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Germany is a wine-producing country.
Germany produces wines in many styles: dry, semi-sweet and sweet white wines, rosé wines, red wines and sparkling wines (called Sekt). White wine accounts for 2/3 of national production.
edit Facts and figures
- Winegrowing area: approx. 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres)
- Production: 900 million liters (2/3 in white wine)
- Main varietals: Müller-Thurgau, Riesling, Sylvaner, Kerner, Scheurebe, Rieslaner and Spätburgunder (a.k.a. Pinot Noir)
edit History
Winegrowing was brought to Germany by the Roman conquerors between the 1st and 4th century, mostly in the Western part of the country. It spread to the rest of the country along with the spread of Christianity under Charlemagne during the 9th century.
Common-day German winegrape varieties have been used since Medieval times. Riesling and Pinot Noir have been around in Germany since the 14th century.
Most vineyards were controlled by the Church until Napoleon took control of Germany. Under his rule, large Church vineyards were divided into small parcels and redistributed to local private vintners. Since then, inheritance laws in Germany broke up the parcels of vineyards further, leading to the establishment of many cooperatives.
Germany formally regulated wine production in 1971 with the enactment of Prädikat appellation system.
edit Geography
Germany has 13 official wine regions, concentrated to the West of the country, near French Alsace.
German vineyards are some of the most northernly in the world. Most winegrowing takes place under the 50th parallel, in the regions of Rheinhessen, Palatinate, Baden, Württemberg and Mosel.
edit Climate
The major part of Germany is too cold for the production of quality winegrapes. Most vineyards are planted around rivers, where they are sheltered by mountains. These rivers have significant microclimate effects to moderate the temperature, and 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. The slopes are also positioned facing the south or south-west to angle towards the sun.
edit Viticulture
White winegrapes such as Riesling and Müller-Thurgau are better suited for the cold German climate.
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.
German vintners on average crop their vineyards quite high, with yields averaging around 90 hl/ha. Vineyards used for low-quality white wine commonly yield 150-200 hl/ha, while quality-conscious producers who strive to produce well-balanced wines of concentrated flavours will rarely exceed 50 hl/ha.
edit Appellation system
Introduced in 1971, the German appellation system is quite different from other systems in Europe. It refers to several quality categories including region of origin, whether sugar has been added, and the ripeness of the grapes.
- Qualitätswein mit Prädikat or QmP: higher official appellation system, similar to the French AOC or the Italian DOC. QMP wine labels display many mandatory indications about the wine origin, varietals and producer.
- Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete or QbA: quality wines of controlled origin and composition.
- Landwein: table wine with indication of origin,.
- Deutscher Tafelwein: table wine without any indication of origin, possibly mixed with other European wines.
edit See also
