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Vineyard

Site

A defined, named area of vineyard whose name may appear on the label.

Since the 2021 wine law reform German wine law places the Einzellage — a single contiguous parcel — at the narrowest step of the origin pyramid. The Großlage, which gathers several Einzellagen under one name, is no longer of equal rank: from vintage 2026 onwards its name must carry the prefix Region in the same typeface and size (at least 1.2 mm), so that on the shelf it can no longer be mistaken for a single vineyard.

What a site is worth, the market decides. What it covers, the state register of sites decides. For record keeping that comes down to one sentence: the site hangs on the parcel, not on the wine — and it has to travel from the grape intake, through every blend, to the bottle.

Related terms

Grape intake The step by which picked grapes are taken into the cellar and recorded for the first time. Vineyard register The official record of every vineyard area an estate works, held by the competent authority of… Planting authorisation Official permission to plant a particular area with vines. Statement of origin The geographical indication on the label — ordered by the new origin pyramid from growing…
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