The New German Wine Law of 2021 - Shifting from the Sugar Level at Harvest to the Wine's Geographic Origin

On November 26, 2020, the German parliament passed a new wine law, which took effect on January 27, 2021. 

Importantly, the new German wine law introduces a new hierarchy to determine the quality of wine - the Romanesque model of origin. The emphasis shifts from the sugar level to the wine’s geographic origin. The bottom line is the quality promise: the narrower the geographical indication, the higher the quality. This concept follows the “terroir” principle, well-known from the classification in Burgundy and elsewhere. 

From the bottom to the top of the terroir quality ladder, the winemaking requirements are getting more demanding, in terms of grape varieties allowed, maximum yield, minimum must concentration, harvesting methods (hand versus machine) and sensory characteristics.

At the same time, the Prädikate system, based on the sugar level in the grapes at harvest - Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, ... - remains in place but has been adjusted and shifted to the backburner. 

As under the old law, the Prädikatsystem is only applicable to Qualitätswein. 

Unlike under the old law, wines with a Prädikat are sweet under the new law. Previously, wines with a Prädikat could be dry (with the adjective "trocken" added, for example, Kabinett trocken) or sweet. 

Also, the Prädikat system has lost its significance in terms of being a quality indicator. Under the new law the quality is determined by the terroir principle and at each level of quality, you can have Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese,..... Thus the Prädikat wines range from entry-level wines to ultra-premium wines. In a way, disregarding the noble-sweet Eiswein, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese wines, the Prädikat system has shifted from a quality indicator to a sweetness scale. 

The EU System

The new German wine quality system is consistent with the European Union’s three-tier quality pyramid scheme which has been in place since 2012. 

The EU distinguishes wine without a geographic designation from wine with a geographic designation. 

The latter can be either wine with a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) or wine with a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).

Deutscher Wein, Landwein, Qualitätswein

Deutscher Wein (German Wine) is at the bottom of the quality pyramid - Wine without a geographic designation.

Landwein (Country Wine) is one step up - Wine with a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI, German: geschützte geografische Angabe or g.g.A.)

Qualitätswein (Quality Wine) is at the top of the quality pyramid - Wine with a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO, German: geschützte Ursprungsbezeichnung or g.U.)

I. Deutscher Wein - No Further Indication of Provenance

 

Deutscher Wein is the lowest quality level of German wine. There is no further indication of provenance than "Germany".  The quality requirements are the lowest. Any grape variety, for example, is allowed. 

II. Landwein - Protected Designation of Geographical Origin (PGI)

One step up on the quality pyramid is Landwein. Landwein accounts for less than 10% of all German wine, but is growing. 

There are 26 Landwein wine regions.

Although at the low end of the quality ladder of German wine, there is not only entry-level Landwein but also premium and ultra-premium Landwein: 

First, wines that are of low quality and do not meet the quality criteria of Qualitätswein.

 

Second, wines that are of high quality but do not meet the criteria of Qualitätswein, for example by using a grape variety that is not in the catalogue of allowed grape varieties in the region. This is similar to the so called Super Tuscan wines in Italy.

Third, wines that are of high quality but the winemaker does not want to go through the evalution process required for the wine as, for example, he or she is not filtering the wines.

III. Qualitätswein -  Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)

 

Qualitätswein is the top-level of wine in the German wine quality ladder. 

 

There are two kinds of Qualitätswein: Qualitätswein (without Prädikat) and Qualitätswein with Prädikat

 

Qualitätswein (without Prädikat) is always dry and can be enriched (chaptalized) with a legally limited amount of sugar before fermentation in order to inrease the alcohol content of the wine. Landwein and Deutscher Wein can also be enriched, but not Qualitätswein with Prädikat. 

 

Qualitätswein with Prädikat is always sweet - fruity-sweet or noble-sweet. Fruity-sweet wines are made sweet by stopping the fermentation (Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese), noble-sweet wines are sweet because of the excessively high amount of sugar in the grape at harvest, which can not be fully fermented to dryness (Eiswein, Beerrenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese). 

 

In order for a wine to be a Qualitätswein with Prädikat, the wine needs to fullfill two requirements, one at harvest and the other one in the glass as finished wine. Let's take Spätlese as an example.

 

First, at harvest, the grapes need to have at least Spätlese level in terms of sugar content.

 

Second, in the glass, the wine needs to be sweet. The wine needs to be in the sweetness corridor determined by the regional wine association. Put it differently, there is no Spätlese trocken anymore.

 

For both of the two kinds of Qualitätswein - without and with Prädikat - there are 4 different levels of quality.

 

A. Anbaugebiet - Growing Area

At the lowest level of the Qualitätswein pyramid, wines from one of the 13 German Qualitätswein areas. They are different from the 26 Landwein areas. The wines can be either Qualitätswein without Prädikat or with Prädikat. 

If the label just says Qualitätswein Mosel, for example, the wine will be dry and from the Mosel area. 

