Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's top wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
producers are members. It is commonly known under its acronym VDP. Its membership includes about 200 wine estates and it was founded in 1910 as Verband Deutscher Naturweinversteigerer e.V., Association of German Natural (i.e. not chaptalized
Chaptalization
Chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape must in order to increase the alcohol content after fermentation. The technique is named after its developer, the French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal...
) Wine Auctioneers. It consists of 13 regional associations, one for each region in the German wine classification
German wine classification
German wine classification consists of several quality categories and is often the source of some confusion, especially among non-German speaking wine consumers. The official classification is set down in the wine law of 1971, although some changes and amendments have been made since then...
system.
In order to be a VDP member, a wine estate must adhere to certain standards which are slightly more stringent than those set down in the German wine law. VDP members may (and almost always do) use the VDP logotype, a stylized eagle
Eagle
Eagles are members of the bird family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera which are not necessarily closely related to each other. Most of the more than 60 species occur in Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just two species can be found in the United States and Canada, nine more in...
with a cluster of grapes, on their wine bottles. Also, the members have access to the new VDP-specific classifications Erste Lage and Grosses Gewächs for top dry wines that fulfill the requirements. VDP and its regional associations also arrange German wine auctions
German wine auctions
A number of German wine auctions are held each year, where the premier German wine producers auction off some of the best young wines, as well as some older wines. Most auctions are arranged by the regional associations of Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter...
and various marketing events.
Especially in the Mosel region, where the regional VDP association is known as Grosser Ring, several well-renowned wine estates are instead members of Bernkasteler Ring, which arranges similar auctions and marketing evens.
Member estates
(as per May 2007):Ahr Ahr (wine region) Ahr is a wine region for quality wine in Germany, and is located in the valley of the river Ahr, a tributary of Rhine, and is situated in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. With only of vines as of 2008, it is one of smaller of Germany's 13 regions... :
Baden Baden (wine region) Baden is a region for quality wine in Germany, and is located in the historical region of Baden in southwestern Germany, which today forms part of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg... :
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Franconia Franconia (wine region) Franconia is a region for quality wine in Germany situated in the north west of Bavaria in the district of Franconia, and is the only wine region in the federal state of Bavaria... :
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Hessische Bergstraße Hessische Bergstraße The Hessische Bergstraße is a defined region for wine in Germany located in the state of Hesse among the northern and western slopes of the Odenwald mountain chain. With only of vineyards it is the smallest of the 13 German quality wine regions... :
Mittelrhein Mittelrhein (wine region) Mittelrhein is a region for quality wine in Germany, and is located along a 120 km stretch of river Rhine in the touristic portions of the Rhine region known as Middle Rhine. On the left bank of Rhine, vineyards begin immediately downstream of the Nahe River estuary and last until Koblenz... :
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Mosel:
Nahe Nahe (wine region) Nahe is a region for quality wine in Germany, along the River Nahe in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. On the region's of vineyards in 2008, white wine grapes dominate with 75% and Riesling is the most common variety with 27.2%... :
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Rheingau Rheingau (wine region) Rheingau is one of 13 German wine regions for quality wines . Named for the traditional region of Rheingau , the wine region is situated in the state of Hesse, where it makes up part of the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis administrative district... :
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Rheinhessen Rheinhessen (wine region) Rheinhessen is the largest of 13 German wine regions for quality wines with under cultivation in 2008. Named for the traditional region of Rhenish Hesse, it lies on the left bank of the River Rhine between Worms and Bingen in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate... :
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Palatinate Palatinate (wine region) Palatinate is a German wine-growing region in the area of Bad Dürkheim, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, and Landau in Rhineland-Palatinate. Before 1993, it was known as Rhine Palatinate . With under cultivation in 2008, the region is the second largest wine region in Germany after Rheinhessen... :
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Saale-Unstrut Saale-Unstrut Saale-Unstrut is a region for quality wine in Germany, and takes its name from the rivers Saale and Unstrut. The region is located on various hill slopes around these rivers... :
Saxony Saxony (wine region) Saxony is a region for quality wine in Germany located in the German federal state of Saxony. The region is sometimes referred to colloquially as the Elbtal . The wine region covers , which makes it Germany's third smallest region, just ahead of Mittelrhein and Hessische Bergstraße in size... :
Württemberg Württemberg (wine region) Württemberg is a region for quality wine in Germany, and is located in the historical region of Württemberg in southwestern Germany, which today forms part of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. Under German wine legislation, Württemberg and Baden are separate wine regions.With under vine in... :
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