Alte Reben.
Old Vines – not a legally defined term.
Auslese
Made from select bunches of grapes left on the vine until they achieve high sugar readings, these wines often carry a hint or more of botrytis.
Beerenauslese
“Berry select” wines are harvested berry by berry, taking only botrytis-affected fruit.
Eiswein
Made from frozen grapes that are at least equivalent in sugar levels to beerenauslese, but which produce wines with much racier levels of acidity.
Erste Lage.VDP
Vinyard classification equilvalent to premier cru
GG
See Grosses Gewächs
Gipskeuper.
Triassic formation. Tiered layer landscape of the Triassic era (250 million years ago)
Grosse Lage.
VDP vineyard classification equivalent to grand cru
Grosses Gewächs.
Top category of the VDP quality pyramid for still wine. A Grosses Gewächs, or GG, denotes a wine from a single vineyard classified as Grosse Lage in the VDP classification. Made according to VDP’s regulations on on variety, yield, etc.
Gutswein.
Literally estate wine, but also entry level of VDP quality pyramid for still wines.
Kabinett.
The least ripe of the prädikat levels, and typically the lightest of a grower’s offerings.
Keuper.
See Gipskeuper
Lagenweine.
Literally wine from a named site, but see also Ortswein and Gutswein
Muschelkalk.
Triassic formation
Ortswein
Litterally village wine, but also mid-level of VDP quality pyramid for still wines
Weissburgunder
Pinot Blanc, White Pinot variety
Spätburgunder.
Pinot Noir, Probably one of the most famous grape varieties in the world, Pinot Noir has been grown in Germany for centuries
Grauer Burgunder.
Pinot Gris, White Pinot variety
Schaumkalk.
Porous cellular limestone
Schichtstufenlandschaft.
Triassic topography
Sektkellerei.
Sparkling wine producer
Spätlese.
Literally, “late picked.” These grapes are generally only late-picked with respect to those grapes that go into Kabinett or QbA wines.
Trockenbeerenauslese.
These “dried berry select” wines are made from individually harvested, shriveled grapes that have been heavily affected by botrytis.
VDP - VerbandDeutscherPrädikatsweingüter.
The oldest association of wine estates in the world (founded in 1910), strictly dedicated to producing premium quality wines only. The VDP counts many of Germany`s most respected wineries amongst its 200 members.
QbA (= Qualitätswein bestimmterAnbaugebiete).
Quality wine from one of the 13 specified winegrowing regions, often abbreviated as ”QbA”.
