Germany is a small but important wine country. Steep slopes and a cool climate give us wines that are difficult to copy. The most planted grape is Riesling but nowadays one should also look out for Pinot blanc (Weissburgunder) and Pinot Gris (Grauburgunder). Both of these have increased their surface in recent years and are used to make some very good wines.
Three grapes, Riesling, Muller Thurgau and Pinot noir, account for 47% of the total German wine surface. Here’s the top-ten list of grapes in Germany (in hectares):
- Riesling 24,000 ha
- Müller Thurgau, 13,000 ha
- Pinot Noir / Blauburgunder, 12,000 ha
- Dornfelder, 8,000 ha
- Pinot Gris, 6,000 ha
- Sylvaner, 5,000 ha
- Pinot Blanc, 5,000 ha
- Blauer Portugieser, 3,000 ha
- Kerner, 3,000 ha
- Blauer Trollinger, 2,000 ha
- Other grapes, 22,000 ha
- In total 103,000 hectares
Source: oiv.int
