Wine is produced in many parts of Germany, which due to the northerly location has produced wines quite unlike any others in Europe, many of outstanding quality.
Perhaps the most distinctive characteristic of German wines is the high level of acidity in them, caused both by the lesser ripeness in a northerly climate and by the selection of grapes such as riesling which retain acidity even at high ripeness levels.
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 to absorb the sun's heat and retain it overnight. 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. This makes the lists of wines produced long and complex, and many wines hard to obtain as production is so limited.
Classification
- Deutscher Tafelwein (German table wine) is mostly consumed in the country and not exported.
- 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 are simple wines that meet the first level of quality.
- Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP) wines are of greater quality. The grapes for these wines must meet a certain level of ripeness. As ripeness increases, the fruit characteristics and price increase.
- Kabinett wines are made from grapes picked several days after the QbA grapes are picked. These are the first picked grapes of the Prädikat level.
- Spätlese wines are made from grapes harvested 12-14 days after the Kabinett grapes are picked.
- Auslese wines are made from grapes that have been hand-selected out from the other grapes. These grapes are late-harvest and have a high sugar content.
- Beerenauslese meaning "berries selected out" are wines from grapes that have been left on the vine longer than the Auslese grapes. These grapes develop the fungus Botrytis, which removes the moisture from the grape. Thus these wines are very sweet and make good dessert wines.
- Eiswein (ice wine) wine is made from Beerenauslese stage grapes that freeze naturally on the vine. Just when they are frozen, the grapes are harvested and crushed. The ice keeps the moisture isolated to achieve the high sugar content of these wines.
- Trockenbeerenauslese meaning "dry berries selected out" are extremely expensive wines. It takes a person one day to pick enough grapes to make 7-8 bottles of this wine.
In addition, wines are classified by the Verband Deutscher Prädikatswein (VDP). Top wines are classified according to region and the very best vineyards.
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. These bottles are usually identified by a yellow-colored capsule. Halbtrocken wines are off-dry and are identified by a green-colored capsule.
There are also several terms to identify the grower and producers of the wine.
- Weingut refers to a wine producing estate.
- Weinkellerei refers to a wine blended by a blender.
- Winzergenossenschaft refers to a winegrowers' co-operative wine.
- Gutsabfüllung refers to a grower/producer wine that is estate bottled.
- Abfüller refers to a bottler or shipper.
If the suffix "-er" appears after the name of the town, the wine comes from a particular vineyard located in that town.