Liebfraumilch: Difference between revisions

'''''Liebfraumilch''''' or '''''Liebfrauenmilch''''' ({{Langnf|2=German|3=Beloved ladyfor 'Our Lady's milk}}Milk', GRAPE in reference to the [[Virgin Mary]]) is a style of semi-sweet white [[German wine]] which may be produced, mostly for export, in the [[wine region|region]]s [[Rheinhessen (wine region)|Rheinhessen]], [[Palatinate (wine region)|Palatinate]], [[Rheingau (wine region)|Rheingau]], and [[Nahe (wine region)|Nahe]]. The original [[German language|German]] spelling of the word is ''{{lang|de|Liebfrauenmilch''}}, given to the wine produced from the vineyards of the ''[[Liebfrauenkirche, Worms|Liebfrauenkirche]]'' or "Church of Our Lady" in the [[Rhineland-Palatinate]] city of [[Worms, Germany|Worms]]<ref>{{cite webnews |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/13/dining/13iht-wine13.html |url-access=subscription |title=After the Debacle Called Liebfraumilch |author=Eric Pfanner |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 12, 2012 |urlaccess-status=live |accessdatedate=August 21, 2016}}</ref> since the eighteenth century. The spelling ''Liebfraumilch'' is more common on labels of exported wine.<ref>[http://www.wein-plus.eu/en/Liebfrauenmilch_3.0.10110.html Wein-Plus Glossar: ''Liebfrauenmilch''],. read onRetrieved January 24, 2013 {{Subscription required}}.</ref>{{Unreliable source?|date=April 2015}}

The generic label ''{{lang|de|Liebfraumilch''}} is typically used to market vintages from anywhere in most of the major wine growing areas of Germany, the notable exception being [[Mosel (wine region)|Mosel]]. Wine with very similar characteristics but made from higher quality grapes can be labeled as [[Spätlese]] or [[Auslese]]. In the US and the UK, perhaps the best known example has been [[Blue Nun]], which no longer uses the ''{{lang|de|Liebfraumilch''}} designation.

The term ''Liebfraumilch'' is associated with [[Plonk (wine)|low quality wine]], and, consequently, the [[German wine classification]] requires it only to be at the ''Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete'' (QbA) level—the third rank out of ten. However, it must also be from Rheinhessen, Pfalz, Nahe, or Rheingau, and the grapes must be at least 70% [[Riesling]], [[Silvaner]], or [[Müller-Thurgau]], and it must have {{convert|18-40|g/lL}} [[Sweetness of wine|residual sugar]].

When a rack of wine topples over in the 1932 Hollywood film ''[[Downstairs (film)|Downstairs]]'', the wine cellar caretaker Otto ([[Otto Hoffman]]) laments a broken bottle of ''{{lang|de|Liebfrauenmilch''}}, very likely to be a subtle joke.