Wine Knowledge Blog

• must be bottled in the wine region of production
• subject to a Ministry of Agriculture Tasting Approval

• Geographical area must be specified
• only certain grape varieties are permitted
• minimum alcohol level is controlled
• may also stipulate the production method such as minimum ageing

• Equivalent to Vins de Pays in France
• under this quality level, more freedom in both wine grape varieties and vine areas
• it is commonly used for new ideas of wine making and creating brands

• Equivalent to Vins de Table in France
• cannot specify wine grape variety, geographical source and the vintage on wine labels

• Table Wine

• Quality Wine

• Only used for botrytised wines
• These wines must have the state wine seal

• Equivalent to Appellation d’Origine Controlee (AC) in France
• Yields are limited
• Minimum grape ripeness is required to achieve potential alcohol of 6%
• Hybrid varieties are not permitted
• lab analysis and approval of tasting panel are required

• Equivalent to Vins de Pays in France
• Hybrid varieties are permitted
• lab analysis and approval of tasting panel are required

• Equivalent to Vins de Table in France
• Wines are no tested as in both Quality Wines and Regional Wines
• Wine labels cannot state vintage, wine grape variety and vineyard name

• Equivalent to Appellation d’Origine Controlee (AC) in France

• Equivalent to Vins Delimites de Qualite Superieue (VDQS) in France

• Equivalent to Vins de Pays in France

• Equivalent to Vins de Table in France

• A Wine must come from a single vintage, and
• must have passed a tasting panel
• If it is a wine with DOC Quality status, it must have a higher natural alcohol level than the minimum decreed by law for that DOC.

This information must be stated on the wine label.

Red Wines

• Must be aged for at least 2 years in cask, and
• 1 year in bottle

White Wines

• Must be aged for at least 6 months in cask, and
• 6 months in bottle

• The grapes must come from a single Bereich, a district within an Anbaugebiet (Quality Region)
• Chaptalisation is not permitted
• Sussreserve (unfermented and sterile grape juice) can be used to sweeten wine
• There are 6 different styles of Pradikatswein based on the grape sugar level at harvest time

• The most delicate Pradikatswein wines
• Usually made for aperitifs.

• Wines made of late harvest grapes, and
• have more concentrated flavors
• may or may not be sweeter than a Kabinett style

• Wines made of individually selected extra-ripe bunches of grapes
• May be a dry or sweet wine

• rare and expensive wines made of individually selected grapes
• grapes may or may not be botrytis-affected (noble rot)
• grapes must not be harvested mechanically
• sweet wines

• literally ice wine
• made from grapes that have been left on the vine until the weather is cold enough to freeze the water in the grapes
• after the grapes are crushed, the frozen water will be removed to leave a concentrated sugary syrup
• the sugar content of the syrup must be at least equivalent to the grape juice used to make beerenauslese (BA) wines
• grapes are usually not botrytis-affected
• sweet wines with intensely pure fruit flavors and very high level of acidity.

• Wines made only in the finest vintages and in minute quantities
• made from individual grapes that have been seriously affected by noble rot
• grapes will potentially give an alcohol level of 21.5% but wines rarely have more than 8% abv of actual alcohol. Therefore, a lot of residual sugar will be left in the wines.
• grapes must not be harvested mechanically
• sweet wines

• Wines must come from one of the 13 designated quality wine regions
• blending with wines from other regions is not allowed
• the wine label must state the region of production and indicates the wine style
• The wine must have a natural alcohol content of at least 7%
• chaptalisation is permitted

• Region of production must be shown on the wine labels. There are 19 regions qualified to this category.
• The wines must be trocken (dry) or halbtrocken (0ff-dry)
• Natural alcohol must be at least 0.5% higher than Tafelwein stated below
• chaptalisation is permitted

• Region of production may be shown on the wine label but the wine must come from one of the five designated regions.
• must reach a natural alcohol level of 5%(6% for Baden)
• chaptalisation is permitted

• an individual vineyard
• this is the most important geographical classification for German quality wines
• wines with this classification are normally very high in quality

• a group of adjoining vineyards
• since the wine label will not tell you whether the wine comes from an Einzellage or a Grosslage, consumers have to memorize names of hundreds of vineyards belonging to these two classifications.

• a commune or village
• it does not have a legal status in German Wine Law
• however names of Gemeinde do appear on the wine labels

• a district within an anbaugebeit (quality region) consisting of several Gemeinde (communes)
• an anbaugebeit (quality region) may have several bereich (districts)

• designated quality wine region
• there are 13 such quality regions in Germany

• Rioja and Priorato the only places having this recognition from the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture at the moment.
• All DOC wines carry a numbered back-label issued by the controlling body (Consejo Regulador) which guarantees the wine classification and the region of origin

• This is a relatively new category
• It applies to those outstanding single estates which use their own grapes to make their wines
• At present, there are not too many estates possessing this recognition, but it is expected to have more in next few years

• areas of production
• types of wine grape varieties
• Viticultural & Vinification methods
• the wine should reflect the local style of where it is made
• Same to DOC wines, all DO wines carry a numbered back-label for the guarantee of the wine classification and original wine region

• Vino de la Tierra de Castilla
• Vino de la Tierra de Castilla y Leon

As this quality category has less limitations than DO and DOC, wine makers always use this to experiment new ideas to develop more interesting wines.

• Indicates that a wine has not been aged or only aged for a very short period of time

• Must be aged for at least 2 years of which aged in small oak casks for at least 6 months

White or Rose Wines

• Must be aged for at least 1 year

Red Wines

• Must be aged for at least 3 years of which aged in small oak casks for at least 12 months

White or Rose Wines

• Must be aged for at least 2 years of which aged in small oak casks for at least 6 months

Red Wines

• Must be aged for at least 5 years of which aged in small oak casks for at least 2 years

White or Rose Wines

• Must be aged for at least 4 years of which aged in small oak casks for at least 6 months

• Area of production
• Permitted grape varieties
• Viticultural & Vinification methods such as pruning and ageing
• The maximum permitted yield per hectare
• The minimum alcoholic level without chaptalisation

The name before “AC” (appeared in wine labels ) is referring to the area of production (either a name of a region, a village or a vineyard). Generally speaking, the smaller the place, the higher the wine quality is. This is because a particular “vineyard” AC will impose more wine quality restrictions on top of the regional AC requirements.

• This is now a minor category in France and only represents a very small amount of French Wine Production
• Its quality requirements are basically same as AC but are more flexible in, such as, wine grape varieties and yields.

• Area of Production
• Grape Varieties – Vins de Pays has a boarder list of grape varieties than the AC and VDQS quality levels
• Yields – a more generous yield is allowed
• Analytical Standards – such as alcoholic strength and the tolerance of  Sulphur Dioxide

• no restriction on grape varieties
• no yield limit
• can be produced anywhere in the country
• no region, wine grape variety and vintage can be stated on the wine label
• chaptalisation is not allowed