Germany

Germany, or rather the area that is now part of it, has a wine culture that is over two thousand years old. But even before that, imported wine was drunk, as evidenced by a Greek clay wine bottle from around 400 BC found in a Celtic grave. The oldest vineyards were on the banks of the Rhine, Neckar and Moselle. These rivers with their long valleys, as well as their tributaries, are still the classic wine-growing areas today. Viticulture was founded by the colonisation of Gaul by the Greeks and then brought to perfection by Roman culture. The conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) brought Roman viticulture from the Rhône valley to the Rhine.

The Roman Emperor Probus (232-282) contributed to the further expansion of vineyards by promoting measures. In the 5th century, viticulture was already so widespread in the area of present-day Germany that Clovis (466-511) enacted the so-called "Salic Law", which made the theft of a vine a punishable offence. In the 6th and 7th centuries, viticulture spread to southern and northern Germany. The Frankish king Dagobert I (610-639) is attested in documents as a donor of vineyards to churches and monasteries. Winegrowing in the Palatinate is attested by a document of King Siegbert III from the year 653, and in the 8th century well over a hundred winegrowing communities in the Palatinate are already mentioned.

Emperor Charlemagne (742-814) gave important impulses, for he had dense forests cleared and planted with vines from Hungary, Italy, Spain, Lorraine and Champagne. He enacted the first laws and gave permission for home-produced wine to be sold in Buschenschanken. The Cistercians, who founded thousands of monasteries in Europe and were professionally involved in vineyard management, grape variety selection and winemaking, were decisive for cultivated viticulture. In 1136, twelve monks from Burgundy founded the famous Eberbach Monastery in the Rheingau. Over the next 100 years, 200 branches were established along the Rhine between Worms and Cologne. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the monastery and its offshoots were, so to speak, the largest wine-growing enterprise in the world. At first, the monks planted vines brought from Burgundy, mainly red wine varieties. But they soon realised that white wine varieties thrived best in the Rheingau.

In the High Middle Ages (1050-1250), due to the effects of the Medieval Warm Period, the cultivation boundaries reached about 200 m higher than today, so that agriculture and viticulture experienced a great expansion. The largest area under vines was then reached in the 15th century with about 400,000 hectares (about four times as much as today). At that time, however, Alsace was added to the list with extensive vineyards. However, the vineyards were mainly located in low-lying flat areas due to the clearing of heavily wooded areas in northern Franconia. The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) left behind destruction on an apocalyptic scale, as it did in the rest of Europe, from which German viticulture recovered only very slowly. Many formerly flourishing wine regions such as Bavaria, northern, eastern and central Germany were no longer planted with vines at all. But the emergence of beer as a mass drink also put a strain on viticulture. Wine became increasingly scarce and expensive. In 1563, a piece of Rhine wine (1,200 litres) could still be bought for 300 gold talers, a few years later for 500 gold talers.

There were further setbacks with cold periods and the resulting many failed harvests due to the effects of the Little Ice Age (1450-1850) with particularly cold periods from 1570 to 1630 and 1675 to 1715. Nevertheless, from the beginning of the 18th century viticulture took off again. Due to the secularisation of the monasteries at the beginning of the 19th century, mainly aristocrats took the place of the monks, to whom the present standard is owed. Quality began to play a major role. In this context, the Prussian vineyard classification took place in 1868 and 1897. From the beginning of the 1860s, the phylloxera and mildew plagues came over Germany, which in turn led to severe devastation.

During the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1815), wine-growing domains, mostly owned by the state, emerged from the church property secularised under Napoleon (1769-1821). The objective of these "model/teaching wineries" was, and in some cases still is, to disseminate modern viticultural production methods. This was done by testing new methods in the vineyard, as well as producing and distributing grafted vines. In 1892, the first wine law was introduced, where, among other things, controlled sugaring was still allowed. In the first half of the 20th century, there was a great recession due to the two world wars and the area under vines shrank to less than 50,000 hectares by 1945. Wine trade exports reached an all-time low. From the 1950s onwards, a positive change took place.

Wine-growing areas

The German wine-growing regions are among the northernmost in the world and are thus located in the border area between the warm, humid Gulf Stream climate in the west and the dry continental climate in the east. Due to the widely scattered vineyards, the soils, some of which are very different, consist of basalt, mottled sandstone, rock, loess, shell limestone, porphyry, slate and volcanic rock. The best conditions for viticulture are provided by south- or south-west-facing slopes in sheltered valleys, such as along the Rhine and its tributaries or along the Elbe, Saale and Unstrut rivers. There are 13 growing areas for quality wine with 43 areas, 167 large vineyards and 2,658 individual vineyards.

