. Until the early 20th century, Elbling was Germany's most planted variety, after which it was eclipsed by Silvaner during the middle of the 20th century.Entry on ''"Silvaner"'' in J. Robinson (ed), ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'', Third Edition, pp. 630-631, Oxford University Press 2006, . After a few decades in the top spot, in the late 1960s Silvaner was overtaken by the high-yielding Müller-Thurgau, which in turn started to lose ground in the 1980s. From the mid-1990s, Riesling became the most planted variety, a position it probably had never enjoyed before on a national level. Red grapes in Germany have experienced several ups and downs. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, there was a downward trend, which was reversed around 1980. From mid-1990s and during the next decade, there was an almost explosive growth of plantation of red varieties. Plantings was shared between traditional Spätburgunder and a number of new crossings, led by Dornfelder, while other traditional German red varieties such as Portugieser only held their ground. From around 2005, the proportion of red varieties has stabilized around 37%, about three times the 1980 level.


Common white wine grapes

White grape varieties account for 66% of the area planted in Germany. Principal varieties are listed below; there are larger numbers of less important varieties too. *
Riesling Riesling (, ; ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...
is the benchmark grape in Germany and covers the most area in German vineyards. It is an aromatic variety with a high level of acidity that can be used for dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling wines. 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, and is one of the so-called ''new crossings''. Unlike the long ripening time of Riesling, this grape variety only requires 100 days to ripen, can be planted on more sites, and is higher yielding. However, this grape has a more neutral flavour than Riesling, and as the main ingredient of
Liebfraumilch ''Liebfraumilch'' or ''Liebfrauenmilch'' (, in reference to the Virgin Mary) is a style of semi-sweet white German wine which may be produced, mostly for export, in the regions Rheinhessen, Palatinate, Rheingau, and Nahe. The original German s ...
its reputation has taken a beating together with that wine variety. Germany's most planted variety from the 1970s to the mid-1990s, it has been losing ground for a number of years. Dry Müller-Thurgau is usually labeled Rivaner. * Grauer Burgunder or Ruländer (
Pinot gris Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio (, ) or Grauburgunder is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir variety, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name, but the gra ...
) * Weisser Burgunder ( Pinot blanc) *
Silvaner Sylvaner or Silvaner is a variety of white wine grape grown primarily in Alsace and Germany, where its official name is Grüner Silvaner. While the Alsatian versions have primarily been considered simpler wines, it was included among the var ...
is another subtle, fairly neutral, but quite old grape variety that was Germany's most planted until the 1960s and after that has continued to lose ground. It has however remained popular in Franconia and Rheinhessen, where it is grown on chalky soils to produce powerful dry wines with a slightly earthy and rustic but also food-friendly character. * Kerner *
Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For ne ...
*
Bacchus In ancient Greek religion and myth, Dionysus (; grc, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, festivity, and theatre. The Romans ...
*
Scheurebe Scheurebe or Sämling 88 is a white wine grape variety. It is primarily grown in Germany and Austria, where it often is called Sämling 88 (''English'': Seedling 88), and some parts of the New World. Scheurebe wines are highly aromatic, and the ...
* Sauvignon blanc


Common red wine grapes

Red wine varieties account for 34% of the plantations in Germany but has increased in recent years. * Spätburgunder (
Pinot noir Pinot Noir () is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words for ''pine'' and ''black.' ...
) – a much-appreciated grape variety that demands good sites to produce good wines and therefore competes with Riesling. It is considered to give the most elegant red wines of Germany. * Dornfelder – a "new crossing" that has become much appreciated in Germany since it is easy to grow and gives dark-coloured, full-bodied, fruity and tannic wines of a style that used to be hard to produce in Germany. * Portugieser *
Trollinger Trollinger, Schiava, or Vernatsch, is a red German/Italian wine grape variety that was likely first originally cultivated in the wine regions of South Tyrol and Trentino, but today is almost exclusively cultivated on steep, sunny locations in ...
* Lemberger (
Blaufränkisch Blaufränkisch ( German for ''blue Frankish'') is a dark-skinned variety of grape used for red wine. and California, DNA profiling has shown that Blaufränkisch is a cross between Gouais blanc (Weißer Heunisch; male parent) and Blaue Zimm ...
) * Schwarzriesling ( Pinot Meunier) * Regent * Merlot * St. Laurent


Permitted varieties

According to the German
wine law Wine laws are legislation regulating various aspects of production and sales of wine. The purpose of wine laws includes combating wine fraud, by means of regulated protected designations of origin, labelling practices and classification of wine, ...
, the state governments are responsible for drawing up lists of grape varieties allowed in wine production. The varieties listed below are officially permitted for commercial cultivation. The lists include varieties permitted only for selected experimental cultivation.


