Quality level
Wine is divided into different quality levels based on its quality . The determining factors are the origin, the methods of cultivation and the type of winemaking. Already in antiquity, wine was classified into quality classes, whereby the geographical origin has always played a major role. In the European countries there is traditionally the Romance system, which judges wines according to the principle of origin, and the Germanic system, which puts the grape quality in the foreground.
The new EU quality system
The quality system of wines has been newly regulated since August 1, 2009 by the EU wine market regulation. The traditional German quality hierarchy , whose reference point was the sugar content of the must ( must weight ), i.e. the physiological degree of ripeness of the grapes, was hereby replaced by an origin-based system ( terroir ). The protection of geographical origin, which had long been in force for food, was also transferred to wine through this step.
In addition to the EU requirements, there are country-specific provisions in the individual member states that allow you to integrate your own quality system into higher-level law and thus to adhere to traditional terminology.
The new system essentially differentiates between wines with and without geographical indication. A geographical indication is understood here to be a more precise designation of origin that names an area, a place or a vineyard location. The term "German Wine" does not serve as a geographical indication.
This ordinance has brought the Romanesque quality system closer (cf. Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée ), which has always set the geographical origin as a reference point for a qualitative classification of wine, but also other agricultural products (e.g. cheese) .
The EU wine market regulation knows the following terms:
- Wine without indication of origin
- Wine with a protected geographical indication (this includes country wine )
- Wine with protected indication of origin (this includes quality wine / predicate wine )
It is also possible to process grapes from one EU country into wine in another EU country, or to produce wines whose grapes come from one or more third countries.
Before the EU wine market regulation came into force, table wine - the lowest quality level at the time - only allowed the additional designations white, red, rosé and the naming of the country of origin. Now it is possible to label a wine of the lower quality level (without geographical indication) with the name of the grape variety and the vintage, which in fact means an appreciation of the simple qualities.
Wine without indication of origin
This quality level is divided into two levels:
- Wine without further details of the origin next to the country of origin and without mentioning the vintage and / or the grape variety. Wine errors are allowed to a small extent here and the production regulations allow extensive freedom in terms of cultivation and production. No maximum yield limits are set for this quality level.
- Wine without further details of origin next to the country of origin, but with mention of the year and / or the grape variety. The wine must not have any defects , should be typical of the variety, and its production is subject to a maximum yield.
Wine with indication of origin
Here, too, there are two quality levels:
- Wine with a protected geographical indication (PGI wine): This quality level corresponds to the country wine . The wine should have a character typical of the region and come from grapes that have been harvested in the defined area. Some PGI wines have a flavor such as “dry” or “ semi-dry ”.
- Wine with a protected designation of origin (PDO wine)
The designation of origin names an area, a place or a location . This geographical origin determines the quality of the wine through the geographical conditions, certain typical grape varieties , specific forms of cultivation ( pruning , stock density, etc.). The strictest production conditions apply to this quality level.
- For cultivation: maximum yield, stock density, minimum limits for must weight
- For winemaking: enrichment , alcohol reduction , sprites , souring , deacidifying, sweetening , type (bottle or barrel) and duration of aging
- For the end product: color, alcohol content, total extract, taste profile, residual sugar, acidity and marketing guidelines
Before marketing, the wines are both analytically and sensory tested in order to receive an obligatory official test number .
It can therefore be stated that a narrower geographical indication is associated with higher production requirements.
Quality wine levels in Germany
Quality wines (formerly QbA ) have to undergo a sensory and analytical test in order to receive an official test number . They should be free from wine defects in appearance, smell and taste and correspond to a taste profile typical of the region.
Production is subject to specific regulations that largely regulate the parameters for winemaking and marketing (grape varieties, maximum yield, sugar, minimum alcohol content, etc.).
The predicate wine (formerly quality wine with predicate) represents an upscale category of quality wines. Particularly high demands are made on these in terms of must weight, condition of the grapes and type of harvest.
