VDP.GROSSE LAGE®

Preface by Steffen Christmann, President of VDP:

Dear Friends of Great German Wine,

The German Renaissance of the 'grand cru' model of wine classification is well underway and rightfully basking in international attention. Yet the meaning and mechanisms behind this movement are less easily understood, making it difficult for observers to appreciate its distinctive elements and nuances.
The pages of this book gather together our most precious vineyards-the current roster of classified VDP.GROSSE LAGE sites-together with a wealth of fascinating information. We hope to awaken your interest and inspire you to explore the extensive knowledge available at Weinberg.Online.
We live in an age of digitization, yet good old-fashioned books can open up an effective channel to improving our understanding of our 'grand sites of origin'-in a form that is perhaps less ephemeral than online media. This book also provides an excellent forum for differing opinions, precisely the kind that might encourage deeper contemplation and foster more much-needed discussion within the VDP and the larger German winegrowing community.
Reinhard Löwenstein, Vice-President of the VDP, has put his thoughts to paper in an essay entitled "Who's Afraid of Terroir." He philosophizes about soil, nature and authenticity. For him, terroir is the basis for the true classification of wines. He retraces the path that brought us from Öchsle to vineyard and which led to a "provocative break from a system of wine classification that had been in place for a century and was ostensibly based on objective facts."
Daniel Deckers, journalist with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and author of the book "The Sign of The Grape and Eagle," draws on Goethe as he ruminates on the thesis that vineyard sites are "sound and smoke." He follows historical clues and analyzes the rise of the famed classified site maps and site assessments that often oriented themselves by prices-and thus indirectly by demand and prestige

CONTENTS: Preface by Steffen Christmann Index | VDP.GROSSE LAGE® Vineyards by Region in Alphabetical Order Index | VDP.Wineries in Alphabetical Order & their VDP.GROSSE LAGE® Vineyards »Who's Afraid of Terroir?« by Reinhard Heymann-Löwenstein The VDP.Classification briefly explained VDP.GROSSE LAGE | The Peak of the Pyramid VDP.Die Prädikatsweingüter | Who we are »Sound and Smoke | On Classified Vineyard Sites and Their Names« by Dr. Daniel Deckers Vineyard.Online | The Online Guide to Germanys Best Sites Historical Vineyard Maps The Wine Regions of Germany The Region AHR & its VDP.GROSSE LAGE® Vineyards The Region BADEN & its VDP.GROSSE LAGE® Vineyards The Region FRANKEN & its VDP.GROSSE LAGE® Vineyards The Region MITTELRHEIN & its VDP.GROSSE LAGEN® Vineyards The Region MOSEL SAAR RUWER & its VDP.GROSSE LAGEN® Vineyards The Region NAHE & its VDP.GROSSE LAGEN® Vineyards The Region pfalz & its VDP.GROSSE LAGEN® Vineyards The Region RHEINGAU & its VDP.GROSSE LAGEN® Vineyards The Region rheinhessen & its VDP.GROSSE LAGEN® Vineyards The Region SACHSEN/SAALE-UNSTRUT & its VDP.GROSSE LAGEN® Vineyards The Region württemberg & its VDP.GROSSE LAGEN® Vineyards The VDP.REGIONAL OFFICES The VDP.ESTATES | Addresses The VDP.PARTNERS