Ep. 1019 Map 24 Germany | Jumbo Shrimp Maps

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Let's begin our look at Germany by considering latitude as a significant factor for great growing. The main growing regions in Germany are situated around the forty ninth and fiftieth parallels of latitude pushing the northerly limits for quality Viticulture. This makes for cool growing conditions in this northerly continental climate. So for great growing to be successful and actually produce some of the world's best white wines, there must be some other factors that mitigate Germany's cool location. Let's look at the rule of rivers here. Most of the great growing in Germany hugs the Rhine River and its tributaries. Rivers are very important because they moderate the temperatures and provide more warmth for areas surrounding rivers. Grapes can even keep ripening later into the season due to the moderating effect of rivers. Rivers are also important because vineyard land tends to be located on slopes of the banks of rivers. These slopes are important to avoid the threat of frost damage in the spring. Let's talk about spring frosts for a moment. Former temperatures in spring signal bud burst to happen in the grape vines, but a cold snap can cause frosts after bud burst happens. Frost has the potential to damage the small young shoots. Especially because they have such a high water content at this early stage in development. So if there's a cold snap in spring, cold air rolls down slopes, and then accumulates on flatter land. The colder air stays there while warmer air tends to stay higher. That means that vines on flatter areas can be vulnerable to frost damage, but vineyards locating on slopes can avoid frost damage as the cold air rolls downhill and away from the vines. Slopes are also important in cooler climates because sunlight is intensified by hitting vineyards at a more direct angle. There is a major caveat though about Viticulture on slopes here. Slopes are indeed crucial for successful grape growing in the cool regions of Germany. But planting too high on slopes would make it too cool for ripening grapes. So vineyards are generally located below two hundred meters of altitude. One more point about climate factors in Germany. Great growing can continue well into autumn since autumns here are long and dry. We will see this is a particular benefit for late ripening riesling, and also for the production of Prady cat spine. Another factor that allows for Viticulture to be successful here or mountain ranges, like the townhouse range that blocks cold winds and rain from the north. Let's have a look at the main grapes grown in Germany. White grapes have dominated production in Germany due to its cool climate. But planting substrate brigunder have been on the rise. Riesling is Germany's most planted grape variety. It is very well suited to the cool climate because it can survive the cold winters. It's a late budding variety, which allows it to escape early threats of spring frost. And it also works in tandem with the warm, long, autumn weather because it's also a late ripener. In Germany, riesling is represented in a full range of styles from dry to sweet, including petritis and Ice Fine styles. We'll discuss these wine styles a bit later. It is also site specific and expresses itself differently depending on where it's planted. Reesling is a quality grape and can lead to wines with complexity and aromatic intensity. Coohler expressions can have green fruit flavors, and riper wines will have some tropical notes. With age, riesling wines can develop a petrol like a muruma. Shate the gunder, also known as Pinot noir, is the most planted black grape. It is planted in warmer areas of the country, particularly, bottom, and false. It is made into dry reds that often see some oak maturation, although this trend is waning. Germany has invested resources into the development of crosses in the hopes of creating great varieties that are better suited to Germany's cool climate. Many new crossings were developed in the twentieth century. Miller Turgau is a product of a successful cross between riesling and Madeline Royal. It was valued because of its ability to produce abundant yields and sugar levels. It was also valued because of its ability to ripen earlier. This is a key characteristic and such a cool environment. Let's put this into context of the twentieth century and the difficulties associated with growing riesling. Back then, techniques hadn't yet been developed to allow this late ripening grape to ripen properly, especially in cooler years. So Mueller Turau was a grape that became very popular despite lower quality and lower levels of acidity than riesling. Dornfelder is the most successful of the black grape crosses. It is valued for its deep color, an exceptional quality in a cool climate country like Germany. It has high acidity with a fruity and floral character. The white grape, Zylviner, is not a cross, although it has been used as a parent grape in Germany's push to develop many crosses. It was once the most planted grape. Growers liked it because of the high yields it produces. The wines are fairly simple and have lower acidity than riesling, but in Frankin, when yields are kept low, it can produce high quality earthy wines. Let's now move on to German wine law and labeling terms. This is a fundamental part of understanding German wine. It has struck fear in the hearts of many, but it is not so difficult if we take it step by step. Let's start with the fundamental principle of German wine law. This principle is to classify grapes according to their must wait at the time of harvest. In other words, grapes are classified by the level of sugar content they have at harvest. This is unusual, but let's imagine why this may have been developed in the first place. We have established that Germany is a cool country located so far north and unlikely place to grow grapes. They had to work quite hard to get grapes to ripen here. Going to such lengths as planting on steep slopes up river banks to eke out any extra bit of warmth in sunshine. They even developed great crosses that could ripen more effectively in this climate. So when it came to creating wine laws here, the basis of wine law was the ripeness level of grapes. Now that we've established this context, let's get into the details of German wine law. The quality