German Wine Terms - Wset Diploma

Front 1

Einzellage

Back 1

Geographical classification
- Individual vineyard site
- Similar to French premier or grand cru
- Very high quality with individual vineyard nuances

Front 2

Grosslage

Back 2

Geographical classification
- Group of adjoining vineyards
- Often named after top village grouping top and average quality vineyards together

Front 3

Bereich

Back 3

Geographical classification
- Group of several communes within a Quality Region (Anbaugebiet)
- One or more within a region
- town can give name to Bereich, Grosslage or Einzellage

Front 4

Geographical classifications

Back 4

- Einzellage (one vineyard)
- Grosslage (group of adjoining vineyards)
- Bereich (group of several communes)
- Anbaugebiet (12 quality regions)
85% of wine from the region if specified on the label

Front 5

Anbaugebiet

Back 5

Geographical classification
- Designated Quality region
- 13 in total

Front 6

Styles of Pradikatswein

Back 6

- Kabinett
- Spatlese
- Auslese
- Beerenauslese (BA)
- Eiswein
- Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA)

Front 7

Kabinett

Back 7

Delicate Riesling
Lightest must weight
Can be dry to medium sweet
Light body, crisp acid, green apple to citrus fruit flavours

Front 8

Spatlese

Back 8

Late harvest with more body, concentration and flavours than kabinett
- Grapes picked at higher sugar level
- Finished wine can be dry to medium sweet

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Auslese

Back 9

- Hand selected bunches of extra ripe grapes
- large style range, off dry to sweet
- harvested same time as Kabinett and Spatlese but separated in the vineyard

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Beerenauslese

Back 10

Individually selected botrytis grapes
Rare and expensive
sweet

Front 11

Eiswein

Back 11

Equivalent sugar levels to Beerenauslese
Picked below -8C

Front 12

Trockenbeerenauslese

Back 12

Rare and expensive
- Individually selected shrivelled grapes with high level of botrytis
- Min potential abv of 21.5%
- High acid balances

Front 13

Classic

Back 13

- From specific region
- Must weight 1% abv higher than min for category
- Min 12% abv (11.5% Mosel)
- Max 15g/l residual sugar
- Region, variety, vintage and 'classic' must appear on label
- Trocken and Halbtrocken terms not permitted

Front 14

Selection

Back 14

- Grapes from Einzellage
- Auslese level ripeness
- 60 hl/ha
- hand harvested
- Max 12 g/l residual sugar
- Region, variety, vintage and 'Selection' must appear on label
- Trocken and Halbtrocken terms not permitted

Front 15

Liebfraumilch

Back 15

- Rheinhessen, Pfalz, Rheingau or Nahe only
- Min 18g/l residual sugar
- QbA quality
- label states production region only

Front 16

Riesling Hochgewachs

Back 16

QbA Riesling
Must weight min 10 Oechsle above minimum for QbA

Front 17

Erstes Gewachs

Back 17

- Rheingau only
- Riesling or Pinot Noir from a grand cru Einzellagen
- Dry only

Front 18

Erste Lage and Grosses Gewachs

Back 18

Dry top Einzellagen Pinot or Riesling in Mosel and other Anbaugebiete (not Mosel)

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Erstes Gewachs
Erste Lage
Grosses Gewachs
Viticulture and vinification

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- 50 hl/ha max yield
- hand harvested
- 83 degrees Oechsle ripening for Riesling
- 90 degrees Oechsle ripening for Pinot Noir
- sensory evaluation of wine
- logo on bottle plus site, grape, vintage
- Not to be released before 1st Sept following the harvest

Front 20

% of Rheingau vineyards meeting Erstes Gewachs criteria

Back 20

Approximately 1/3

Front 21

EU is establishing two basic designations for quality wine:

Back 21

PDO (protected designation of origin)
PGI (protected geographical indication)

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PDO

Back 22

EU 2009 quality wine designations
protected designation of origin
PDO requires 100% of the grapes to be from the specified region

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PGI

Back 23

protected geographical indication
2009 EU designation
85% of grapes from specified region

Front 24

PDO vs PGI

Back 24

PDO = 100% grapes from region
PDI = 85% grapes from region

Front 25

Rheingau single vineyard cru

Back 25

Erstes Gewachs

Front 26

German single cru terms (3)

