Association of German Prädikatsweingüter

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This label distinguishes a VDP operation
A glass of Trockenbeerenauslese at the traditional annual wine auction of the VDP in Trier.

The Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter e. V. (VDP) is an association of around 200 wineries in Germany, which campaigns for binding quality standards and - since 1990 - also for the ecological management of its members' wineries.

history

The association was founded on November 26, 1910 as the Association of German Natural Wine Auctioneers e. V. founded. The four regional associations were founding members

The merger took place at the instigation of winegrowers such as Ludwig Bassermann-Jordan and Friedrich von Bassermann-Jordan , as well as wine officials. The first chairman was Albert von Bruchhausen , Lord Mayor of Trier .

The expression natural wine was intended to emphasize the special standard that wines had under the wine law of that time, which deliberately did not share the then common practice of adding sugar to increase the natural alcohol content. The entry in the register of associations did not take place until 1926. At the beginning of the 20th century, German wines were in great demand worldwide and were often more expensive than the still famous wines of the z. B. large chateaux from Bordeaux.

In 1934 the association was incorporated into the " Reichsnährstand " as part of the National Socialist policy of harmonization . In 1935 a second statute was passed that expanded and specified the goals of the association:

  • Regulation of auction conditions and dates
  • joint advertising
  • Exhibitions at home and abroad
  • Exchange of experiences in viticulture and wine treatment

The Second World War interrupted the work of the association; the wine distribution came to a standstill for the most part, since Jewish wine merchants were very important for the sale. It was not until 1949 that he formally resumed his work through Albert Bürklin . In 1955 the first premium wine auction took place in Wiesbaden. The rules were tightened in the following years, but the 1971 Wine Law brought a serious setback for the association, which is part of the Verband Deutscher Prädikatswein-Versteigerer e. V. (VDPV) had to rename in order to take into account the wine law. In particular, the exclusive definition of wine quality by Oechslegrade and the area or large-area regulation should make the work of large producers easier and make externally recognizable quality features disappear for the customer.

Under Peter von Weymarn , the association changed its name to the current name. He also changed into an association of wineries. The organization of wine auctions took a back seat. A changed statute in 1972 directed the association, renamed the Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter , towards image maintenance and the promotion of quality striving. In 1978 Erwein Graf Matuschka-Greiffenclau took over the chairmanship, in 1982 the name was changed to the Association of German Predicate and Quality Wineries .

From 1990, under Michael Prinz zu Salm-Salm , the association and with it its members were sworn to natural viticulture and asked to change operating practices. From 1994 onwards, large vineyard names are no longer used, and hand-picking is mandatory from the predicate Auslese . In 2002 the general assembly passed the statute for the classification of first plants and large plants .

The association's president has been Steffen Christmann since 2007 . In May 2012 the federal office of the association moved into the listed wine storage building of the former customs and inland port of the city of Mainz .

classification

In 2012, the members unanimously adopted a new classification that is intended to define quality according to origin. It replaces the classification according to the Wine Law of 1971, which measured the quality according to the must weight ( Oechsle degree ). The aim is that only the outstanding locations are named on the label. The 1971 Wine Law already shortened the list of locations from around 30,000 locations in 4000 large and individual locations.

The new classification has four levels:

  • VDP.Gutswein
  • VDP.Ortswein
  • VDP. First layer
  • VDP. Great location

In some regions the term VDP.Erste Lage is not used. The best dry wine from a VDP.Große Lage is called VDP.Großes Gewächs .

The classification also allows the use of predicate names only for the fruity and noble sweet wines: Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein.

They were used before 1971, but were removed by the Wine Act.

The option of entering the old cadastral names and additionally protected designations of origin enables winegrowers to further split up their locations and thus to designate special locations as VDP.Große Lage . With three new members, the number of VDP member companies grew to over 200 in 2014.

In July 2018, the members adopted a sparkling wine classification which, like the wine classification, defines the quality according to its origin and provides for storage on the yeast as an additional quality criterion. The focus is therefore on the origin with the qualitatively increasing levels of VDP-Gutsekt, VDP-Ortsekt, VDP-Erste Lage and VDP-Große Lage. Bottle fermentation technology is mandatory. Estate and local sparkling wines must be on the lees for at least 15 months, and local sparkling wines and all vintage sparkling wines for at least 36 months.

Association President

Wineries

The following wineries are members (as of 2018):

Ahr :

Bathing :

Francs :

Middle Rhine :

Moselle , formerly Mosel-Saar-Ruwer

Near :


Rheingau :

Rheinhessen :

Palatinate :

Saale-Unstrut :

Saxony :

Württemberg :

Grape eagle

Seal of the VDP on the neck of a wine bottle

The grape eagle is the association symbol. It shows a symbolically represented eagle with a bunch of grapes in its beak. Since 2003 it has also been shown as a seal of quality on the bottle cap. It marks wines from association members and is intended as a seal of quality to signal a terroir-influenced, artisanal winemaking process that excludes oak chips and limits the use of additives. Wines from the association's trial cultivation do not receive the seal. The representation on the capsule is a pictogram that shows the silhouette of an eagle with grapes in the chest area.

VDP Trophy "Origin Germany"

The Prädikatsweingüter have been awarding the VDP trophy "Origin Germany" annually since 2001 to outstanding journalists who have made a contribution to German wine through their work and who have contributed to making German wine socially acceptable again worldwide. So far the prize has been awarded to:

See also

literature

  • Daniel Deckers: Under the sign of the grape eagle: A history of German wine. Verlag Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, ISBN 978-3-8053-4248-3 .
  • Theodor Böttiger: The wines of Germany . Munich 1974. ISBN 3-453-40152-2 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b VDP. The Prädikatsweingüter: The history of the federal association. Retrieved November 27, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Natural wines are today's predicate wines.
  3. ↑ VDP classification model ( Memento from August 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on December 20, 2014
  4. ↑ Why a classification. VDP, accessed October 24, 2014 .
  5. ↑ Press release: The grape eagle is growing. The VDP.Prädikatsweingüter reported three new entries as of January 1, 2014. VDP, January 21, 2014, accessed on January 25, 2014 .
  6. ^ VDP Sekt statute , accessed on July 17, 2018
  7. ↑ http://www.germanwine.de/vdp-traubenadler.html
  8. ↑ General meeting of the Prädikatsweingüter decides on a clear positioning. The VDP grape eagle on each bottle capsule signals a terroir-influenced, artisanal winemaking. In: germanwine.de. 2006, accessed October 22, 2013 .
  9. ↑ What do 1 and "grape eagle" of the VDP mean? In: The world. October 11, 2009, accessed October 22, 2013 .