Steffen Christmann (Weingut A. Christmann) and Wilhelm Weil (Weingut Robert Weil) Presented the New Wine Classification of the VDP, Germany

Picture: VDP President and Winemaker Steffen Christmann, Weingut A. Christmann, Wine Journalist Stuart Pigott, and VDP Vice-President and Winemaker Wilhelm Weil, Weingut Weil, Presenting the new VDP Classification at the 4th Riesling Rendezvous in Seattle

Although many people think that there is only one wine classification system in Germany – the classification system of the Law of 1971 – this is not correct. True, the classification system of the Law of 1971 with its pyramid of ripeness of the grapes at harvest (Qualitaetswein, Kabinett, Spaetlese, Auslese …) at the center is the standard classification system in Germany and the vast majority of winemakers in Germany use this approach. A large number of winemakers, however, have moved away from the standard, in particular the producers of premium and ultra-premium wines. Importantly, the powerful group of German elite winemakers – the VDP (Verband Deutscher Praedikatswein Produzenten) – has conceived its own classification system and is developing it further. The latest modifications are those that came into effect with the vintage of 2012.

Steffen Christmann and Wilhelm Weil provided an overview of the system as it currently stands at the 4th Riesling Rendezvous in Seattle, Washington State.

Pictures: Lecture cum Tasting

This posting is part of a series of a dozen or so postings on the 4th Riesling Rendezvous in Seattle. I have posted sofar:

Steffen Christmann (Weingut A. Christmann) and Wilhelm Weil (Weingut Robert Weil) Presented the New Wine Classification of the VDP, Germany
Photo Album: 4th Riesling Rendezvous (2013) in Seattle, Washington State, USA
The 4th Riesling Rendezvous in Seattle: Impressions from the Grand Tasting at Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville, Washington State, USA
The World of Riesling in Seattle - Fourth Riesling Rendezvous in Washington State, USA
Coming Up in July: 4th Riesling Rendezvous in Seattle, Washington State, USA 
The German Winemakers at the Forthcoming 4. Riesling Rendezvous in Seattle, Washington State, USA  

The VDP Wine Classification Matrix

Wilhelm Weil: “The new VDP Wine Classification System is basically a matrix classification.” On one axis you find the different quality levels of the wines, along the Burgundian terroir approach, with estate wines, village wines, first growth (premier cru) wines and great growth (grand cru) wines.

Following their colleagues in the Bourgogne, the terroir principle has taken center stage in the VDP classification. Effective with the 2012 harvest, the VDP classification has the following 4 quality layers (In brackets, the equivalent quality classes in the classification system of the Bourgogne):

• VDP.Grosse Lage (Grand Cru in Burgundy)
• VDP.Erste Lage (Premier Cru in Burgundy)
• VDP.Ortswein (Village level in Burgundy)
• VDP.Gutswein (Bourgogne régional in Burgundy)

Note that for some legal reasons, the VDP has started to use the terms Grosse Lage, Erste Lage, Ortswein and Gutswein with the pre-fix VDP.

Picture: Steffen Christmann making the Point that 100 Years ago, German Wine was more expensive than Bordeaux

On the other axis, you find the sweetness levels: Trocken, Kabinett, Spaetlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese as well as Eiswein. Please note that in the new VDP classification system the Prädikats have lost their critical importance that they have in the traditional classification system of 1971 and that they have changed their meaning. In the VDP classification system, they have become an indicator for the sweetness range of the finished wine, while in the traditional classification they are an indicator of the sugar content of the grapes at harvest. Generally, in the new VDP classification system, the Prädikats are to be used exclusively for wines with residual sweetness, “thereby enabling the Prädikats to resume their traditional meaning”, as stated by the VDP.

Pictures: Steffen Christmann, Stuart Pigott, Christian G.E. Schiller and Tim Atkin at the Presentation of Steffen Christmann and Wilhelm Weil

VDP.Grosse Lage - The Peak of the Pyramid

VDP.Grosse Lage is the peak of the terroir-based pyramid, equivalent to Grand Cru in the Bourgogne. These are the very best vineyards of Germany. Note: For a Grosse Lage vineyard, like in the Bourgogne, you don’t use the village name on the label, just the name of the vineyard.