Country wine region
This quality level was introduced in 1982. There are 26 Landweingebiete, most of which are sub-areas within the wine-growing regions. These are Ahrtaler LW, Badischer LW, Bayrischer-Bodensee LW, Brandenburger LW, LW Main (formerly Fränkischer LW), LW der Mosel, LW Neckar, LW Oberrhein, LW Rhein, LW Rhein-Neckar, LW der Ruwer, LW der Saar, Mecklenburger LW, Central German LW, Nahegau LW, Palatinate LW, Regensburg LW, Rhineburgen LW, Rheingau LW, Rhenish LW, Saarland LW, Saxon LW, Schleswig-Holstein LW, Swabian LW, Starkenburg LW and Tauber Valley LW.

Cultivation area
There are 13 wine-growing regions, which are divided into areas, large vineyards and single vineyards. Only in these may the designation quality wine be used. They are mainly concentrated in the southwest in the valleys of the Rhine and the Moselle and their numerous tributaries. In the south, they are rather loosely scattered in the landscapes. Reunification in 1990 added the two new growing regions of Saxony and Saale-Unstrut in the east. Outside the growing regions, vines are also cultivated on a total of 56 hectares of vineyards in Bavaria, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein. However, the wines produced from these vineyards may only be marketed as Landwein.

Area (BER): With the exception of Ahr, Nahe and Rheingau, the growing areas are divided into two or more areas. The areas are divided into large vineyards.

Großlage (GL): This comprises several adjacent, but not necessarily contiguous, single vineyards. Mostly, this Großlage bears the name of the formerly most famous single vineyard (before reduction). However, it is not clear from the information on the bottle label whether it is a single vineyard or a Großlage.

single vineyard (EL): This is rarely less than five hectares in size. However, there is the range from less than one to 200 hectares. Over the centuries, some 25,000 vineyard names have developed, often with few vine rows. These were very much reduced by the 1970 wine law and the 1971 land consolidation

Cadastral site: The smallest geographical unit of origin. Since 2014, every winegrowing enterprise can apply to have vineyards entered in the cadastre defined as cadastral sites, which can be indicated on the label.

With only one exception, Germany's wine-growing regions are located in European wine-growing zone A; only the Baden wine-growing region (like Austria) belongs to wine-growing zone B. In 1972 there were still over 100,000 wine-growing farms, since then there has been a continuous strong structural change and an enormous reduction to 42,000. The 16,827 farms in the table are only those with 0.5 hectares or more of vineyard area. About 4,300 farms cultivate less than 1 hectare; that is a quarter. About 3,100 farms cultivate more than 10 hectares, of which 890 farms cultivate more than 20 hectares. These manage more than 60% of the total area. The average farm size grew from 4.8 to 5.9 hectares. About 9 million hectolitres of wine are produced annually (see also under wine production volumes). Exports account for around 25%, the traditional buyers being the UK, USA, Netherlands and Japan. In 2018, 102,874 hectares of vineyards were designated:

Grape varieties and vineyards

Around 140 grape varieties are permitted, but only about a dozen of them are of market importance. In the last ten years, many new grape varieties have come into use, most of them PIWI varieties. The trend towards red wine varieties in all growing regions has now passed its peak and is slightly declining. Exactly two thirds of the grape varieties are white wine varieties and one third red wine varieties. In 1998, the ratio was still 71% white wine varieties to 29% red wine varieties. The most common grape variety, with an upward trend, is still Riesling, which accounts for more than one-fifth of the total. The up-and-comers are the Burgundy varieties Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc as well as Sauvignon Blanc, the downcomers Müller-Thurgau, Kerner and Blauer Portugieser. The grape variety list Status 2018 (0 = less than 0.5 ha):

Wine categories / quality levels

In August 2009, the EU wine market regulation became valid with fundamental changes to the wine types and quality levels (see Quality System). In Germany, the new designations PGI and PDO were prohibited until the end of 2011. As of 2012, the regulation came into force to allow the continued use of the old traditional designations Landwein, Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein (with all predicate levels). In addition, the new designations "protected geographical indication" and "protected origin" may be used on the label as an alternative, but not in abbreviated form:

• Wine without a narrower indication of origin (formerly the now forbidden term table wine)
• Wine with grape varieties and/or vintage indication
• Wine with protected geographical indication (PGI) = local wine
• Wine with protected designation of origin (PDO) = quality wine and predicate wine

Wine without indication of variety and/or vintage - German wine

Must be made exclusively from domestically harvested grapes. Must come exclusively from authorised grape varieties. Must have a minimum natural alcoholic strength by volume of 5% vol (44 °Oe) in zone A and 6% vol (50 °Oe) in zone B. Must have an actual alcoholic strength by volume of at least 8.5% vol = 67 g/l in zones A and B after any enrichment. Must have a total acidity expressed in tartaric acid of at least 3.5 g/l.