Viticultural practices

Many of the best vineyards in Germany are steep vineyards overlooking rivers, where mechanisation is impossible and a lot of manual labour is needed to produce the wine. Since it can be difficult to get ripe grapes in such a northernly location as Germany, the sugar maturity of grapes (
must weight Must weight is a measure of the amount of sugar in grape juice (must) and, hence, indicates the amount of alcohol that could be produced if it is all fermented to alcohol, rather than left as residual sugar.Oechsle scale have played a great role in Germany. German vintners on average crop their vineyards quite high, with yields averaging around 64–99 hl/ha, a high figure in international comparison. Some crossings used for low-quality white wine yield up to 150–200 hl/ha, while quality-conscious producers who strive to produce well-balanced wines of concentrated flavours rarely exceed 50 hl/ha. Many wines in Germany are produced using organic farming or biodynamic methods. With an average annual growth rate of 25 percent and a cultivated area of more than 7,000 hectares, Germany ranks in place six worldwide. The market share of organic wine is between four and five percent.


Winemaking practices

Chaptalization is allowed only up to the QbA level, not for ''Prädikatswein'' and all wines must be fermented dry if chaptalised. To balance the wine, unfermented grape juice, called Süssreserve, may be added after fermentation.


Classification

German wine classification is sometimes the source of confusion. However, to those familiar with the terms used, a German wine label reveals much information about the wine's origin, the minimum ripeness of the grapes used for the wine, as well as the dryness/sweetness of the wine. In general, the ripeness classifications of German wines reflect minimum sugar content in the grape (also known as "potential alcohol" = the amount of alcohol resulting from fermenting all sugar in the juice) at the point of harvest of the grape. They have nothing to do with the sweetness of the wine after fermentation, which is one of the most common mis-perceptions about German wines. * Deutscher Tafelwein (German
table wine Table wine (rarely abbreviated TW) is a wine term with two different meanings: a style of wine and a quality level within wine classification. In the United States, the term primarily designates a wine style: an ordinary wine which is not fortif ...
) is mostly consumed in the country and not exported. Generally used for blended wines that can not be Qualitätswein. * 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 from a defined appellation with the exception of Liebfraumilch, which can be blended from several regions and still be classified as Qualitätswein. * Prädikatswein, recently (August 1, 2007) renamed from Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP) wines made from grapes of higher ripeness. As ripeness increases, the fruit characteristics and price increase. Categories within Prädikatswein are Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein. Wines of these categories can not be chaptalized. All these categories within Prädikatswein are solely linked to minimum requirements of potential alcohol. While these may correlate with harvest time, there are no legally defined harvest time restrictions anymore. ** Kabinett wines are made from grapes that have achieved minimum defined potential alcohol levels. Those minimum requirements differ by region and grape variety. Essentially, Kabinett is the first level of reserve grape selection. ** Spätlese wines ("late harvest") are made from grapes that have achieved minimum defined potential alcohol levels. Those minimum requirements differ by region and grape variety. Essentially, Spatlese is the second level of reserve grape selection. **
Auslese ''Auslese'' (literal meaning: "selected harvest"; plural form is ''Auslesen'') is a German language wine term for a late harvest wine and is a riper category than Spätlese in the '' Prädikatswein'' category of the Austrian and German wine cla ...
wines ("select harvest") are made from grapes that have achieved minimum defined potential alcohol levels. Those minimum requirements differ by region and grape variety. Essentially, Auslese is the third level of reserve grape selection. **
