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The Federal Ministry of Agriculture's drafts of the new wine law are assessed very differently by the associations of the wine-growing regions. This is reported by the German Press Agency (dpa). They had been drafted according to the principle of the Romanesque classification: The narrower the indication of origin, the higher the quality of the wine. According to this, the classification is to be made first between country wines with "protected geographical indication" (PGI) as well as "protected designation of origin" (PDO). PDO wines are differentiated between area, estate, local and single vineyards wines.

According to dpa, a major point of contention is the "Großlagen" (large vineyards) introduced in 1971 under pressure from the major distributors. They make it possible to put a vineyard name on the label that does not exist and does not differ from the name of a single vineyard vineyard. For example, the Palatinate "Kloster Liebfrauenberg" hides a region of around 2,400 ha with 17 sites in 13 villages. Despite fierce criticism from many winegrowers, the Großlagen are to be preserved in the new law. However, in future they will have to do without the place name, which can be freely chosen within the Großlage, on the label and prefix the term "Bereich" (area). The "Piesporter Michelsberg", which comprises 37 individual vineyards, would therefore be called "Bereich Michelsberg". According to dpa, the winegrowers' associations on the Moselle and many cooperatives have protested strongly against this because they fear for sales abroad. The associations on the Nahe and in Rheinhessen, on the other hand, welcome the change.

Also new is the regulation that the quality definitions for the wine categories in each wine-growing region are defined by the respective "protective association". In future, those responsible will decide on permitted grape varieties, regulations on yields per hectare and sales dates for the wine-growing region. They are also allowed to enact stricter rules than those defined in the law in order to raise their profile.

VDP managing director Hilke Nagel, on the other hand, told dpa that the new wine law was a compromise for the wine industry: "It's not ideal in all respects, but we think we can get along well with it."

(uka / Photo: German Wine Institute)

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