Wine with indication of variety and/or vintage - German wine

Only authorised grape varieties may be used and indicated.

Local wine and/or wine with a protected geographical indication

Only the long text is permitted; the short form "Wein g.g.A." is not permitted. The wine must originate at least 85% from grapes harvested in the area, e.g. Brandenburger Landwein. Concentration through cold is not permitted. Enrichment of the must before fermentation is permitted. The maximum yield per hectare is 15,000 litres of wine. Must correspond to "dry" or "semi-dry" flavour.

Quality wine and/or wine with a protected designation of origin

Only the long text is permitted; the short form "Wein g.U." (wine PDO) is not permitted. The traditional designation QbA (quality wine of specified regions) is still possible (but is hardly used any more). After a positive sensory and analytical test, the official test number is assigned. The wine must have typical characteristics and be free of defects in appearance, smell and taste. It can be used for cultivation areas, but also for narrower geographical designations (area, Großlage, place name, single vineyard). Vineyard and field names (parcels) that were no longer permitted under the 1971 wine law can be reused under certain circumstances. Wines need product specifications describing production (grape varieties, yields, etc.) and flavour due to origin.

The grapes used must come exclusively from authorised vine varieties of the species Vitis vinifera. They must have been harvested in a single "specified region" and must in principle have been made into quality wine in the specified region. The grape must obtained in the container ready for fermentation must have had at least the minimum natural alcoholic strength by volume laid down for each specified region and for each vine variety. The actual alcoholic strength by volume must be at least 7% vol = 56 g/l and the wine must have a minimum total alcoholic strength by volume of 9% vol = 71 g/l. Addition of concentrated grape must and cold concentration are prohibited.

Prädikat wines

According to EU law, it is also a quality wine, as officially there are only the three quality levels mentioned. However, traditional designations may continue to be used, which is also used by other countries such as Austria, Italy (DOC and DOCG) and Spain. According to German wine law, a Prädikatswein is thus a higher level of quality wine. There are six Prädikat wine types: Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein. These must at least meet the quality wine criteria. In addition, higher must weights apply, among other things (detailed descriptions can be found under the relevant keywords):

KabinettAt least 67 °Oe to 82 °Oe must weight depending on the growing region. At least 7% vol = 56 g/l actual alcohol content. At least 9% = 71 g/l minimum total alcohol content.

SpätleseAt least 76 °Oe to 90 °Oe must weight, depending on the growing region. The requirement is a "late harvest" and fully ripe grapes.

AusleseAt least 83 °Oe to 100 °Oe must weight depending on the growing region. All diseased and unripe berries must be sorted out.

BeerenausleseAt least 110 °Oe to 128 °Oe must weight depending on the growing region. Only largely noble rotten or at least overripe grapes may be used. The natural alcohol content must be at least 5.5% vol.

TrockenbeerenausleseAt least 150 °Oe to 154 °Oe Must weight varies depending on the growing region. Must be vinified largely from noble rot grapes.

Ice wine: At least 110 °Oe to 128 °Oe must weight (like Beerenauslese). The frozen grapes are pressed, the ice remains in the marc.

special types of wine

There are a number of specific designations or wine types with wine law specifications. These are Badisch Rotgold, Classic, Federweißer, Liebfrauenmilch, Rotling, Schieler, Schillerwein, Selection and Weißherbst.

Sparkling wine: A higher quality sparkling wine bears the designation "Deutscher Sekt", in this case it consists of 100% grapes grown in Germany. The designation "Sekt bA" indicates that the grapes come 100% from a specific growing region.

Organic wineThe production is at least subject to the guidelines of the EU Organic Regulation, as well as to the often even stricter rules of organic associations. The German umbrella organisation is BÖLW (see also in detail under Organic Viticulture).

important wine law provisions

The German standard work on wine law is "Weinrecht" (Walhalla-Verlag), which comprises 4,604 pages in four folders plus CD-ROM in the edition published in 2020. It offers the wine law of the EU as well as of Germany and the federal states. Another comprehensive work is the "Weinrecht Kommentar" by Prof. Dr. Hans-Jörg Koch. See also under Wine Law.

