Started with 1921 vintage of H. Sichel Söhne [Liebfraumilch](https://worldoffinewine.com/news-features/liebfraumilch-german-wine-icon) [Liebfraumilch.. legally: Rheinhessen, Nahe, Pfalz. 12 - 45 gl RS. Min 70% Riesling, MT, Kerner, Silvaner]

DE: "Everything Else" Flashcards by Madison Pettit

% of German wine vinified dry?

48% (2022)
*that meets EU definition of 9g/l RS or less

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Hock

1800’s Enligh term for wines from the Middle Rhein - later to be a general term for German wine

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Blue Nun

Started with 1921 vintage of H. Sichel Söhne Liebfraumilch

[Liebfraumilch.. legally: Rheinhessen, Nahe, Pfalz.
12 - 45 gl RS. Min 70% Riesling, MT, Kerner, Silvaner]

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Flurbereinigung
- what is it
- what year did it start

*“land consolidation”
*Campaign to consolidate, reorganize and restructure German vineyards for mechanization and modernization
*1953, last amendment passed in 1976

Began in 1957

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Goldkapsule

Terms previously used to denote extra richness and ripeness were nixed with 1971 law. Mosel, Rheingau mostly (or totally)

*Mosel uses the star system in conjunction with the foil - ,, to mark characteristics or reserve bottlings

*ex: BA level must weight is labelled as Auslese with a gold foil.. indicating more pure varietal character and that the wine is not as much about botrytis

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Min. size for German single vineyard?

5ha

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Süssreserve
- what is it
- max. amount allowed
- when is it added

Sterilized sweet grape must.
Used to fine tune final sugar levels - allowed in all quality levels of German wine, up to 15% of final volume

*Pradikat is based on sugar naturally occurring at harvest, so chaptalization is not allowed. But this happens at the end and since it isn’t about final sweetness anymore.. this was allowed

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Total size of German vineyard?

102k hectares
(roughly the same as BDX)
World’s 14th largest grower

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

A.P. Number

Amtliche Prüfungsnummer
*certifies that a wine has passed a sensory/chemical analysis

*5 sets of digits:
1) locale of exam board
2) village of production
3) producer
4) unique bottling #
5) yr of testing

All Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein have a number - which is almost 98% of total production

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

“Classic” German wine

harmoniously dry”
*max 15 g/l RS
*No vineyard mentions
* Min. 12% ABV (11.5% for Mosel)
* single variety

Supposed to replace “halbtrocken”

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

“Selection” German Wine

*Max RS 9g/l (12 for Riesling)
* single vineyard, single variety
* must weight equivalent to Auslese

Supposed to replace “Trocken

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Minimum ABV for German Qualitätswein?

7%
*exception from EU’s general 8.5% rule

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Min. alcohol for German Beerenauslese and up?

5.5%
(rather than 7% for the rest of Qualitätswein and 8.5% for the rest of the EU)

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

How many VDP members?

202 (2022)

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

VDP’s Membership Criteria
- 10 points?

“environmentally friendly”
min 80% typical varieties
75 hl/ha avg max (overall)
Hand harvest for Erste Lage+, Auslese+
“to dispense with misleading vineyard block designations”

Requirements for membership…
6. ownership of VDP-approved good sites
7. “appropriate external image”
8. Full-time dedication to winery
9. Use the VDP eagle
10. Audit every 5 years

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

VDP Sekt - lees / bottle time

VDP.Sekt (minimum 15 months on lees, 24 months in bottle)
VDP.Sekt Prestige (36 months on lees, 36 months in bottle)

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

VDP logo?

Traubenadler

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

VDP requires hand harvesting for what levels/qualities?

All single vineyard
Auslese and up
Erste Lage + Grosse Lage

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Min. % of traditional varieties in VDP member vineyard?

80%

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Original purpose of the VDP?

est. 1910 - an assembly of 4 winegrower associations that promoted the sale of “natur” (unchaptalized) wines at auction

*1971 law forced a rebrand/refocus. New goal was to promote more quality than the lackluster law mandated

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Kalkstein

Limestone
*common for VDP Ortswein to label soil type in conjunction with village, not required though

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Blauen Schiefer

Blue Slate
*common for VDP Ortswein to label soil type in conjunction with village, not required though

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Burntsandstein

Red sandstone
*common for VDP Ortswein to label soil type in conjunction with village, not required though

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Earliest release date for Grosses Gewächs whites? Reds?

Sept 1 of year after harvest
Sept 1 of year #2 after harvest with 12 months in wood

How well did you know this?

Not at all

Perfectly

Earliest release date for VDP Prädikatswein Grosse Lage?

May 1 of the next year

Max. yields for each VDP category?

Gutswein: 75 hl/ha Ortswein: 75 hl/ha Erste Lage: 60 hl/ha Grosse Lage: 50 hl/ha

Stück size?

1200L

Müller-Thurgau

Madeleine Royale x Riesling *2nd most planted German grape.. on the decline *Rivaner is a common German synonym

5 most planted German grapes in descending order?

1. Riesling 2. Pinot Noir 3. Müller-Thurgau 4. Dornfelder 5. Pinot Gris *need to double check 3 - 5 rankings for more recent statistic

Dornfelder

Heroldrebe x Helfensteiner * Highly vigorous * 50's crossing *Produces a darker, fuller style of wine than Pinot - it is still very popular in the German market

Ruländer

Grauburgunder aka Pinot Gris - often denotes a sweeter style *synonym used in Baden, Pfalz, Austria, and Northern Italy

Scheurebe

Riesling x Bukettrebe *most successful in Pfalz, Rheinhessen

German term for monopole

Alleinbesitz

German term for old vines

Alte Reben

Anreicherung

Broad term for sweetening must before or during fermentation. Whereas chaptalization means the addition of sugar only, enrichment also includes the addition of grape must, concentrated grape must, and RCGM.

