Wine Classification: German Wine Classification, Alexis Lichine's Classification of Bordeaux Wine, Denominaci N de Origen

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 45. Chapters: Alexis Lichine's classification of Bordeaux wine, American Viticultural Area, Appellation d'origine controlee, Ausbruch, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Bordeaux Wine Official Classification of 1855, Classification of Champagne vineyards, Classification of Graves wine, Classification of Saint-Emilion wine, Classification of wine, Cru (wine), Cru Bourgeois, Denominacao de Origem Controlada, Denominacion de Origen, Denominazione di origine controllata, European Union wine regulations, First Growth, German wine classification, Indicazione geografica tipica, Investment wine, Kabinett, Langton's Classification of Australian Wine, Lieu-dit, Quality Wines Produced in Specified Regions, Quinta classification of Port vineyards in the Douro, Spatlese, Table wine, The Liv-ex Bordeaux Classification, Trocken, Trockenbeerenauslese, Vino de la Tierra, Vin Delimite de Qualite Superieure, Vin de France, Vin de pays, Wine rating. Excerpt: German wine classification was until recently a source of pride for German wine producers. The original form in 1971 was a Prussian model of standardization and factual completeness, but has since become overgrown and confusing. Compared with the anarchic chaos of Italy's wine-labelling habits, and the convoluted geography of France's AOC system, the German Wine Law of 1971 was a marvel of precision. Almost all of Germany's vineyards are delineated and registered as one of approximately 2,600 Einzellagen ('individual sites'), and the produce from one can be used to make wine at any quality level, depending not on yields but on the ripeness, or must weight of the grapes. The hierarchy of ripeness is not an arbitrary methodology. In a country as far north as Germany, the ripeness of grapes varies tremendously and profoundly affects the types of wine that can be produced. In a typical vineyard on an average year, grapes are picked during normal harvest time may be somewhat unripe, resulting in a very light wine. The grower may decide to let certain bunches continue to hang, despite the risk of worsening weather. Later, he goes through and picks again, and these riper grapes are made into a separate wine, which will be fuller and richer than the first. He may leave some to hang even longer and, assuming the weather doesn't harm them, make a third wine, etc. The categories of ripeness appear on the labels, thus, the consumer can anticipate how lean or full the wine will be. The ripeness categories are referred to as "quality levels," which is a misnomer - ripeness is always a clue to a wine's body, but not necessarily a predictor of its quality. Also, ripeness is determined by sugar content at harvest and does not reflect the sugar content in the final wine. Thus a wine in any of the German categories can be dry (trocken) or fairly dry (halbtrocken.) There are two major categories of German wine: table wine and "quality" wine. Table wine includes the designations tafelwe