Must weightFor each wine quality level there is a minimum must weight or the resulting potential alcohol content (see above). Within the quality levels, a further differentiation is made according to grape variety. In order to do justice to the different climatic conditions, these quantities are different for each growing region.

YieldThe maximum permissible yields are given in hl/ha. They are responsibly defined by the responsible authorities of the growing regions and vary per growing region and, in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, also per quality group. Irrespective of the quality group, these are 80 hl/ha (Saxony), 90 (Baden, Franconia, Saale-Unstrut), 100 (Ahr, Hessische Bergstrasse, Rheingau), 105 (Middle Rhine, Nahe, Palatinate, Rheinhessen), and 110 (Württemberg). In Rhineland-Palatinate (Mosel, Nahe, Pfalz, Rheinhessen) these are 105 for quality wine and 125 for Mosel, 125 for Landwein and Rebsortenwein, 150 for German wine, and 200 for basic wine for the production of sparkling wines or distillates.

Origin / vintage / grape variety: At least 85% of a wine must come from the indicated origin, grape variety and vintage. If the foreign content (from a different origin, grape variety or vintage than stated in the designation) reaches the maximum limit of 15%, then a maximum of 10% foreign sweet reserve may be added. This is because the total foreign content, including the sweet reserve, may not exceed 25%. "German wines" must come 100% from grapes harvested domestically. According to seed law, 87 yielding grape varieties (66 of which are listed above), 15 rootstock grape varieties and 12 ornamental gra pe varieties are permitted. A detailed description with viticultural properties is contained in the "Descriptive List of Grape Varieties" of the Federal Office of Plant Varieties (see also under Plant Variety Protection). The indication varietal purity is only permitted if the wine is 100% derived from the indicated grape variety.

Sugar content: The residual sugar content is optional on the label. A wine with max. 4 g/l or 9 g/l is considered dry if the total acidity is not more than 2 g/l lower than the residual sugar. For example, 8 g/l requires 6 g/l total acidity. The other grades are semi-dry with 12 g/l or 18 g/l if the total acidity is not more than 10 g/l lower, "lieblich" with a higher value than for semi-dry but max. 45 g/l, as well as sweet with at least 45 g/l. Terms not relevant under wine law are feinherb, fränkisch trocken and herb.

Sweetening (increase in residual sugar): The wine may not be sweetened by more than 4% alcohol by volume. Only a grape must designated as a sweet reserve may be used; concentrated grape must and RCGM are prohibited for Landwein, Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein (is even a restriction of EU law; the reason is to preserve the originality of the wine). If grape must is added to the Prädikat wine, it must correspond to the same Prädikat wine level.

Enrichment (Increasing the natural alcohol content): May be carried out on all types of wine (irrespective of wine colour and quality grade) by a maximum of 2% alcohol by volume using the authorised means. In the past, only sucrose (dry sugar) was permitted in Germany for country and quality wines. However, due to a ruling of the European Court of Justice, the German Wine Law was amended in 1989. After a successful application, quality wine b. A. an alcohol content of 15% vol. may not be exceeded. In the case of Prädikatswein, enrichment is in principle not permitted.

Institutions and bodies

Important institutions, bodies, authorities and research institutes Important institutions, bodies, authorities and research institutes that carry out research, organising, controlling, publishing or training functions in connection with viticulture are the German Wine Academy, DLG (German Agricultural Society), DWF (German Wine Fund), DWI (German Wine Institute), DWV (German Winegrowers' Association), Freiburg, Geilweilerhof, Geisenheim, Society for the History of Wine, Julius Kühn Institute (Geilweilerhof), VDP (Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates), Weinbauring Franken and Weinsberg (Winegrowing Institute).

Influential German wine authors and wine critics are/were Paula Bosch, Armin Diel, Gerhard Eichelmann, Marcus Hofschuster, Rudolf Knoll, Norbert Pobbig, Jens Priewe, Mario Scheuermann and Eckhard Supp. They work in many wine magazines and wine guides such as Der Berliner Weinführer, Busche Winzer & Weingüter, Eichelmann Deutschlands Weine, Gault Millau, Meiningers Weinwelt and Wein-Plus.

Map: DWI (German Wine Institute)