German word meaning ‘producer bottling’, applicable to all the finest wines of Germany. As in France (see mis en bouteille), the term may be used by co-operatives to describe blends of wines from many different member-producers over whose viticultural techniques the bottler may or may not exercise significant control. The terms gutsabfüllung and Schlossabfüllung are officially defined in slightly more restrictive terms and are nowadays seldom used.