Predicate wines must have a certain minimum must weight depending on the predicate level and growing area, enrichment ( chaptalisation ) to increase the alcohol content is prohibited. The must weight is measured in Oechsle to determine the degree of ripeness.
The predicates are:
- Kabinett , wine that has a certain degree of ripeness depending on the grape variety and growing area
- Late harvest , the grapes must have been harvested late and fully ripe
- Auslese , fully ripe or noble rot grapes ( noble rot ) are used for this predicate
- Beerenauslese , only noble rot or at least overripe grapes are processed, which requires an elaborate selection of the grape material
- Trockenbeerenauslese , made from mostly raisined noble rot berries and only produced in particularly good years
- Ice wine made from grapes that must be frozen during harvest and pressing and whose must weight must at least reach the value specified for Beerenauslese
Further possible quality designations
- Classic , must be made from a varietal typical of the region. The alcohol content must be one percent by volume higher than required by the corresponding quality level in the growing area.
- Selection , varietal, dry, region-typical wine. Residual sugar maximum 9 g / l. Alcohol content at least 12.2%.
- Tall plant, only permitted for quality Riesling wines. The must weight must be 10 ° Oechsle above the guide value for the respective growing area.
- The first crop , only for the Rheingau, comes from classified locations, selective and manual grape harvest, maximum yield 50hl / hectare, marketing from September 1st of the year following the harvest at the earliest, sensory approval test.
Conclusion
The EU wine market regulation creates an integral designation system in Germany that includes elements of both the Romance and the Germanic system. In the traditional German labeling practice, the grape quality came first, the origin played a subordinate role. This relation has been reversed with the new quality hierarchy. The new designation regulations will be integrated into the traditional German system, with the former rural wine regions becoming protected geographical indications and the former quality wine regions becoming protected designations of origin.
The hierarchy of German quality wines is retained.
The quality system of the VDP
The Association of German Predicate and Quality Wineries VDP is an amalgamation of approx. 200 wineries, which emerged from the “Association of German Natural Wine Auctioneers” founded in 1910. V. “with the self-image of representing the German wine elite.
As early as the 1980s, the VDP tried to classify vineyards. The background to this was the resistance to the 1971 Wine Law, which only used the must weight as a quality feature.
With this wine law the category "large area" was also introduced. Some of these were given the name of traditional single vineyards, so that the consumer could hardly tell whether it was a wine from a valuable single vineyard or a large vineyard that could extend up to 1,800 hectares in size.
In 1984 the Charter Association was founded in the Rheingau, to which many VDP wineries also belonged, in order to classify top locations in the Rheingau. From these "locations known from time immemorial as the best areas", wines could be produced, which from 1999 onwards were allowed to bear the designation "First Growth". The foundations for the “first growth” are anchored in the Hessian wine law.
The Charter wines gave a decisive impetus for today's classification model of the VDP and the Charter wineries were included in the VDP.Rheingau e. V. has been included.
The VDP is an association under private law, so the VDP classification has no legislative function and the attributes "VDP Große Lage" and "VDP Erste Lage" represent brand names. The terms "Erstes Gewächs", "Erste Lage", "Große Lage" were used differently by the VDP in a long process of defining its own quality term (early 1980s to 2012).
The “Erste Gewächs” is no longer part of the VDP classification, but can still be found on some labels, since it is an official wine law designation.
The VDP quality pyramid
- VDP Great location
- VDP Erste Lage, not a mandatory term, is not used by all VDP regional associations
- VDP local wine
- VDP estate wine
The VDP quality pyramid symbolizes the principle: "The closer the origin, the higher the quality."
Since the quality level "VDP Erste Lage" is not used by all regional associations, the VDP quality pyramid can have three or four levels, depending on the wine-growing region. The classification of the locations is the responsibility of the VDP regional associations and is partly based on historical assessments such as the Prussian location classification.
