The special characteristics of German Wine
The German area of wine – circa on the level of the 50. latitude
– belongs to the most northern of the world. Therefor Germany is
located at the borderline of the muggy Gulf Stream climate of the
west and the arid continental climate of the east. This is the reason why it is not too
hot in summer and not too cold in winter. While there is barely
rainfall in the southern parts of Europe in May and September, the
grapes in Germany get a fresh shower from time to time. For this
reason the grapes can unrestricted grow in midsummer. A warm climate
in autumn is the reason why the grapes can age four weeks longer
than other grapes – often until late October and even November.
The grapes take valuable minerals during the extra weeks of aging.
This is the reason for the characteristic taste of our wine. In
this wine remains a fresh and fruity tannin acid through this slow
but constantly process of aging which gives the plants an unequaled
elegance. Even the fog in the mornings of autumn does have its good
aspects: it protects the grapes from the early frost and it creates
the desired noble rot which in turns provides the great late vintage
and general vintage.
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This special location in the "upper North"
characterizes the natures and the race. The grapes can age slowly,
sugar and tannin acid, smell and taste can develop in well balanced
conditions. In spite of other wine in other climatic zones, the
German wine has a less alcohol content but in return bracing, fresh
tannin acid and delicate, fully formed bouquet substances.
The expert knows beside the broad climatic zones also the "micro
climate", the climate of each single vineyard. The point of
the compass to which it is allocated, the intensity of the sun reflection
through the river levels, a protecting
mountain range or a wooded hill top which keeps
off the wind – everything that helps the German wine to its specific
taste.
The soil is the natural environment of the roots.
If you want to plant vine here, the soil has to be voluminous so
that the vine roots can spread and fulfill their function to anchor
the vine and provide enough water and nutrients. But the soil does
not only affect the prosperousness of the vine but also the taste
of the grapes and thereby the characteristics of the wine. The viticulture
is conducted on every soil type in practice with exception of pure
topsoil (topsoil is too acidly which does not provide perfect conditions
for the growing of grapes).
The winery owner has methods at command with which he can improve
the soil like methods which affect the culture and fertilization. Between two main soil
types there are many crossovers so that the number of different
soil types in Germany counts over one thousand different types.
Not every soil type is qualified to every vine type.
The vine types of German vineyards significantly
differentiate from those of the vineyards in the big countries of
the world. The northern location of Germany was only possible to
exploit for viticulture because there were planted special types
of vine which matched with the climate conditions of this latitude.
Time of growth, sunshine duration, rainfall and temperatures in
winter take ecological requirements from the vine types which are
not comparable with the conditions in the Mediterranean climatic
zone.
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Volcano soil:
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fully, rich in content, brisk
wines
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Keuper and shell limestone soil:
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lusty, powerful wines
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Slate soil:
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fine-racy, aromatic, tangy wines
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Loess- and loam soil:
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rich in content, bouquetfully
wines
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Our vine consists of types which on one side originated
in the area of the Rhine and its tributary rivers due to natural
selection (Riesling) which were extended through immigrated foreign
but native grown types (pinot blanc types). This process actually
still took place in historical periods and experiences today a previously
unknown increase through modern, scientific strains. A modification
of the types of vine is therefor – considering long time periods
– inevitable and unstoppable. This may be a disagreeable thought
to friends of wine. The scientific strain of vine began before the
rediscover of the Mendelian rules. There had to be created stock
vine and simultaneously it began an intense vine selection. The
German vineyards are the only ones in the world which use breeder's
modified old and new types like premium rice/leech rice and stock.
There are 50 types of vine of the worldwide known 8000 types
which are entitled to breed in Germany. And even in this small assortment there are plenty of differences in the taste
of the wine. Not every vine does provide high quality wine
in every region. The vine type is so important for the characteristic
of wine like the DNA is important for the characteristics of the human. Both develop individually in different
environments. So, the same vine type in different areas provides different wine. So the classification of different
vine by wine types is just a decision support for the choice of the wine and definitely not a total match with the
headtype, especially as there are sorts of types in which wine can be classified in two different classes.
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