pyramid has four levels here. And follows the pattern of EU classifications. We have wines at the top PTO level, the next PGI level, and then the lowest level of wines without a geographical indication. Starting at the bottom level. Deutsche Sewein is wine made from grapes anywhere in Germany and made in any style. The next level is Landwein. The PGI level of wine, meaning grapes come from slightly more restricted areas of Germany. Linevine is actually not a commonly used GI. Now let's move into the top PTO level. Wines at the PTO level come from smaller geographical areas than PGI wines. This follows the same pattern of PDO wines throughout Europe. However, unlike other EU countries, German PDO level wines do not specify which grapes come from those specific PDOs. In the EU, there's often a quality hierarchy with the PTO level of wine. Take Burgundy, for example, where there's a quality hierarchy within the PTO level, such as Grand Crew and Premier Cruise sites. But this is where the discussion about great brightness fits in. The quality hierarchy within German PTO is based on levels of great brightness at harvest. So let's look at the PTO level in Germany. The p d o level of quality has two subcategories. The first is Qualitatesvine Bishtimster on Baghobidder, which means quality wines produced in specific regions. You can also call it QBA for short. The Qualitates Fine category has less strict regulations than pretty cat's fine. So it is considered to be lower in quality. There are a few key factors to remember for the Qualitates Fine category. One, the grapes must be from the area specified on the label. Two, wines can be made in any style from dry to sweet. And three, tatilization is allowed for great mists before fermentation. That is sugar added to the grape juice. The next category of PD O wine is tomato Cat's fine. The regulations for this category are more strict, so it is considered to be a higher tier of quality than quality. Factors to remember for predicates fine. One, the grapes must be from the area specified on the label. Two, chatilization is forbidden. Three, one of the following six special attributes must apply to the wine. And be written on the label. So let's talk about these six special attributes and their wine styles. The grapes for each wine will have increasing levels of ripeness as we move down the list. Note that this list outlines styles of wine. Cabinet is the first on the list. To make cabinet wines, grapes are just right when picked, and the style of wine is usually light bodied and highest in acid. Wine styles can range from dry to sweet but are most often dry to off dry. Spate's laser is made with fully ripe grapes, about two weeks after grapes are picked for cabinet wines. Flavors will be riper and a bit more concentrated and have a bit more body. Thank you for listening to Italian wine podcast. We know there are many of you listening out there, so we just want to interrupt for a small ask. Italian wine podcast is in the running for an award. The best podcast listening platform through the podcast awards, the people's choice. Lister nominations is from July first to the thirty first, and we would really appreciate your vote. We are hoping our listeners will come through for us. So if you have a second and could do this small thing for us, just head to Italian wine podcast dot com from July first to the thirty first and click the link. We thank you and back to the show. Beer and auslesa or BA wines have an even higher must weight, and the wines are always sweet. Great berries are usually betritus infected. VA wines are not common given that conditions have to be exceptional for such ripening to occur. Then we have Icevine. The sweet style is becoming more and more rare since producers are less willing to take the risk to produce these wines. To make ice vine, grapes are left on the vines until December or later and are then harvested at minus seven degrees Celsius. The frozen grapes are then harvested and pressed immediately before the ice inside the grapes has a chance to melt. The frozen water stays behind. So what is left is a small amount of concentrated juice that gets made into ice vine. Riesling made into ice vine can have very concentrated flavors with high acidity to balance the sweetness. Ice Fine sells for very high prices to reflect the tiny yields and difficult winemaking process. Trokan beer in ausleseza or TBA has an extremely high must weight. The grapes are shriveled by botrytis and yield a very tiny amount of juice. These wines are very sweet with high acidity to prevent them from being cloyingly sweet. TBA is quite rare, and typically fetches the highest prices for wine in Germany. Since TBA wines have the highest must weight, they represent the top tier of Prady cat's wine. Let's look back at cabinet, spatslazy, and auslazy wine styles. Regulations allow for these wines to be dry or sweet or medium sweet for cabinet and spat's lazy. So it can be difficult for a consumer to know what is in the bottle. To address this, there are other labeling terms to indicate sweetness level. Dry wines can be labeled as trucking. Off dry wines can be labeled as out trucking, and sweet wines could be labeled as Zeus. So here is our basic primer for German wine law, a system that is based on the principle of levels of great brightness. As we can imagine, not everyone in Germany was satisfied with this definition of quality for wine, if we could put it that way. Wine producers have had a long history of calling for different parameters to regulate quality German wine production. The main group calling for wine law reform is a group of wine producers now called VDP. They did not successfully change German wine law. So they created a separate system of wine regulations to counter the German wine laws that they considered to be ineffective for quality wine production. These wine regulations established by the VDP are more strict than German wine laws. For example, there are lower maximum yields under VDP regulations. The VDP only allows specific grapes to be grown in particular regions. Producers in this grape use the VDP label on their wines. Typically their dry wines to indicate their adherence to these stricter regulations. These dry VDP wines must have the additional label of grosses Gavex or GG placed on the bottle. These g g wines represent high quality, some of the best dry