The rules summarized below were adopted for the cohorts from 2012 onwards, but are not yet consistently applied in practice.
For the wines of the quality levels "Große Lage", "Erste Lage" and "Ortswein" the following applies: Dry wines are referred to as "Quality wine dry". Semi -dry wines by law do not have to have an additional designation, but can be named "semi-dry" or "fine dry".
The predicates of the German wine law “Kabinett”, “Spätlese”, “Auslese”, “Beerenauslese”, “Trockenbeerenauslese” and “Eiswein” are only used for fruity or noble sweet wines. The label states the name of the place and / or the vineyard, (e.g. Gimmeldinger (place) Biengarten (location)) the respective predicate and the grape variety used (e.g. Riesling Auslese).
Both wines from the “Great Location” and from the “First Location” have an obligatory label on the bottle cap.
Since labeling is not mandatory for "local wines" and "estate wines", these are often only indicated by naming the location (for a "local wine" e.g. Rüdesheim, Oberrotweil etc.) or the wine-growing region (for a "estate wine") e.g. Rheingau) recognizable.
Only the VDP Gutswein knows the taste profiles of residual sweet and dry for the predicates “Kabinett” and “Spätlese” . The predicate levels from "Auslese" are reserved for noble sweet wines.
This VDP classification model largely abolishes the category of dry predicate wines (e.g. late harvest dry), even if there are numerous exceptions in this area. The VDP wines may be enriched with sugar in accordance with the Wine Ordinance , if they are considered to be “dry quality wine” without a predicate according to the wine law (e.g. VDP Großes Gewächs) in order to increase the alcohol content.
VDP Great location
The top of the VDP quality pyramid is the "VDP Great Location" and describes wines with a special, terroir-typical character and a high aging potential from particularly high-quality, plot-specific locations. The best dry wines from the “Große Lage” are judged by a jury and awarded the association's own predicate “VDP Großes Gewächs” (identified by a bottle embossing and / or the “GG” logo on the label).
Further requirements for a wine from the "VDP Große Lage":
- Only regionally defined grape varieties suitable for the respective vineyard may be used.
- The maximum yield is limited to 50 hl per hectare.
- The grapes are picked by hand. The must weight must at least correspond to that of a late harvest.
- Only traditional production methods are allowed.
- Further requirements concern labeling (bottles, labels, capsules), storage duration and storage type. Red wines must be aged for a year longer - at least twelve months of which in oak barrels.
VDP first layer
The use of the "VDP Erste Lage" category is optional for the VDP regional associations and only exists in the wine-growing regions of Baden, Franconia, Hessische Bergstrasse, Palatinate, Rheingau, Saale Unstrut, Saxony and Württemberg. It describes "locations with an independent character, in which optimal growth conditions prevail and wines of sustained high quality have been demonstrably produced over a long period of time."
Further instructions:
- The maximum yield is limited to 60 hl per hectare.
- The grapes are picked by hand. The must weight must at least correspond to that of a late harvest.
- Only traditional production methods are allowed.
- Other requirements relate to labeling (bottles, labels, capsules) and storage times.
VDP local wine
The VDP local wine comes from "high quality, characterful and traditional vineyards" within one place.
Are still required
- the cultivation of 80% traditional grape varieties typical of the region.
- The maximum yield is limited to 75 hl per hectare.
- Other requirements relate to labeling (bottles, labels, capsules) and storage times.
VDP estate wine
The VDP Gutsweine see themselves as base wines at a high level.
- The cultivation of 80% traditional grape varieties typical of the region is mandatory.
- The maximum yield is limited to 75 hl per hectare.
In the case of the predicate wines "Kabinett" and "Spätlese", this quality level recognizes dry as well as residual and fruity sweet wines.
The predicate levels from "Auslese" are reserved for noble sweet wines.
Conclusion
In the new designation system, the VDP is introducing a further level closer to Romanesque quality thinking.