Back 26

Erstes Gewachs - Rheingau

Front 27

Rheingau geography

Back 27

N bank of Rhine (running E/W)
Slate slopes on banks
Sandy loam inland

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Rheingau famous areas

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Assmanshausen (w) = PN
Rudesheim
Geisenheim
Johannisberg
Winkel
Oestich
Hockenheim = HOCK

Front 29

Rheingau wines

Back 29

80% Riesling
Balanced, elegant, fruity
W. area of Assmanshausen = quality spatburgunder

Front 30

Mosel

Back 30

Top Riesling
Steep slate soils

Front 31

Mosel top Einzellagen around

Back 31

Piesport
Bernkastel
Erden
Urzig
Graach

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Nahe position

Back 32

S/E of Mosel, W of Rheinhessen

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Nahe soils

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Sandy loam in N = Muller-Thurgau and Silvaner
Porphry, quartz + coloured sandstone in south = Riesling

Front 34

Nahe wines

Back 34

pineapple delicate riesling

Front 35

Rheinhessen geography

Back 35

South of Rheingau, E of Nahe
fertile soils away from river
High quality riesling from river terraces
Germany's largest area under vine

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Rheinhessen wine

Back 36

No dominant grape
Quality riesling from Rhine banks
Much Liebfraumilch and other bland medium sweet wine
Muller-Thurgau and Silvaner common
Co-ops important

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Pfaltz geography

Back 37

Alsace to south
Haardt (vosge) mountains to W
Rhine to E
Rhinegau to N
Sunny and dry like Alsace
Sandstone soil
Mild winters warm summers

Front 38

Pfaltz wines

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*largest riesling acreage in Ger* 2nd largest German region
60% white/40% red
dynamic and exciting for quality and experimentation
Muller-Thurgau, Spatburgunder, Riesling and Kerner

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Pfaltz quality villages

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Bad Durkheim
Forst (Jesuitengarten top site)
Ruppertsberg
Deidesheim

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Baden

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Most southerly region
Extinct Kaisterstuhl volcano (southern half) creates mineral rich sun trap
Full body, fruity, expensive
Spatburgunder, Muller-Thurgau, Grauburgunder

Front 41

German Riesling

Back 41

1/4 of all plantings
Most widely planted variety

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Muller-Thurgau

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Also RIVANER
Riesling x Madeleine Royale cross
from 1880s
Early ripening
High yields
Prone to rot and frost
mainly liebfraumilch

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Rivaner

Back 43

also called Muller-Thurgau
Riesling x Madeleine Royale cross
from 1880s
Early ripening
High yields
Prone to rot and frost
mainly liebfraumilch

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Silvaner

Back 44

declining
Franken main area
low acid
neutral fruit

Front 45

Scheurebe

Back 45

Silvaner x Riesling cross
grapefruit aromas when ripe
suitable for sweet wine

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Dornfelder

Back 46

1955 crossing of two crossed parents! Vitis vinifera
deep colour
high yields
great potential

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German vintage

Back 47

Official date announced by local trade organisation
vineyards closed to all (inc owners) in days before harvest

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Minimum must weights

Back 48

for Pradikatswein vary from region to region

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Yield controls

Back 49

3 options since 1990:
- diff yields by variety (MOSEL)
- By category e.g. lower for QdP than table wine (RHEINHESSEN)
- By region

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German co-ops

Back 50

3/4 of German wine made in co-ops

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Sussreserve

Back 51

For all quality levels inc Pradikatswein
filtered cool stored juice
from same vineyard/quality/variety
ferment dry as poss for storage or stop with SO2 for residual sugar

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Chaptilisation and must enrichment

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for all except Pradikatswein level
Up to 4.5% abv added in north in exceptional years

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de-acidification

Back 53

Need permit to carry out
permitted via adding calcium carbonate

Front 54

traditional fermenting vessels

Back 54

large wooden 'stuck' RHEINGAU or 'fuder' MOSEL
Stainless steel often used

Front 55

Min potential abv of TBA

Back 55

21.5% abv potential (balanced by high acid)
Sugars assessed in winery