German term for Botrytis

Edelfäule

German term for single vineyard

Einzellage

Federweisser

Unfiltered must still containing CO2 and still fermenting - a fall harvest drink

term for bottle-fermented sekt

Flaschengärung

Füder

1000L cask common in Mosel

Gemeinde

local community or village

Grosses Gewächs are equivalent to what pradikat level ripeness?

Spatlese

Gutsabfüllung

Grown, produced, bottled by same person/estate

Rotling

German Rosé made from mixed reds/whites (as opposed to Weissherbst - single variety)

Schillerwein, Schielerwein

Schiller = Rotling from Württemburg. Historically a field blend, now blending is mandated - an oddity for EU rosé styles. Schiller = from Sachsen

German equivalent term to chateau?

Schloss

Steillage

Steep site - more than 30% incline

Ton (German)

Clay

"Trocken" on a German label

4 g/L or less * Up to 9 g/l if TA within 2 g/l of total RS

Vorlese

pre-harvest to get rid of rot/bad grapes

Weissherbst

single variety Rosé (as opposed to mixed red/whites Rotling rosé)

German term for Ungrafted?

Wurzelecht

German term for winegrower?

Winzer

General Öchsle range for German Kabinett

70 - 85º *73º in Mosel/Nahe/Pfalz for whites *higher end is for reds generally

General Öchsle range for German Spätlese

76 - 95º *most more important white regions are around 80º, 85º or 87º *Pfalz is 90º

General Öchsle range for German Auslese

83 - 105º *Mosel is low for the better regions at min. 88º, 92º for reds * Pfalz, Rheingau = min 100º

General Öchsle range for German Beerenauslese (and eiswein)

110 - 128º *Mosel min. 110º *Nahe, Pfalz, Rheinhessen min 120º *Rheingau min 125º

General Öchsle range for German Trockenbeerenauslese

150 - 154º Basically ALL are 150º except some outlying variety in the Baden that makes this a range

Spital

charitable hospital

Schwarzriesling

Pinot Meunier *specialty of Württemberg - the only anbaugebiet to really produce significant amounts

Regent

Early ripening red hybrid *authorized in DE since 96

1st German sparkling wine?

Württemberg, 1826 *former Veuve Cliquot employee making 4k bottles of sparkling Fruhburgunder, sells as "Sparkling wine from Württemberg"

1st German to make sparkling wine?

Florenz-Ludwig Heidsieck 1785 in Champagne

The Mosel, Ahr, and Rhine Rivers meet up in what city?

Koblenz

Riesling only for VDP Grosse Lage in what Anbaugebiet?

Nahe

Anbaugebiet with Pinot Noir + Riesling (only) for VDP Grosse Lage? (4)

Mosel Mittelrhein Rheingau Rheinhessen (Nahe is the only single variety - Riesling)

What is the max. yield for all VDP Grosse Lage sites?

50hl/ha

VDP's big yearly tasting event to debut their wine?

VDP. Weinbörse "wine exchange" - almost every single VDP member presents wines there End of April annually in Mainz

Min. ABV for VDP Grosses Gewachs?

12%

Steillage

steep site - 30º +

German word for grappa, marc

Trester

2021 German Wine Law Updates - what's different - new quality pyramids - what happened to pradikat -

Big picture: shift from 1971's "ripeness = quality" to "the smaller the origin, the higher the quality" - 1971 was more about correlation than causation 3 "pyramids" now: 1. Deutscher Wein, Landwein, Qualitatswein 2. Anbaugebiet, Region, Ort, Lage 3. Einzellage, Erste Gewachs, Grosses Gewachs End of the Grosselage: GL's can no longer use village names and must be preceded by word "region" - no more pretending these are single vineyards * exception: if 85% is from village, it can label that. Ex: "Region Piesporter Michelsberg" Pradikat is now on the backburner. Not to be used on Erstes / Grosses. If sweet, it must have Pradikat. If Pradikat, it must be sweet - no more Spatlese Trocken. Single vineyard labels MUST put the village (unlike VDP GG)

German term for Lieux-Dit

Gewann - can be used under wine law update if all grapes are from a registered plot / parcel within a single vineyard

Release dates for: - Ortsweine - Einzellage - Erstes Gewachs - Grosse Gewachs [2026 wine law update - NOT VDP]

ORTS: Dec. 15 EINZELLAGE: March 1 ERSTES & all Einzellage: March 1 of next year GROSSES: Sept. 1 of next year for whites, June 1 of 2nd year for reds * Erstes & Gewachs are white or red only (no rose, sparkling) * Einzellage is all inclusive of styles / pradikat.. March 1 is earliest release * all are at least Kabinett ripeness

Erstes Gewachs [2026 wine law update] - max yields - min ABV - release date

Max 60hl/ha on flat // 70hl / ha steep "white or red wines produced from a single variety identified as traditional and characteristic of the particular region" Min 11% potential

Grosses Gewachs [2026 wine law update] - max yields - min ABV - release date

Max 50hl/ha. White or red from single variety identified as traditional and characteristic of said region. Min. 12% Potential Sept 1 for whites, June 1 of year 2 for reds

DE: "Everything Else" Flashcards

Vocab, Wine Law, Baden, Franken, (76 cards)