wines in Germany. The VDP has also addressed their frustrations with the basic principle of German wine law by creating an alternate classification system. One that is based on origin rather than must wait. This system organizes vineyard areas into four tiers, a system that echoes the quality tiers of burgundy. The lowest tier is for regional wines. The next is for village level wines. And then first class vineyards and finally the top tier that is equivalent to Burgundy's Grand Crue parcels. It is important to note that this classification system is not part of German wine law and applies only to the producers within the VDP group. However, the VDP is lobbying for this labeling system to be protected under the law. Moving on from the vast and somewhat complicated world of German wine law, Let's now refocus on the wine regions. The Mosul is perhaps the most well known region in Germany named after the main river. Here, we are in a northerly location in a northerly country. So there are a few factors that are important for successful grape growing here. Sites are selected to make sure grapes will have adequate warmth and sunlight to ripen. South facing vineyards along the Mosil River benefit from increased sunlight intensity. And the dark colored slate soils can extend ripening time by radiating heat back to the vines when the sun disappears each day. Some of the world's greatest free sling comes from the mosel. Mosel riesling typically has pronounced intensity aromas high acidity, low alcohol, and lighter body. The region is divided into three sections. The upper mosel, the middle mosel, and the lower. The majority of the best vineyards are located in the middle mosel. The two tributary river valleys of the mosel, the saar and the river valleys are generally cooler for great growing with the exception of a few important vineyards for riesling production here. So moving southeast of the Mosal is Na. A relatively large region with its vineyards scattered throughout. It has varying growing conditions, but as a whole, the region is protected by the Hansbrook mountains, making it slightly warmer than the Mosal. Some of the warmest vineyards are located in the east of the region on south facing banks of the Na River. Riesling is the most planted grape here, making wines with slightly lower acidity, and more body and slightly riper fruit character than muzzle. Dry wines can be labeled g g for riesling only. Rango is a highly prestigious region that covers a part of the Rhine River across from Rhine Hessen. The region is protected from the cold by the towness mountains. Most vineyards benefit from southerly exposure and tend to produce riesling that reflects these relatively warmer conditions. Riesling wines tend to have fuller body and riper fruit than mosel wines. Most wines are made in a dry style, which reflects historical efforts to promote dry wine styles from valuable slights in Rhingau. Dry wines can be labeled g g for both riesling and straight begunder, as authorized by the VDM. Brian Hessen is known for its large production and high yields made possible by relatively warm growing conditions and flatter fertile valley floors. Riesling is the most planted grape. The next is high yielding, wooler Turgau. Used mainly for the high volume production here. The most planted black variety is Dornfelter, another German Cross. Although, bulk wine production dominates here, there are areas specifically reputed for quality wines. A well established area of vineyards around the village of Neerschine benefits from east facing exposure on steep slopes. The faults is a north south oriented region tucked between the strip of mountains on its western edge and the Rhine plane on its eastern edge. It is located north of falls south and similarly benefits from the rain shadow effect. This makes faults, the driest region in Germany. As it is relatively easy to grow grapes here, high volume production dominates. Riesling is most planted, followed by Mueller Turgau, Gruburger, and Vice Burgunder. Wines from faults have riper fruit and fuller body than Rhine Hessen. Dornfelter is the most planted black grape, followed by the steadily increasing shaped bugunder. The northern part of faults is home to ripe full bodied riesling. The Southern faults is more fertile, but has increasing quality bottlings of Schvate Begunder, Gruburger, and Vice Burgunder. These pinot grapes are suited to the warmer climate here. But are also a result of the area having also been under French rule. Wines allowed for G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. G. And is also in the rain shadow. Baden is the most southerly region and is sunny, dry, and warm, the warmest region in Germany. As a result, red wine production is important here, and well known for Shpeit Bugunder production. Stiles range from fuller bodied expression to more delicate expressions with higher acidity. However, many Shbaitbigunder wines have additional characteristics from oak maturation. Most plantings in cotton are white with high volume production again being important in this warmer region, but high quality brow burgundy, vice burgundy, and Chardonnay, are made here along with riesling. That is made in all the predicut levels. And it also follows that a range of varietals are allowed for dry GG bottlings. Frankin is much further east, giving this region the most continental climate so far. This climate provides a warm summers, but autumns are cooler and winters are very cold. Spring frost threaten early ripening grapes. Here, white grapes dominey, with Mueller Turgau being the most planted. Zylvanner is second and enjoys benefits from being a favorite variety here because it produces distinctive wines. Zylvanner is suitable for this region because it is an early ripening grape. And can be harvested before cold weather sets in, but it buds early, which puts it in danger of frost damage. But its high reputation here means that it gets planted in more favorable sites. Thus alleviating the risk of early frost. Wines can be full bodied with a floral and earthy character. Wines from Franken are traditionally bottled in box voidle, a short neck bottle with rounded sides. Thanks for listening to this episode of Italian wine podcast brought to you by Italian wine Academy, offering WSET levels one, two, and three in English. 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