Alte Reben Literally, old vines, in French called vieilles vignes. An old vine differs according to vintner, usually 30-years plus, some as old as 80 years on sites such as Mühlheimer Sonnenlay.
Auslese Literally “selected harvest” from grapes picked at (high) minimum legal must weights.
Cru The French term for “growth,” or a top-flight vineyard. In German called Gewächs.
Einzellage An individual single vineyard such as Brauneberger Juffer. The number of single vineyards was greatly reduced after the 1971 German Wine Law.
Élevage The French term for raising of the young wine in barrel or tank after fermentation; in German called Weinausbau.
Fass Barrel.
Feinherb A non-legal term meaning medium-dry.
Flurbereinigung Controversial remodeling of the vineyards to reduce labor costs and simplify cultivation of the vineyards by restructuring the surface area and building roads in the hillside. Usually entails grubbing up old vines and laying down asphalt.
Fuder The traditional Mosel barrel of approximately 1,000 liters, used for fermenting or maturing wine or both.
Halbtrocken Medium-dry.
Lees The sediment at the bottom of barrels or tanks made up of spent yeasts and tartrates after fermentation. Ageing on fine lees (or lees contact) gives complexity of flavor.
Noble Rot Also known as botrytis cinerea, in German called Edelfäule, is a fungus that attacks ripe, healthy white grapes, concentrating them and resulting in extremely sweet wines. Unwanted as regards red grapes.
Reductive Winemaking Protective juice handling that usually entails using cultured yeasts and early doses of sulfur dioxide to minimize contact with air. The opposite of non-interventionist winemaking.
Reinzuchthefen Pure culture yeasts. Used by growers afraid of risk, hence stuck fermentations.
Sekt Sparkling wine.
Spätlese Literally “late harvest” from grapes picked late in the season; can be fermented dry, off-dry or sweet.
Spontangärung German tasting term for wines made by spontaneous fermentation versus wines inoculated by cultured yeasts. The former has an earthiness versus the cleaner fruit-forward smells of selected yeasts.
Terroir The French term for the origin of the wine — a combination of place, soil and microclimate.
Trocken German for “dry.” Cannot be more than 9 grams of residual sugar per liter.
Weingut Wine estate.