Region Badstube?

The German major vineyards (Großlagen) were and are a nuisance. They disguise themselves as single vineyards and thus pretend to be something they are not. In fact, Großlagen usually extend over several villages. For example, the grapes for a Piesport Michelsberg do not only have to come from Piesport, but can also come from Rivenich, Neumagen-Dhron or Trittenheim. Quite rightly, the Großlagen are labelled as deceiving consumers.

However, the cobblers of the new wine law of 2021 could not bring themselves to abolish them. Instead, a lazy compromise was reached, and the disgrace of the Großlagen continues to be celebrated. In future, Großlagen will be recognisable by the word “Region” in front of them. At least in principle, because the minimum font size required by law for the word addition on the bottle label is just 1.2 millimetres.

The Piesport Michelsberg will now become Region Michelsberg. What at first glance seems to be well-intentioned, because a clearer distinction is now made between single vineyards and Großlagen, has in practice, however, almost absurd consequences. It is quite obvious that no one in the responsible federal ministry has seriously considered the real situation. Large-scale sites spanning several municipalities may be the rule. But there are exceptions, and precisely these deserve a closer look.

In the post-war period until the 1980s, the Kröv Nacktarsch was a synonym for cheap and sweet mass wine. Numerous counterfeits brought the Nacktarsch into disrepute. The bad image acquired at that time still has an effect today. For about 20 years, the winegrowers of Kröv have been striving to polish up the battered reputation of their Großlage. These efforts are now experiencing a serious setback. Wines from the Kröv Nacktarsch will soon have to be marketed under the name Region Nacktarsch.

This is incomprehensible for the people in Kröv. Because the Nacktarsch – 95 percent of the site are steep slopes – lies completely within the boundaries of Kröv and is therefore not a region at all. The pragmatic idea of including Kröv as a word element in the name of the Großlage, thus at least making it possible to call the region Kröver Nacktarsch, meets with rejection by administration. The proposal, they say succinctly, would only serve to circumvent existing law.

The situation is similar in the town of Zell and its districts Merl and Kaimt, whose individual vineyards form the Zell Schwarze Katz. Here, too, the winegrowers are looking for a solution. The paragraphs forbid to give the Zell Schwarze Katz the status of a single vineyard regardless besides the existing vineyards. Because in contrast to the Austrian, the German wine law prohibits that one single vineyard contain others. Therefore, the town of Zell also favours a solution according to the Kröv model and have already passed corresponding resolutions. The Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Economics, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture has yet to decide on the application.

In addition to its economic importance, the cultural and historical significance of the Zell Schwarze Katz should not be overlooked. The name Schwarze Katz was not simply invented in 1971 with the introduction of the Großlagen. It refers to the history of a vineyard that became famous in the 19^th century and a trademark for the whole town. In 1863, when wine merchants came to Zell and, after a wine tasting at the Mayntzer winery, could not agree on which of three barrels was the best, the black cat of the winemaker's sister suddenly jumped onto one of the barrels and hissed at anyone who approached it. The wine merchants decided on the barrel guarded by the cat. The wine sold so well that the merchants came back after a while and bought up all the wines from the same vineyard, which was henceforth called Zell Schwarze Katz. With the wine law of 1971, the Großlage was given the name of the vineyard that is today part of the single vineyard Petersborn-Kabertchen. In the heart of Zell's old town, the Zell Schwarze Katz fountain is a reminder of the history.

Image: Wikipedia

So in future only Schwarze Katz, without the municipality's name? This would violate the historical context, which establishes a close connection between the vineyard and the town of Zell. Moreover, with the introduction of the Großlagen in 1971, the people of Zell trusted in the preservation of the name Zell Schwarze Katz in its entirety.

The new regulation takes the renowned Bernkastel Badstube to the extreme. Although it is a Großlage in terms of wine law, it can hardly compete with such a vineyard simply because it measures just 68 hectares (of which 50.3 hectares are under yield). It is actually smaller than many single vineyards (cf. Würzburg Stein 85 hectares, Ruppertsberg Reiterpfad 77 hectares) and consists of the miniature single vineyards Lay, Matheisbildchen, Bratenhöfchen, Graben, Doctor and Alte Badstube am Doctorberg. The Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter classifies it as a Große Lage, putting it on a par with the best single vineyards on the Moselle, such as the Wehlen Sonnenuhr or the Ürzig Würzgarten. A Badstube as a region therefore lacks any rationality.

Image: Pixabay

The Bernkastel winegrowers have joined forces in an initiative. They want to preserve the Badstube as a single vineyard and propose to merge the Matheisbildchen and the Bratenhöfen under the name Badstube. But this proposal is not yet final. The current discussion could still move forward, for example with regard to the Graben or the Johannisbrünnchen, which borders on Badstube towards the edge of the forest and today belongs to the Großlage Kurfürstlay. Hans-Hermann Kocks, husband of Sofia Thanisch, owner of the Wwe. Dr. Thanisch – Erben Thanisch winery and spokesman for the winegrowers' initiative hopes, despite all the administrative hurdles, for a reasonable solution for the Badstube before the end of the legal transitional period.

It is significant that even the responsible protective association, the Moselle winegrowers' association, was not involved in the legislative process. Its managing director, Dr. Maximilian Hendgen, states: “The protection associations are responsible for the further design […], but they have no possibility to influence the wine ordinance.” In other words: The wine-growing regions have to spoon out the soup that the bureaucrats in distant Berlin are cooking for them.

Special cases, however, do not only exist on the Moselle. In Nierstein, Rhinehessen, the Rehbach with only 65 hectares is even smaller than the Badstube. Together with the Brudersberg, the Pettenthal, the Hipping and its enclave, the Goldene Luft, it forms a true filet piece of best single vineyards. Here, too, it would be completely grotesque to speak of a region in the future. However, the large vineyard is hardly of any importance in marketing. Louis Konstantin Guntrum from the Guntrum winery still produces a sweet Spätlese, which is sold as a cuvée from Hipping and Pettenthal under the name Rehbach. However, Guntrum sees enough leeway to react to the insanity of the law. Therefore, he will not have a Region Rehbach.

The Federal Ministry is resistant to the legitimate concerns of those affected. The head of the department, Dr. Michael Koehler, answered our question with the usual administrative stereotypes. He told us that there had been a long coordination process with the federal states and associations – but apparently not with the Moselle winegrowers' association –, that the new law would ensure more transparency for the consumer, and that the winegrowers would have “sufficient time to adjust to the changed situation.”

For some of the hardship cases described above, the new wine law does provide a half-baked solution. If a wine meets the stricter criteria for a village wine, there is nothing to prevent it from being declared, for example, as Kröv Region Nacktarsch or Zell Region Schwarze Katz. Even the combination of village, Großlage and single vineyard is now possible. A single vineyard wine from the Zell Petersborn-Kabertchen can – theoretically – also be marketed under the name (Attention!) Zell Region Schwarze Katz Zell Petersborn-Kabertchen. A true masterpiece of German legislative art. Needless to say, this does not help the winegrowers in any way.

From our point of view, it would have been desirable to consistently abolish the large-scale cross-locational Großlagen. At the same time, the wine law should have been reformed in order to be able to designate local vineyards independently of existing individual vineyards. Especially in the Romanic countries, on which the wine law of the European Union is so one-sidedly based, it is common practice that larger appellations can contain smaller ones. Many appellations are just the size of a single vineyard – or are even one. By analogy, Bernkastel Badstube, Kröv Nacktarsch and Zell Schwarze Katz could be preserved in their existing form, without giving the word to the anachronism of Großlagen.