What is made here
Wine colours
Colours the rules allow. Pick a colour to filter the rules and grapes below.
Where it is
Saale-Unstrut in Germany
- Latitude
- 50.6°–52.5° N
- Vineyard altitude
- 113 m to 238 m
- Production zone
- 327,375 ha
Boundary drawn from whole communes, so it is a little larger than the legal zone. Boundary: Eurac Research PDO inventory (CC0). Country outlines: Natural Earth. Dots on the zone map are the vineyard points used for climate.
Showing every colour The colour filter changes the rules and grapes. Climate, vintages and soils describe the vineyards, so they stay the same.
01 · What the law says
The rules
Limits on grapes, yields, ripeness and ageing that every wine labelled Saale-Unstrut must meet.
Other varieties allowed
Besides the main grapes, the rules allow these varieties in some wines. Grape names link where a profile exists.
62 varieties · Saale-Unstrut Sekt b.A. (quality sparkling wine from defined regions), Saale-Unstrut Qualitätsperlwein b.A. (quality semi-sparkling wine from defined regions)
Acolon, André, Auxerrois, Bacchus, Blauer Frühburgunder, Blauer Limberger, Blauer Portugieser, Blauer Silvaner, Blauer Trollinger, Blauer Zweigelt, Cabernet Blanc, Cabernet Cortis, Cabernet Dorio, Cabernet Dorsa, Cabernet Jura, Cabernet Mitos, Cabertin, Chardonnay, Domina, Dornfelder, Dunkelfelder, Faberrebe, Gelber Muskateller, Grüner Silvaner, Grüner Veltliner, Helios, Huxelrebe, Hölder, Johanniter, Kerner, Kernling, Merlot, Merzling, Morio Muskat, Muller Thurgau, Muscaris, Muskat Ottonel, Müllerrebe, Ortega, Phoenix, Pinot Noir, Pinotin, Regent, Rieslaner, Riesling, Rondo, Roter Elbling, Roter Gutedel, Roter Muskateller, Roter Riesling, Roter Traminer, Ruländer, Saint Laurent, Saphira, Sauvignon Blanc, Scheurebe, Schönburger, Solaris, Villaris, Weißer Burgunder, Weißer Elbling, Weißer Gutedel
In the vineyard and cellar: rules for every wine
Allowed
Enrichment (chaptalisation)
02 · Climate fingerprint
The climate
The growing season averages 14.6 °C, cool on Gregory Jones's scale, with 1,050 growing degree days (Winkler Ia).
The average year 1991–2020, vineyards at about 149 m
Monthly mean, °CRain, mmGrowing season
- Growing-season temperature
- 14.6 °C
- Cool · 13–15 °C (Jones)
- Growing degree days
- 1,050
- Region Ia: under 1,111 degree days
- Growing-season rain
- 424 mm
- Of 677 mm a year
- Harvest rain
- 109 mm
- September–October
Copernicus ERA5-Land monthly averages at 5 vineyard points (Vineyard point 1, 177 m; Vineyard point 2, 48 m; Vineyard point 3, 163 m; Vineyard point 4, 104 m; Vineyard point 5, 255 m), moved to each point's height from the model's terrain. Indices that need daily data are not captured yet. How the climate figures are made.
Closest climates in the database
Picked by the data, not by hand: the profiles nearest on season warmth (counted twice), degree days, rain, ripening-month nights and day–night range. Neighbours within 30 km are left out, as they share the same weather.
1. LitoměřickáVery similarCompared with Saale-Unstrut: same season warmth, similar rain.
2. Uhlen LaubachVery similarCompared with Saale-Unstrut: same season warmth, similar rain.
3. Heuvellandse wijnVery similarCompared with Saale-Unstrut: same season warmth, similar rain.
Growing-season temperature
Growing degree days
Growing-season rain
03 · Year by year
35 vintages
Each column is one growing season: heat above or below the 1991–2020 average, and rain at harvest. Pick a year for the details.
Warmer than averageCooler than averageHarvest rain (Sep–Oct)Average harvest rain, 109 mm
2025
- Growing-season temp.
- Growing degree days
- Harvest rain
- Growing-season rain
- September nights
- Hot days and frosts
Seasons are labelled by harvest year (April–October). Year-to-year changes from ERA5-Land; tested against station records in Alto Adige (r = 0.94 for season temperature at Bolzano). Rain varies more locally, so treat single-season rain with some caution. Vintage ratings, harvest dates and frost or hail events have places in the data model but are not loaded yet.
04 · Where the numbers come from
Sources
- A geospatial inventory of regulatory information for wine protected designations of origin in Europe · Candiago et al., Scientific Data 9, 394 (2022); Eurac Research · CC0
- ERA5-Land monthly averaged data (reanalysis-era5-land-monthly-means) · Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), Climate Data Store · CC BY 4.0 (Copernicus licence)
- OpenStreetMap vineyard areas (landuse=vineyard), from Geofabrik country extracts · OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0
- Copernicus DEM GLO-90 (AWS open data tiles) · European Space Agency / Copernicus · Copernicus DEM licence
- Single document: Saale-Unstrut (Official Journal C, C/2024/5342, 2.9.2024; and the technical file 'Ares(2014)4218853' from the EU register) · European Union, Official Journal (C series) · EU law (Commission reuse policy)
- Climate profiles calculated by Vinous: method
Still to check (3)
- Generated from EU reference data: check against the current product specification.
- From the specification: The single document sets no analytical limits or must weights (current legislation applies); wine made without enrichment may exceed 15 % total alcohol. Prädikat products cover white and red wines. 71 varieties are permitted (Acolon, Bacchus, Müller Thurgau, Grüner Silvaner, Weißer Burgunder, Weißer Riesling and others). Technical file (German): Qualitätswein natural alcohol 6.7 or 7.5 % vol (55 or 60 °Oe) depending on variety (lowest recorded); Prädikatswein from 9.8 % (75 °Oe, the lowest level, recorded for Kabinett) to 21.5 % (150 °Oe, recorded for Trockenbeerenauslese), with the intermediate levels not stated. Sekt b.A. and Winzersekt at least 6.7 % vol, printed as '(75 °Oe)', which does not match 6.7 % (about 55 °Oe), so no must weight is recorded for Sekt. Sweetening only with grape must; partial dealcoholisation, concentration and oak chips not allowed for Prädikatswein. Enrichment: Qualitätswein up to 15 % vol total; not Prädikatswein.
- National tier (DOC/DOCG) not captured yet; rules extracted from the specification text.