Annette Schiller, President of ombiasy PR and WineTours and member of the American Wine Society, led two German wine tastings at the 2016 Annual Meetings of the American Wine Society in the Los Angeles area: The New Germany - Red, Dry and Sparkling and The New Classification of German Wines: The VDP Classification.
This posting covers the second tasting. It is part of a series of postings related to the American Wine Society National Conference 2016 in California:
The 2016 American Wine Society National Conference in California, USA: Seen Through Christian Schiller's Camera Lens
The New Germany: Red, Sparkling and Dry - Tasting at the American Wine Society 2016 National Conference in Los Angeles, USA, led by Annette Schiller
The New Classification of German Wines: The VDP Classification - Annette Schiller, President of Ombiasy PR & Wine Tours
The Insider’s View of Charles Krug Winery - Peter Mondavi Jr., Co-Proprietor, Charles Krug Winery
Bordeaux: the Grands Crus Classes 2013 Vintage - Paul Wagner, President of Balzac Communications Marketing
Château Climens, Premier Cru Barsac and Savory Dishes…who knew? - Bérénice Lurton, Owner of Château Climens & Tony Lawrence, Global Food & Wine Pairing Specialist
The 2016 American Wine Society Annual Meetings took place on November 2 - 5, 2016, at the Hilton Orange County in Costa Mesa, South of Los Angeles. More than 400 members from all over the USA came to this 3-day event, filled with tastings, seminars and presentations.
Prominent participants included: Joel Peterson, Founder of Ravenswood Winery; Bérénice Lurton, Owner of Château Climens; Peter Mondavi Jr., Co-Proprietor, Charles Krug Winery, Paul Wagner, President of Balzac Communications Marketing and Randall Grahm, Bonny Doon Vineyard.
The New Classification of German Wines – the VDP Classification
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 is the standard classification system in Germany and many winemakers in Germany use this approach. Increasingly, however, German wine producers are moving away from the standard, in particular the producers of premium wines in Germany. Importantly, the members of the VDP, the association of about 200 elite winemakers in Germany, have all converted to the new classification.
In a nutshell, the VDP is moving to a classification system that resembles very much the classification system in the Bourgogne. The classification of the VDP puts the terroir principle at the center of its classification approach. With the latest modifications of 2012, the absolutely finest vineyards are called Grosse Lage (for the 2011 vintage still called Erste Lage) and dry wines from these super top vineyards are called Grosses Gewächs. Grosses Gewächs wines are the finest dry wines from Germany’s finest vineyards.
The VDP Wine Classification
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.
On the other axis, you find the sweetness levels: Trocken, Kabinett, Spätlese, 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.
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 Gewächs and labeled Qualitätswein Trocken. A Grosses Gewächs wine is an ultra premium dry wine made from a Grosse Lage vineyard.
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.
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 Gewächs” designation.
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.
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.
A VDP.Ortswein with residual sweetness is labeled with one of the traditional Prädikats.
VDP.Gutswein – Entry Level
VDP.Gutsweine are the entry-level wines in the VDP's hierarchy.
Key Elements of the VDP Classification System to Remember
First: Use of the Prädikats Kabinett, Spätlese 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, Spätlese or Auslese. Thus, if you see Spätlese on the label of a VDP member wine, you can be sure that it is a fruity-sweet Spätlese. “Spaetlese Trocken” or “Kabinett Trocken” does not exist anymore among the VDP members. If you still find it - and you may indeed find it on the shelves - it is due to the number of exceptions which are in force for the transition period.
Second: The Prädikats Kabinett, Spätlese 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 Spätlese 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 Qualitätswein Trocken - All dry wines up to the highest quality level – the Grosses Gewächs wines from a Grosse Lage vineyard – are labeled Qualitaetswein (QbA) Trocken. A wine made from grapes harvested at Spätlese 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 Qualitätswein 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, Qualitätswein does not mean anything, as in the VDP system even the ultra-premium dry wines are labeled as a QbA.
Fourth: Grosses Gewaechs ultra-premium dry wine - The dry counterpart of the fruity-sweet Spätlese and Auslese wines of the VDP are the dry Grosses Gewächs wines. These are ‘Grand Cru” wines made from grapes from a Grosse Lage vineyard, harvested at Spätlese or Auslese level in terms of sugar content and fully fermented so that they become dry. The Grosse Gewächs label is thought to resemble the Grand Cru designation in neighboring France. Here and there, these wines are dry.
Obviously, the Grosses Gewächs label has become obsolete. Grosse Lage Trocken says it all. You do not need the predicate Grosses Gewächs. But the Grosses Gewächs label is well established in the market and recognized by wine consumers.
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.
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.
Picture: VDP Logo
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:
The new (VDP) Wine Classification in Germany: Tasting Weingut Robert Weil Wines from Gutswein to Grosse Lage Wine
Steffen Christmann (Weingut A. Christmann) and Wilhelm Weil (Weingut Robert Weil) Presented the New Wine Classification of the VDP, Germany
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
Tasting with Wines from Loosen Bros.
We tasted wines from each category of the new classification. The wines were sponsored by Loosen Bros., the US importer for: Dr. Loosen (Mosel), Villa Wolf (Pfalz), Robert Weil (Rheingau), Wittmann (Rheinhessen), Maximin Grünhaus (Mosel) and Fritz Haag (Mosel).
We had 6 wines: 3 wines from the highest quality level (Grosse Lage/ Grand Cru) and 1 wine from each of the other 3 quality levels:
VDP.Gutswein/ Estate Wine: 2015 Weingut Fritz Haag Riesling Trocken
VDP.Ortswein/ Village Wine: 2014 Weingut Robert Weil Kiedricher Riesling Trocken
VDP.Erste Lage/ Premier Cru: 2015 Weingut Robert Weil Kiedricher Turmberg Riesling Trocken
VDP.Grosse Lage/ Grand Cru: 2014 Weingut Wittmann Aulerde Riesling GG
VDP.Grosse Lage/ Grand Cru: 2014 Weingut Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling GG
VDP.Grosse Lage/ Grand Cru: 2014 Weingut Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese
After-Session Discussions
After the session, participants came up to Annette to ask further questions.
Thanks
Thank you very much Loosen Bros. USA, Weingut Fritz Haag, Weingut Robert Weil, Weingut Wittmann and Weingut Dr. Loosen for sponsoring the event.
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The 2016 American Wine Society National Conference in California, USA: Seen Through Christian Schiller's Camera Lens
The New Germany: Red, Sparkling and Dry - Tasting at the American Wine Society 2016 National Conference in Los Angeles, USA, led by Annette Schiller
The new (VDP) Wine Classification in Germany: Tasting Weingut Robert Weil Wines from Gutswein to Grosse Lage Wine
Steffen Christmann (Weingut A. Christmann) and Wilhelm Weil (Weingut Robert Weil) Presented the New Wine Classification of the VDP, Germany
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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