🏷️ Landwein

Landwein is the German and Austrian term for wine with a protected geographical indication (PGI). According to Austria's Federal Ministry of Agriculture, "Landwein" may continue to be used instead of "Wein g.g.A.".

Under article 93 of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, at least 85% of the grapes of a wine with a geographical indication must come exclusively from the named area; the rest may come from outside it, but only from the country where the area lies.

In Germany, § 22 of the Weingesetz requires that at least 85% of the grapes come from the Landwein area named on the label, that the wine has not been concentrated by cold, and that the bottler is included in the annual checks of the product specification. The Weinverordnung lists 26 Landwein areas in § 2, among them Pfälzer Landwein, Badischer Landwein, Landwein der Mosel and Sächsischer Landwein. Landwein may be sweetened only with domestic grape must (§ 16), and it may be made outside its area if the place of production is in the same or a neighbouring country, the named area remaining the one where the grapes were harvested (§ 20). The natural minimum alcohol and the lists of suitable grape varieties are set by the governments of the federal states.

In Austria, according to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Landwein comes from a certain wine-growing region and from quality grape varieties with at least 14 degrees KMW (Klosterneuburger Mostwaage). Austria has three wine-growing regions: Weinland Österreich, Steirerland and Bergland Österreich.

Austria splits its Landwein into three zones: Weinland in the north-east, Steirerland in the south-east and Bergland in the west. Bergland is simply the five federal states that belong to neither of the others. On the German side, Rheinischer Landwein is one of the 26 areas, and each German Landwein PGI appears in the EU register with its own amendment notices, so the rules of every area are tracked separately.