GERMANY'S VDP

During Germany's "golden era" in the mid- to late 19th century, the finest Mosel and Rheingau wines fetched exceptionally high prices at auction, and German wines were among the most sought-after in Europe. The popularity of the finest German wines for those who could afford them stood in contrast to Kunstwein, artificial concoctions of grape juice (or not), sweetened and fortified. Amongst the best producers working the steep slopes with Riesling and Silvaner, a concept of quality known as Naturwein (alt. Naturrein) had arisen. 

With the widespread practice of Gallization (a volume-stretching form of Chaptalization) and the failure of Germany's first (1892), second (1901), and third (1909) wine laws to control it, several regional associations representing Naturwein producers met on November 26, 1910, in Koblenz. They founded the Verband Deutscher Naturweinversteigerer (Association of German Natural Wine Auctioneers), or VDNV. Their mission was to unite Germany's best wine producers as an alliance against the fraudulent and manipulated wines of the era.  

The group's symbol, an eagle with a grape bunch on its chest, was designed in 1925-1926, and by the 1930s, it was appearing on the labels of the member wineries. The stylized "Traubenadler" (grape eagle) originally faced left. With the 2012 rollout of the VDP's vineyard classification, the eagle turned its head to the right, symbolically looking towards the future, rather than the past. 

Gallization was, but one of the many manipulations commonly employed by early-20th-century German winemakers, and for our VDNV heroes working the best and steepest sites to achieve natural ripeness by effort and sweat, Chaptalization in any form would not be allowed by their charter. Germany's fourth (1930) wine law put an end to Gallization. Still, it allowed for Chaptalization by adding dry sugar, and the VDNV continued to maintain its Naturwein (unchaptalized) position up until the radical shift that was Germany's fifth (1971) wine law. 

The period from 1945 to 1971 saw the popularity of sweet wines (and the technology to produce them consistently) rise, and the new law finally addressed the VDNV's major issue of Chaptalization. The law now made clear distinctions between Chaptalized and non-Chaptalized wines with the creation of Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete (QbA) and Qualitätswein mit Prädikat, respectively, and further subdivided the non-Chaptalized category into varying Prädikat levels of natural ripeness: Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, and Trockenbeerenauslese. 

This irregular system, which treats natural ripeness as the highest quality category in the eyes of the law, is unique to Germany and, given its northerly climate, might have made some sense in the much colder vintages of fifty years ago. To place ripeness above all else as the main determiner of quality, however, was a misguided assumption by the authorities who wrote the law. It has always been, and will always be, the case that some countries, regions, villages, and vineyards have a more favorable climate for wine than others. One vineyard's combination of soil and exposure might yield consistently better wine than its neighbor's; that's just how it is. 

The 1971 wine law reads as though politicians and bureaucrats thought it up to satisfy their base of constituents. During Willy Brandt's "Mehr Demokratie wagen" Chancellorship, socio-economic factors do seem to have played a role in shaping the new, egalitarian wine law. Putting the Prädikat system awarding ripeness aside, the law also included other democratizing concepts, such as enlarging (most) single vineyards to a minimum of 5 hectares, introducing the collective site known as the Grosslagen, and, as a final parting insult to the VDNV, banning the term Naturwein. 

In 1972, with their decades-long crusade against Chaptalization at its core, the VDNV adopted the name Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter (VDP). But quality now meant something very different, and the mission now became restoring the former glory of Germany's best vineyard sites. While the Mosel and Nahe can produce wines of astonishing beauty with residual sweetness, the image of "sweet and cheap" came to define German wine for the masses by 1971, and off-dry and sweet wines were never the strength of warmer climates like the Pfalz. 

In a stroke of irony, the VDP decided to produce both Qualitätswein and Qualitätswein mit Prädikat, i.e., Chaptalized and non-Chaptalized wines, accommodating both dry and sweet wine producers, and in both cases, elevating what matters most to quality: the vineyard. In 1984, a group in the Rheingau, led by Bernhard Breuer, including Erwein Graf Matuschka-Greiffenclau (Schloss Vollrads), Dr. Hans Ambrosi, and Prof. Dr. Helmut Becker, formed the Charta, an association that sought to restore Rheingau wines to their former reputation: high-quality, food-friendly, and dry. Soon to follow was a classification of vineyard sites based on an old 1867 Prussian tax map, which identified the historically great Rheingau vineyards. The Charta first revealed its classification in 1992, with the best sites identified as "Erstes Gewächs" (First Growth), and became Hessen state law in 1999. 

Many Charta members also belonged to the VDP, and with the success of their regional classification, the VDP went to work on a model for all its members. In 2001, the VDP introduced a three-tier classification. Given the terroir-specific nature of German wine, the hierarchy drew its pyramid shape from Burgundy: Gutswein (estate wine), Ortswein (village-level wine), and Erste Lage (classified single-vineyard wine). Since the system was about terroir and not sugar, all VDP member estates, dry or sweet, could organize and market their production in this way, with the very best single vineyards elevated to the status of Erste Lage (premier cru). 

VDP.Erste Lage wines from this era were branded with a logo showing the number 1 and a grape bunch, either on the label or embossed on the bottle. Wines with residual sugar would carry traditional Prädikat names, from Spätlese to Trockenbeerenauslese. Because of the Charta and VDP.Rheingau's special legal status, a dry wine from a classified site, would be labeled Erstes Gewächs in Rheingau, and a VDP.Grosses Gewächs (great growth) elsewhere. 

The varieties permitted for GG status are determined by the regional associations, so while only Riesling (and as of 2022 vintage, Spätburgunder) are permitted for GG in the Mosel, one might encounter Lemberger GG in Württemberg or Frühburgunder GG in the Ahr. 

By 2012, a revised classification was announced, further aligning it with the Burgundian four-tier model. The highest classification, used for just 16% of Germany's named single-vineyards, around 430-440 sites, is VDP.Grosse Lage. Below that is VDP.Erste Lage or premier cru, just as it is in Burgundy. Like Burgundy, producers with holdings in these sites could blend them together and produce a wine simply labeled Premier Cru as is common in Rheinhessen with VDP.Aus Ersten Lagen. The VDP.Ortswein tier (a sometimes-overlooked but potentially excellent value) is sometimes marketed under the village name, especially when famous, such as Rüdesheim, but it is common to name it after the soil, such as Keuper or Vulkangestein. Finally, VDP.Gutswein is intended to reflect the region's character and is an important wine for the market. A Gutswein is like a business card for the winery, and gives the drinker a glimpse of what the producer and region are all about. 

There are around 200 member estates, and while the VDP is not a closed group, new members must be invited and have a track record of producing high-quality wines and holdings in classified sites. There are VDP member estates in each of Germany's thirteen wine regions. There is a governing structure with a VDP president in each region and a national VDP president, currently Steffan Christmann of Weingut Christmann in the Pfalz. The VDP introduced a VDP.Sekt Statut in 2021, and there are currently two dedicated VDP.Sekt producers: VDP.Sektestate Raumland and VDP.Sektgut Reinecker.