German Wine
German Wine Overview
German vineyards are most well known for their white grape varieties:
- Riesling
- Müller-Thurgau (Rivaner)
- Silvaner (Sylvaner)
- Pinot Gris (Grauburgunder or Ruländer)
- Pino Blanc (Weissburgunder)
- Gewürtztraminer.
red wines are available, but are generally not as widely available as white wines:
- Pino Noir (Spätburgunder)
- Trollinger (Blauer Malvasier)
Regardless of the variety, when the grape name is stated on the label, 85% of the wine must be produced from that grape.
German Wine Growing Regions
Wine is grown in many places in Germany; however, there are thirteen designated quality wine producing regions: <imagemap> <IMG SRC="/eric/graphics/german_wine_regions.jpg" HEIGHT="403" WIDTH="303" BORDER="0" USEMAP="#regions" STYLE="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"> <MAP NAME="regions"> <AREA SHAPE="rect" COORDS="51,292,94,306" onClick="alert('Pfaltz');" NOHREF ALT="Pfalz"> <AREA SHAPE="rect" COORDS="63,315,119,384" onClick="alert('Baden')" NOHREF ALT="Baden"> <AREA SHAPE="rect" COORDS="122,291,203,308" onClick="alert('Württemberg')" NOHREF ALT="Württemberg"> <AREA SHAPE="rect" COORDS="44,277,124,290" onClick="alert('Rheinhessen')" NOHREF ALT="Rheinhessen"> <AREA SHAPE="rect" COORDS="146,269,195,287" onClick="alert('Franken')" NOHREF ALT="Franken"> <AREA SHAPE="rect" COORDS="83,260,145,272" onClick="alert('Hessische Bergstraße')" NOHREF ALT="Hessische Bergstraße"> <AREA SHAPE="rect" COORDS="37,264,71,275" onClick="alert('Nahe')" NOHREF ALT="Nahe"> <AREA SHAPE="rect" COORDS="71,248,131,259" onClick="alert('Rheingau')" NOHREF ALT="Rheingau"> <AREA SHAPE="poly" COORDS="74,238,5,238,5,263,47,263,75,245,75,238" onClick="alert('Mosel-Saar-Ruwer')" NOHREF ALT="Mosel-Saar-Ruwer"> <AREA SHAPE="rect" COORDS="15,221,45,237" onClick="alert('Ahr')" NOHREF ALT="Ahr"> <AREA SHAPE="rect" COORDS="47,215,115,234" onClick="alert('Mittelrhein')" NOHREF ALT="Mittelrhein"> <AREA SHAPE="rect" COORDS="169,194,256,217" onClick="alert('Saale-Unstrut')" NOHREF ALT="Saale-Unstrut"> <AREA SHAPE="rect" COORDS="232,160,290,188" onClick="alert('Sachsen')" NOHREF ALT="Sachsen"> <AREA SHAPE="default" NOHREF> </map>
These regions are further divided into Bereiche, or sub-regions, which are comprised of groups of vineyards called Grosslagen.