The naming is reminiscent of the classification of Burgundy, as there the two upper quality levels are "Grand Cru" and "Premier Cru" and the lower levels are called "Appellation communale" and "Appellation régionale".
In Burgundy, individual sites are classified in the quality system for each parcel. In addition, there are also parallels to the Bordeaux classification, which classifies the wineries into “Premiers Crus”, “Deuxièmes Crus” etc. In contrast to Burgundy, it is not the soil, the specific parcel, that is the primary basis of the classification, but the ownership structure. The VDP regional associations themselves decide which vineyards are to be classified and which winery is included in the VDP group, which means that this classification is only available to VDP members.
Quality levels in Austria
|
Wine without designation of origin |
|
Wine with a protected designation of origin (PDO)
|
In Austria, the production volume of wine of the quality level quality and predicate wines is well above the other levels.
Quality levels in Switzerland
According to the federal system of Switzerland , quality attributes ( called appellation ) are assigned to the respective terroirs at the cantonal , communal or regional level . They are regulated by cantonal legislation that began in 1988 with the canton of Geneva . The term Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) is based on French quality standards for food. Within the already high requirements for an AOC wine, further special awards are given for outstanding top-quality varieties.
International comparison of terms
| Germany | Italy | France | Spain | Portugal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wine | Vino da tavola | Vin de table | Vino de mesa or Vino corriente |
Vinho de mesa |
| Country wine |
IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) |
Vin de Pays | Vino de la tierra | Vinho regional |
|
Quality wine ( quality wine from certain growing areas , QbA) |
DOC ( Denominazione di origine controllata ) |
Regional AOC ( Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée ) and VDQS (Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure) |
Denominación de Origen | VQPRD (Vinhos de Qualidade Produzidos em Região Determinada) |
|
Prädikatswein (before 2007: quality wine with predicate ) |
DOCG ( Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita ) |
Subregional and municipal AOC ( Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée ) |
DOC (Denominación de Origen Calificada) |
DOC (Denominação de Origem Calificada) |
Others
The specification of a quality level is mandatory for the producer or bottler. However, wines may also be declared at a lower quality level, which occasionally happens in high-quality viticulture for marketing and image reasons. A wine declared as a late harvest could have been a "disguised selection" or even a berry selection based on its must weight. On the other hand, the alcohol content and residual sweetness of a wine can be used to calculate the must weight with which the wine was produced.
See also
Web links
- Wine Ordinance (PDF)
Individual evidence
- ↑ ihk-trier.de
- ^ Deutsches Weininstitut GmbH: Eiswein. October 17, 2019, accessed November 3, 2019 .
- ↑ wein-plus.eu
- ↑ vdp.de
- ↑ Kulturland-rheingau.de
- ↑ vdp.de
- ↑ vdp-baden.de
- ↑ wein-plus.eu
- ↑ vdp.de
- ↑ vdp.de
- ↑ vdp.de
- ↑ wein-plus.eu
- ↑ wein-plus.eu
- ↑ Federal Law Gazette I No. 111/2009 : Federal Law on the Trade in Wine and Fruit Wine of Austria (Wine Law 2009)
- ↑ Martin Raggam: new wine law at a glance . In: Der Winzer , 11/2009, p. 88
- ↑ Classification according to the common market organization for wine (GMO-'Wein) Regulation No. 1234/2007
- ↑ The common name PDO wine or PGI wine is not a sales description and must therefore not appear on the label.
- ↑ The collective name Wein GA is not a sales name and must not be included on the label.
- ↑ The common name PDO wine is not a sales description and must not be included on the label.
- ↑ Statistics Austria: Wine harvest and wine inventory 2011 ( Memento of the original from November 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF)
- ↑ Paul Verrer, Eva Zwahlen: Swiss Wine Guide 2004/2005 . Zurich (Werd Verlag) 2004, ISBN 3-85932-479-9
