International comparison of wine producers: Number 18 (100.000 acres of vineyards) in area

Source: Statistical report on world vitiviniculture

Rhineland Palatinate (6 winegrowing regions out of 13 in Germany)

Rheinhessen is the biggest wineregion of Germany

There is a growing number of organic viticulture (management)

Sustainable farming, an increasing number of wine estates are shifting to organic viticulture.

Quality of wine

The nature of the soil and subsoil is of basic importance for the quality and the individual
character of the wine.

Chalk for white wine, silica clay (Tonboden) for red wine

The position on the slope: Erosion and revegetation.

Yields decline as the plant (grapevine) gets older (old vine is not clearly defined).

Climate: Pinot Noir flowers early and is particularly at risk from spring frost.

Danger of hailstones (Hagelschlag).

Vintage wine (vintages=Jahrgänge, Lese), a season's wine

ancestor=Vorgänger; tang=penetranter Geruch, scharfer Geschmack

A bunch of grapes is stemmed, means that the wooden parts (stems) are eliminated

Skin and pips (the pips of a fruit)

Spraying: pesticides (=Pflanzenschutzmittel), herbicides, fungicides, insecticides

- winter: Pruning (the fruiting branches are cut to a suitable lengths),
The sap makes the branches weeping,
 tying the tendrils;
 budding (aufbrechen der Knospen) (buds=eyes)

- spring: Blossoming (blooming), the new runners come into flower

- summertime: Pruning (elimination of the surplus buds); Ripening of the early grapes

- autumn: The harvest starts in the early autumn

Weinlese: grape gathering; grape harvest; vintage

Grapes are picked from the vine

A mechanical harvester shakes the grapes from the vine

Rows of wines

The early burgundy - a red wine grape variety is a natural mutation of the Pinot Noir,
Julius Wasem was the conservation breeder

Grapes are taken quickly back to the winery (cellar master).
Yeast cells on the fruit immidiatly start the process of fermentation.
Grapes were crushed and the solid matter passed into the press in the wine press hall.
The more you press, the more bitter is the result.

Vat =Bottich, Trog, Fass (barrel)

In the old world vineries the natural yeasts found in the cellars were responsible for fermentation.

Selected cultured yeasts.

Must is the juice of the grapes.

The cooler the fermentation the fruitier the wine.

To restrain the fermantation (=behindern, zügeln).