Maximum yield is at 50hl/ha. The grapes have to be harvested by hand while the sugar content of the grapes at harvest has to be at least at Spätlese level. The grapes can be fermented in a dry, fruity-sweet and noble-sweet style.

A dry wine from a VDP.Grosse Lage is designated VDP.Grosses Gewaechs and labeled Qualitätswein Trocken. A Grosses Gewaechs wine is from 2012 on the ultra premium dry wine made from a Grosse Lage vineyard.

Example: 2012 Weingut Weil, Graefenberg, Riesling, VDP.Grosses Gewaechs

A fruity or noble sweet wine from a VDP.Grosse Lage is labeled with one of the traditional Prädikats: Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Eiswein or Trockenbeerenauslese.

Example: 2012 Weingut Weil, Graefenberg, Riesling, Spaetlese

Picture: The Wines Steffen Christmann Presented

VDP.Erste Lage - First Class

VDP.Erste Lage designates first-class vineyards with distinctive characteristics, equivalent to Premier Cru in the Bourgogne. Erste Lage vineyards provide optimal growing conditions, as evidenced over a long period of time.

They are planted with traditional varieties. Maximum yield is at 60hl/ha. The grapes have to be harvested by hand while the sugar content of the grapes at harvest has to be at least at Spätlese level.
A dry wine from a VDP.Erste Lage is labeled Qualitätswein trocken. Note that there is no “VDP.Erstes Gewaechs” designation.

Example: 2012 Weingut Weil, Kiedricher Turmberg, Riesling Trocken

A fruity or noble sweet wine from a VDP.Erste Lage is labeled with one of the traditional Prädikats: Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Eiswein or Trockenbeerenauslese.

Example: 2012 Weingut Weil, Kiedricher Turmberg, Riesling, Spaetlese

Third: VDP.Ortswein - Sourced from Superior Soils

A VDP.Ortswein originates from a village's best vineyards that are planted with grape varieties typical of their region, equivalent to a village wine in the Bourgogne. Maximum yield is at 75hl/ha.
A dry VDP.Ortswein is labeled Qualitätswein Trocken.

Example: 2012 Weingut Weil, Kiedrich, Riesling Trocken

A VDP.Ortswein with residual sweetness is labeled with one of the traditional Prädikats.

Example: 2012 Weingut Weil, Kiedrich, Riesling, Spaetlese

Fourth: VDP.Gutswein – Entry Level

VDP.Gutsweine are the entry-level wines in the VDP's hierarchy.

Generall, the Prädikats are to be used exclusively for wines with residual sweetness. Gutsweine, however, are excluded from this general rule as it applies only to the top 3 quality categories. Thus, we might see Gutswein Kabinett trocken and Gutswein Spaetlese trocken in the shelves.

Example: 2012 Weingut Weil, Riesling Trocken

Pictures: The wines, Wilhelm Weil presented. Interestingly, his selection included two wines that were very similar in terms of the winemaking process until harvest (same vineyard, both Grosse Lage wines), but one was fully fermented to Trocken and the other one was fermented to Spaetlese.

Key Elements of the VDP Classification System to Remember

First: Use of the Prädikats Kabinett, Spaetlese and Auslese only for fruity-sweet wines - As a major innovation, the VDP members have dropped the traditional Prädikats for dry wine. Only wines that have a noticeable level of sweetness carry the traditional Prädikats like Kabinett, Spaetlese or Auslese. Thus, if you see Spaetlese on the label of a VDP member wine, you can be sure that it is a fruity-weet Spaetlese. “Spaetlese Trocken” does not exist anymore among the VDP members.

Second: The Prädikats Kabinett, Spaetlese and Auslese no longer indicator of ripeness at harvest, but indicator for sweetness of the finished wines - In the 1971 Classification, the Prädikats Kabinett, Spaetlese and Auslese are an indicator of ripeness at harvest. Thus, for instance, you can have a fruity-sweet Spaetlese and a dry Spaetlese. In the VDP classification, the Prädikats Kabinett, Spaetlese and Auslese are an indicator of sweetness of the finished wine (and not of the ripeness at harvest).

