Germany

Germany is one of Europe’s most important wine producing countries. It features as the 10th highest wine producing country in the world and 4th in Europe, following France, Italy and Spain. Though Germany’s wine production is notable, it is also the EU country that imports the most wine as well, particularly red wine. It is most known for its off-dry aromatic whites, however, in recent years it has been producing more and more exceptional dry whites from Riesling and red wines from Pinot Noir. While this is the arguably Riesling’s most natural home (which easily produces some of its greatest wines), other varieties are also planted including Silvaner, Kerner, Muller-Thurgau, Bacchus, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris in white, and Pinot Noir, Dornfelder, Portugieser and Pinot Meunier in red. Though much of its production is focused on less expensive whites Liebfraumilch under the guise of Blue Nun, Black Tower, amongst others, it also produces some of the finest wines in the world. Many of its whites follow a hierarchy system. This is first illustrated “table wine” or “quality wine”. If a wine is determined to be a “quality wine”, it is then further divided into QbA (Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete) or QmP (Qualitätswein mit Prädikat or quality wine with distinction). QbA only has one category whereas QmP has several - Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese (BA), and Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) and Eiswein. They each outline a sweetness level which ranges from drier but often still off-dry to sweetish (TBA and Eiswein). The Mosel is arguably its most famous region but there are numerous excellent regions such as the Nahe, Pfalz and Rheingau, which have their own characteristics and qualities, however they all lie in Germany’s southern end.