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Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiet (QbA)
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The German wine laws adapted in 1971 set up three categories defining the quality of German wines. Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiet (“quality wine from a specified region”) is the middle quality category in between DEUTSCHER TAFELWEIN (DTW), the lowest quality, and QUALITÄTSWEIN MIT PRÄDIKAT (QmP), the highest. To qualify for Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiet (QbA) status, a wine must be tested by a local panel to ensure that it shows the typical character of an approved grape variety and of the region. In addition, the MUST (unfermented grape juice) needs to be a certain sugar level, and the wine must have a minimum ALCOHOL content. The required sugar and alcohol levels vary from region to region and from variety to variety. QbA wines must come from one of the thirteen ANBAUGEBIETE (quality-wine regions) and cannot contain wine from any other region. The thirteen Anbaugebiete are AHR, BADEN, FRANKEN, HESSISCHE BERGSTRASSE, MITTELRHEIN, MOSEL-SAAR-RUWER, NAHE, RHEINGAU, RHEINHESSEN, PFALZ, and WÜRT-TEMBERG—plus SAALE-UNSTRUT and SACHSEN, additions from the former East Germany. CHAPTALIZATION (the addition of sugar) is allowed for QbA wines and is one of the major differences between these wines and higher-quality QmP wines (most grapes with enough natural sugar go into QmP wines). The addition of sugar, which is converted into alcohol during FERMENTATION, allows the wines to reach the required minimum alcohol levels for a QbA rating. If a wine passes all the QbA requirements, an AMTLICHE PRÜFUNGSNUMMER (official test number) is assigned. Abbreviated as A.P.Nr., this number is printed on the label, along with name of the Anbaugebiet. Additional information may be printed on a QbA wine label if other requirements are met. For instance, the name of the grape variety can be included if it comprises 85 percent of the grapes used to make the wine. Beginning in September 1994, the German wine law allowed the production of a special type of QbA—Qualitätswein garantierten Ursprungs (QgU), or “quality wine of guaranteed origin.” A QgU is a QbA from an Ursprungslage—a specific district, vineyard or village with a consistent style associated with its site of origin. These wines are required to undergo more stringent sensory and analytical evaluations.
Related Links: Deutscher Tafelwein (DTW), Qualitä, Anbaugebiet, Rheinhessen
© Copyright Barron's Educational Services, Inc.
1995 based on THE WINE LOVER'S COMPANION,
by Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst.

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