If the wine is sweet, a Prädikat needs to be on the label as well indicating the level of sweetness in the wine. A Mosel Spätlese, for example, would be an entry-level fruity-sweet wine from the Mosel. 

On the label, Qualitätswein can be replaced by the indication “wine with a protected designation of origin” combined with the name of a winegrowing area

B. Region - Region

 

“Region” is a sub-area of an Anbaugebiet.

 

Wine previously sold under a "Grosslage" designation (a Grosslage is an aggregation of several single vineyards) falls under this category. Grosslage designations were not abolished by the new law but will become more obvious for consumers as they will have to be clearly marked by the word "Region" preceding the Grosslage. 

 

Also, the use of the name of a village is not permitted for Grosslage wines anymore. This is reserved for single vineyards. If there is a village and a vineyard on the label, the wine cannot be from a Grosslage but must be from a single vineyard.

 

Wines from the well known Piesporter Michelsberg, for example, with the grapes possibly coming from a vast number of vineyards in the Piesport region, will need to be labelled as Region Michelsberg. 

But there is an exception: The use of the village name is allowed if at least 85 percent of the grapes originate from the indicated village. In this case, to follow our example, the wine would be sold as Region Piesporter Michelsberg.

C. Ortswein – Village   

 

Similar to the quality ladder in the Bourgogne, there will be wines at the village level: Ortswein. These are wines which come from vineyards within the boundaries of a village named on the label.

Wines in the Ortswein category must have been harvested at least at the Kabinett level in terms of sugar content (according to the Prädikat system).

The label would say, for example, Qualitätswein Hochheim. The grapes are from any of the vineyards of the village of Hochheim.

D. Lagenwein – Single Vineyard 

 

The top category of the Qualitätswein pyramid is Lagenwein - single vineyard wine. The name of a single vineyard must be on the label with the name of the village, for example, Hochheimer (village) Hölle (single vineyard).

There are three sup-groups of Lagenwein: 

 

Grosse Lage - Grand Cru, at the top, 

 

Erste Lage - Premier Cru, one step below, 

 

and all other - not classified - single vineyards.

 

a. Erste Lage – Premier Cru 

If an Erste Lage wine is dry, it is a "Erstes Gewächs".

b. Große Lage – Grand Cru 

 

If a Grosse Lage wine is dry, it is a "Grosses Gewächs". 

As with all single vineyard wines, for a Grosse Lage wine, the village must also appear on the label. This is contrary to current practice of the VDP to show only the vineyard on the label of their Grosse Lage wines, i.e. Morstein and not Westhofener Morstein.

Gewann

A Gewann is a specific plot in a single vineyard. It can be considered the equivalent of the French lieu-dit. If the Gewann is included in the villages vineyard register, it can be mentioned on the label in case the grapes are all from this Gewann.  

Implementation

The implementation will be progressive and will be binding from the 2026 vintage.

Take-aways

Gutswein/ Estate Wine does not exist in the Law

The term Gutswein, which is prominent in the VDP classification, does not exist in the new wine law of 2021. 

Gutswein is the entry-level wine of VDP estates, indicating that the wine is from any vineyard of the estate.  

Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese are Sweet

A widespread believe in the USA, for example, is that Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese are sweet wines. Often this is indeed the case. But it is not backed by the pre-2021 German wine law. According to the German wine law of 1971, Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese are determined by the sugar content in the grapes at harvest. For all these categories the amounts of sugar in the must are such that Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese are - if you let the fermentation go through - dry wines. However, German winemakers make them sweet by stopping the fermentation. 

This has now been rectified by the German wine law of 2021. The requirements for a Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese are a certain level of sugar in the grapes at harvest and a certain sugar level in the wine in the glass. Kabinett trocken, Spätlese trocken and Auslese trocken do not exist anymore.

Classified and Non-classified Vineyards

The fact that the law refers to Grosse Lage and Erste Lage vineyards implies that all single vineyards need to be evaluated and grouped into Grosse Lage, Erste Lage and others. There are old vineyard cards prepared by the Prussian tax authorities, a wealth of data at Geisenheim University and other information available. Still, it will take some time for the specially founded regional protection associations, which have been charged with that task, to agree in close consultation with stakeholders from associations and winegrowers on a classification of the vineyards in Germany.

Prädikatswein lost Superiority over Qualitätswein

Many of my American wine friends regard a Qualitätswein mit Prädikat as superior to a Qualitätswein (without Prädikat). With the move to a terroir-based quality ladder - Region, Area, Village, Single Vineyard - and the relegation of the Prädikate system to simple indicators of sweetness, this view is no longer supported by the new German wine law. Under the new law, all wines above Deutscher Wein and Landwein will be a Qualitätswein, if they are dry, from the regional level up to the top level of single vineyard Grosses Gewächs or will be Qualitätswein mit Prädikat, if they are sweet, from the regional level up to the top level of single vineyard. Qualitätswein is at a par with Prädikatswein.

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