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The German wine classification system puts a strong emphasis on standardization and factual completeness, and was first implemented per the German Wine Law of 1971. Almost all of Germany's vineyards are delineated and registered as one of approximately 2,600 Einzellagen ('individual sites'), and the produce from one can be used to make wine at any quality level, depending not on yields but on the ripeness, or must weight of the grapes.

In a country as far north as Germany, the ripeness of grapes varies tremendously and profoundly affects the types of wine that can be produced. The ripeness categories are referred to as "quality levels," which is a misnomer - ripeness is always a clue to a wine's body, but not necessarily a predictor of its quality. Also, ripeness is determined by sugar content at harvest and does not reflect the sugar content in the final wine. Thus a wine in any of the German categories can be dry (trocken) or fairly dry (halbtrocken.)

The quality system of wines has been reorganized since 1 August 2009 by the EU wine market organization. The traditional German wine classification was superseded by an origin-related system (Terroir). The already existing protection of geographical indication was transmitted through this step as well to the wine classification.

There are two major categories of German wine: table wine and "quality" wine. Table wine includes the designations tafelwein and landwein. These are rock bottom categories of inexpensive, light, neutral wine. Unlike the supposed equivalents of "Vin de Table" / "Vino da Tavola" and "Indicazione Geographica Tipica" / "Vin de Pays", exciting things are rarely made, production levels are not high, and these wines are typically exported to the United States. In 2005, Tafelwein and Landwein only accounted for 3.6% of total production.

Quality wine is divided into two types:

The different Prädikat (superior quality wine) designations used are as followed, in order of increasing sugar levels in the must:

The minimum must weight requirements for the different Prädikat designations are as follows. Many producers, especially top-level producers, exceed the minimum requirements by a wide margin.

This does not necessarily determine the sweetness of the final wine, because the winemaker may choose to ferment the wine fully or let some residual sugar remain.

Wines can bear additional designation based on their sugar content or color.

The sugar content in the finished wine can be indicated by the following designations for QbA and Prädikatswein. For sparkling wines (Sekt), many of the same designations are used, but have a different meaning.

There are also color designations that can be used on the label:

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