Area (viticulture)

As area or wine field is referred to in viticulture a defined area within a specified region ( wine region ) consisting of layers composed of this growing area. The areas were created in order to be able to market larger quantities of wine under uniform names, without having to use the mostly unemotional names of the growing areas.

Definition

The delimitation of the terms results from the German Wine Act (WeinG):

An area is a combination of several locations, the yields of which are used to produce wines of the same flavor and which are located in communities in the same specific growing area that are close to one another.

A location is a specific vineyard area (individual location) or the combination of such areas (large location), from whose yields equivalent wines of the same flavor are produced and which are located in a municipality or in several municipalities in the same specific growing area.

German wine-growing region

The German wine-growing areas are defined by federal law and together form the German wine-growing area . The federal states delimit the cultivation areas and, if necessary, divide them into areas . For example, only two areas and three major locations are defined for the small Hessische Bergstrasse wine-growing area , but the large Baden wine-growing area has nine wine-growing areas in which there are again major locations.

The area names can be used both for table wine and for quality wine from certain growing regions . If an area is specified for quality wine, at least 85 percent of the grapes must come from this area and the rest from the higher-ranking growing area. In the case of predicate wines , all grapes must come from the specified range.

Critics have criticized the fact that the areas often bear the names of large or individual layers, which could lead to consumers being deceived. For example, the only area of ​​the Rheingau cultivation area , Johannisberg , has practically the same name as the renowned individual site Schloss Johannisberg . Another point of criticism is that several areas are congruent with growing areas. The Ahr wine-growing region and the identical Walporzheim / Ahrtal region are examples . For these reasons, many winemakers do not use area or area names on the labels of their wines.

Since an evaluation of the Wine Act in 1989, the word "area" only has to be indicated on the label if the area name can easily be confused with another geographical name.

Areas

In the 13 German quality wine- growing regions there are 41 areas with a total of 165 major locations:

• Ahr (1 area):
  • 1) Walporzheim / Ahrtal area
• Bathing (9 areas):
  • 2) Badische Bergstrasse area
  • 3) Lake Constance area
  • 4) Breisgau area
  • 5) Kaiserstuhl area
  • 6) Kraichgau area
  • 7) Markgräflerland area
  • 8) Ortenau area
  • 9) Tauberfranken area
  • 10) Tuniberg area
• Francs (3):
  • 11) Main triangle area
  • 12) Mainviereck area
  • 13) Steigerwald area
• Hessian mountain road (2):
  • 14) Starkenburg area
  • 15) Umstadt area
• Middle Rhine (2):
  • 16) Loreley area
  • 17) Siebengebirge area
• Moselle (6):
  • 18) Bernkastel area
  • 19) Cochem Castle area
  • 20) Moseltor area
  • 21) Upper Moselle area
  • 22) Ruwer area
  • 23) Saar area
• Near (1):
  • 24) Nahe Valley area
• Palatinate (2):
  • 25) Mittelhaardt area - German Wine Route
  • 26) Southern Wine Route area
• Rheingau (1):
  • 27) Johannisberg area
• Rheinhessen (3):
  • 28) Bingen area
  • 29) Nierstein area
  • 30) Wonnegau area
• Saale-Unstrut (3):
  • 31) Mansfeld Lakes area
  • 32) Neuchâtel Castle area
  • 33) Thuringia area
• Saxony (2):
  • 34) Elstertal area
  • 35) Meissen area
• Württemberg (6):
  • 36) Bavarian Lake Constance area
  • 37) Kocher - Jagst - Tauber area
  • 38) Upper Neckar area
  • 39) Remstal area - Stuttgart
  • 40) Area Württembergisch Unterland
  • 41) Wurttemberg Lake Constance area

Individual evidence

1. ^ Text of the Wine Law
2. ↑ Subdivision of the wine-growing regions in Germany ( Memento from November 1, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) on www.vino.la