Beerenauslese ''Beerenauslese'' (literally: "selection of berries") is a German language wine term for a late harvest wine with noble rot. Beerenauslese is a category in the '' Prädikatswein'' category of the Austrian and German wine classifications, and is ...
wines ("berry selection") are made from grapes that have achieved minimum defined potential alcohol levels. The concentration of the grape juice may have been facilitated by a fungus ''
Botrytis Botrytis may refer to: * ''Botrytis'' (fungus), the anamorphs of fungi of the genus '' Botryotinia'' **''Botrytis cinerea ''Botrytis cinerea'' is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine ...
'', which perforates the skin of the grape forcing water to drip out and all remaining elements to concentrate. Due to the high potential alcohol level required for this category of ripeness, these wines are generally made into sweet wines and can make good dessert wines. **
Trockenbeerenauslese ''Trockenbeerenauslese'' (literal meaning: 'dried berry selection') is a German language wine term for a medium to full body dessert wine. ''Trockenbeerenauslese'' is the highest in sugar content in the ''Prädikatswein'' category of the Austria ...
wines ("dry berries selection") are made from grapes of an even higher potential alcohol level, generally reachable only with the help of Botrytis. The grapes used for Trockenbeerenauslese have reached an even more raisin-like state than those used for Beerenauslese. Due to the high concentration of sugar in the raisin-like grape, these wines can only be made in a sweet style and make extremely sweet, concentrated and usually quite expensive wines. **
Eiswein Ice wine (or icewine; german: Eiswein) is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing for a more concentrated gra ...
(
ice wine Ice wine (or icewine; german: Eiswein) is a type of dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing for a more concentrated gra ...
) wine is made grapes that freeze naturally on the vine and have to reach the same potential alcohol level as Beerenauslese. The grapes are harvested and pressed in the frozen state. The ice stays in the press during pressing and hence a concentrated juice flows off the press leading to higher potential alcohol levels, which in turn generally result in sweet wines due to the high potential alcohol. The taste differs from the other high-level wines since Botrytis infection is usually lower, ideally completely absent. 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. Halbtrocken wines are off-dry and have 9–18 grams/liter of residual sugar. Due to the high acidity ("crispness") of many German wines, the taste profile of many halbtrocken wines fall within the "internationally dry" spectrum rather than being appreciably sweet. Feinherb wines are slightly more sweet than halbtrocken wines. Lieblich wines are noticeably sweet; except for the high category Prädikatsweine of type Beerenauslese and above, lieblich wines from Germany are usually of the low Tafelwein category. The number of German wines produced in a lieblich style has dropped markedly since the style went out of fashion in the 1980s. In recent years, the
Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter An umbrella organization is an association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions who work together formally to coordinate activities and/or pool resources. In business, political, and other environments, it provides resources and ofte ...
(VDP), which is a private marketing club founded in 1910, has lobbied for the recognition of a vineyard classification, but its effort have not yet changed national law. There are also several terms to identify the grower and producers of the wine: * Weingut refers to a winegrowing and wine-producing estate, rather
craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...
than industry. * Weinkellerei refers to a maturing and bottling facility, a bottler or shipper. * Winzergenossenschaft refers to a
winemaking cooperative A winemaking cooperative is an agricultural cooperative which is involved in winemaking, and which in a similar way to other cooperatives is owned by its members. The members in a winemaking cooperative are usually vineyard owners, who deliver gr ...
. * Gutsabfüllung refers to a grower/producer wine that is estate bottled. * Abfüller refers to a bottler or shipper.


