Crisis and decline, 1500–1650: A first classification

Although the use of individual site names to distinguish quality (as opposed merely to identifying different vineyards) was largely unknown before 1800, there is one striking instance of ranking by quality in this period. In 1644 the council of Würzburg in franken classified the city’s vineyards into four groups.

Bibliographical note: There is no reliable survey in English. Readers of German may consult Bassermann-Jordan, F. von, Geschichte des Weinbaus, 3 vols. in 2 (2nd edn, Frankfurt, 1923; repr. Landau 1991).