Tiscali: German Phrase Finder - Wines & Spirits

Wines are usually categorized according to three criteria: the overall growing area, the village or even vineyard where they are produced, and the type of grape they are made from. Major grape varieties include Riesling, Edelzwicker, Gewürztraminer, and Müller-Thurgau.

Important wine-growing areas in Germany and Austria include:

Ahr small valley north of the Moselle, producing mainly pleasant, light red wines

Baden the region around Freiburg in the Upper Rhine valley, producing pleasant, light, mainly white and rosé wines

Burgenland region in Austria producing mainly sweet wines

Franken important wine-growing area in Northern Bavaria, producing dry, full-bodied wines

Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region along the rivers Moselle, Saar and Ruwer, producing white wines, many of them dry

Rheinpfalz Palatinate region, producing mainly white wines

Rheinhessen quality wine region along the banks of the Rhine

Wachau major wine-growing area in Austria, just west of Vienna

The names of the villages and vineyards producing wines are innumerable. The name of the wine is often the name of the village (e.g. Nierstein) plus the name of the particular vineyard (e.g. Gutes Domtal) which combined become Niersteiner Gutes Domtal.

Amongst the most well-known names are:

Bereich Bernkastel on the river Moselle, producing crisp whites

Erbach area near Eltville in the Rheingau/Palatinate region, producing scented white wines mainly from the Riesling grape

Gumpoldkirchen spicy white wine from Austria

Hochheim strong white wines the from the Rheingau region

Kaiserstuhl region near Freiburg, produing light white and rosé wines which are best drunk young

Nierstein village in the Rheingau region, producing medium to sweet white Rheinwein (e.g. Niersteiner Gutes Domtal)

Oppenheim village on the Rhine, producing fine white wines

Volkach town in Franken, producing fine, rather dry white wines

Other words to look out for are:

Eiswein a rich, naturally sweet, white wine made from grapes which are harvested only after a period of frost

halbtrocken medium-dry

Landwein similar to French 'vin de pays'

Prädikatswein highest category of quality wines

QbA quality wine from a specified region

Tafelwein lowest quality wine, similar to French 'vin de table'

trocken dry

* OTHER DRINKS

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