Industry structure

The German wine scene consists of many small
craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...
oriented vineyard owners. The 1999 viticultural survey counted 68 598 vineyard owners, down from 76 683 in Western Germany in 1989/90, for an average size of 1.5 ha. Most of the 40 625 operators of less than 0.5 ha should likely be classified as hobby winemakers. The 2016 viticultural survey counted 15 931 vineyard owners. Two digit decreases of operating owners change the structure. Many smaller vineyard owners do not pursue viticulture as a full-time occupation, but rather as a supplement to other agriculture or to hospitality. It is not uncommon for a visitor to a German wine region to find that a small family-owned ''Gasthaus'' has its own wine. Smaller grape-growers who do not wish to, or are unable to, commercialise their own wine have several options available: sell the grapes (either on the market each harvest year, or on long-term contract with larger wineries looking to supplement their own production), deliver the grapes to a
winemaking cooperative A winemaking cooperative is an agricultural cooperative which is involved in winemaking, and which in a similar way to other cooperatives is owned by its members. The members in a winemaking cooperative are usually vineyard owners, who deliver gr ...
(called ''Winzergenossenschaft'' in Germany), or sell the wine in bulk to winemaking firms that use them in "bulk brands" or as a base wine for Sekt. Those who own vineyards in truly good locations also have the option of renting them out to larger producers to operate. A total of 5,864 vineyard owners owned more than 5 ha each in 2016, accounting for 81% of Germany's total vineyard surface, and it is in this category that the full-time vintners and commercial operations are primarily found. However, truly large wineries, in terms of their own vineyard holdings, are rare in Germany. Hardly any German wineries reach the size of New World winemaking companies, and only a few are of the same size as a typical
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...
Grand Cru Cru is a wine term used to indicate a high-quality vineyard or group of vineyards. It is a French word which is traditionally translated as "growth", as is the past participle of the verb "croître" (to grow); it literally means 'grown'. The ...
Classé château. Of the ten wineries considered as Germany's best by ''Gault Millau Weinguide'' in 2007, nine had 10,2 — 19 ha of vineyards, and one ( Weingut Robert Weil, owned by
Suntory (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and makes Japanese whisky. It ...
) had 70 ha. This means that most of the high-ranking German wineries each only produces around 100,000 bottles of wine per year. That production is often distributed over, say, 10–25 different wines from different vineyards, of different ''Prädikat'', sweetness and so on. The largest vineyard owner is the Hessian State Wineries (''Hessische Staatsweingüter''), owned by the state of Hesse, with 200 ha vineyards, the produce of which is vinified in three separate wineries. The largest privately held winery is Dr. Bürklin-Wolf in the Palatinate with 85,5 ha.


Largest German wineries

By April 2014, the ten largest German wine producers were: * Weingut Lergenmüller Hainfeld (Palatinate), 110 ha; and Schloss Reinhartshausen, 80 hahttp://michael-liebert.de/weintipps/schloss-reinhartshausen-lergenmueller-neuer-besitzer/ Weingut Lergenmüller – new owner of Schloss Reinhartshausen. * Juliusspital, Würzburg (Franken), 170 ha * Weingut Heinz Pfaffmann, Walsheim (Palatinate), 150 ha * Hessische Staatsweingüter Eltville (Rheingau), 140 ha * Markgraf von Baden Salem (Baden), 140 ha * Bischöfliche Weingüter Trier (Mosel), 95 ha * Staatlicher Hofkeller Würzburg (Franconia), 120 ha * Weingut Anselmann Edesheim (Palatinate), 115 ha *
Bürgerspital zum Heiligen Geist Burger Hospital and wine shopThe Bürgerspital zum Heiligen Geist (Citizens' Hospital of the Holy Spirit) is a Stiftung (foundation) in Würzburg. It operates several senior citizens' homes and a geriatric rehabilitation clinic. The economic fou ...
Würzburg (Franconia), 110 ha * Weingut Friedrich Kiefer Eichstetten am Kaiserstuhl (Baden), 110 ha


See also

* German cuisine * Flurbereinigung *
Old World wine Old World wine refers primarily to wine made in Europe but can also include other regions of the Mediterranean basin with long histories of winemaking such as North Africa and the Near East. The phrase is often used in contrast to " New World win ...
*
Austrian wine Austrian wines are mostly dry white wines (often made from the Grüner Veltliner grape), though some sweeter white wines (such as dessert wines made around the Neusiedler See) are also produced. About 30% of the wines are red, made from Blau ...
*
Swiss wine Swiss wine is produced from nearly of vineyards, and the wines are mainly produced in the west and in the south of Switzerland, in the cantons of Geneva, Neuchâtel, Ticino, Valais and Vaud. White grape varieties are grown on 43% of the countr ...


References


Citations


General sources

* Barr, Andrew (1988). ''Wine Snobbery: An Insiders Guide to the Booze Business''. . Chapter 8 on history of sweetness in German wines. * Brook, Stephen (2006). ''The Wines of Germany''. . * Hallgarten, S.F. (1981). ''German Wines''. . * Langenbach, Alfred (1962). ''German Wines and Vines''. Vista Books. . * Reinhardt, Stephan (2012). ''The Finest Wines of Germany: A Regional Guide to the Best Producers and Their Wines''. .


External links


German Wine Manual
by German Wine Institute
German Wine Institute
* {{DEFAULTSORT:German Wine German cuisine