Third: All dry wines up to the highest quality level labeled Qualitaetswein Trocken - All dry wines up to the highest quality level – the Grosses Gewaechs wines from a Grosse Lage vineyard – are labeled Qualitaetswein (QbA) Trocken. A wine made from grapes harvested at Spaetlese level and fully fermented to complete dryness, for example, is marketed as QbA wine. And the level of quality would be indicated by the terroir concept (Gutswein, Ortswein, Erste Lage, Grosse Lage).

This of course does not make it easier for wine consumers to read and understand German wine labels, because the Qualitaetswein denomination has a completely different meaning in the standard classification system. There, it indicates that this wine is an entry-level wine of basic quality. In the VDP classification, Qualitaetswein does not mean anything, as in the VDP system even the ultra-premium dry wines are labeled as a QbA.

Pictures: Wilhelm Weil Explaining

Fourth: Grosses Gewaechs ultra-premium dry wine - The dry counterpart of the fruity-sweet Spaetlese and Auslese wines of the VDP are the dry Grosses Gewaechs wines. These are ‘Grand Cru” wines made from grapes from a Grosse Lage vineyard, harvested at Spaetlese or Auslese level in terms of sugar content and fully fermented so that they become dry. The Grosse Gewaechs label is thought to resemble the Grand Cru designation in neighboring France. Here and there, these wines are dry.

Steffen Christmann observed that the Grosses Gewaechs label has become obsolete. Grosse Lage Trocken says it all. You do not need the predicate Grosses Gewaechs. But the Grosses Gewaechs label is well established in the market and recognized by wine consumers.

Picture: Christian G.E. Schiller and Wilhelm Weil, Weingut Robert Weil, in Kiedrich. Weingut Weil belongs to the group of winemakers that make both dry and fruity-sweet wines, in addition to noble-sweet wines. See: Visiting Wilhelm Weil at his Weingut Robert Weil in Kiedrich, Germany. And: Tasting with Wilhelm Weil the 2010 Weingut Weil Wines in Kiedrich, Germany.

Fifth: No single vineyard wines below Grosse Lage and Erste Lage - In the VDP classification, only Grosse Lage and Erste Lage vineyards appear on the label. If a wine comes from a vineyard that is not in the exclusive circle of Grosse and Erste Lage, the label will not carry any vineyard name. Instead, it will be either a village wine (with just the village and the name of the winery on the label) or an Estate wine (with just the name of the winery on the label).

The VDP

The VDP is the world’s oldest association of wine estates in the world. In fact, it is the only one of its kind worldwide. No other country has a national organization of the top wine makers of the entire country.

Picture: Christian G.E. Schiller and Steffen Christmann, Weingut A. Christmann, in Seattle. Weingut A. Christmann belongs to the group of winemakers that make exclusively dry wines, except for noble-sweet wines. See: The German Winemakers at the Forthcoming 4. Riesling Rendezvous in Seattle, Washington State, USA

In 1910, four regional wine-growers’ associations joined forces to form the Verband Deutscher Naturweinversteigerer (i.e. estates that sold their “natural” [unchaptalized] wines at auction). These organizations – from the Rheingau and Rheinhessen, founded in 1897 and 1900, respectively, and their counterparts in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer and Pfalz regions, both founded in 1908 – were the forerunners of today’s VDP. At this time, fine German wines enjoyed a heyday. They were among the most expensive wines, on the tables of imperial houses as well as leading hotels and restaurants.

Throughout the past century, the quality-driven goals and strict standards of the VDP have played no small part in shaping the viticultural and winemaking practices in Germany. With their stringent statutes and their establishment of a German vineyard classification, the 200 members of the VDP have served as role models and justifiably can be viewed as the vanguard of the nation’s producers of top-quality wines.

For more on the new VDP Classification, see:
Approaches to Classifying German Wine: The Standard Approach (the Law of 1971), the VDP Approach and the Zero Classification Approach
Stepping up: From 3 … to 4 Quality Levels - The New Classification of the VDP, Germany
German Wine Basics: Grosse Lage and Grosslage (and Grosses Gewaechs)
VDP.Grosses Gewaechs, Erstes Gewaechs, Spaetlese/Auslese Trocken, … Labeling Dry Ultra-Premium Wines in Germany
The VDP - the Powerful Group of German Elite Winemakers - Refines its Classification System, Germany

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