Reserve wine system, most DACs have an additional "Reserve" designation for a wine which has slightly more strict requirements. Before the 1971 German wine law, a term corresponding to reserve wine existed in "kabinett", sometimes written as "Kabinettwein". In 1971, the similar-sounding term "Kabinett" was instead introduced as the lowest level of the "Prädikatswein" category, i.e., with a completely different meaning. Therefore, in the present German wine classification no legally defined term corresponding to reserve wine exists. Reserve wine Reserve wine is wine of a higher quality than usual, or a wine that has been aged before being sold, or both. Traditionally,
German wine each harvest year, or on long-term contract with larger wineries looking to supplement their own production), deliver the grapes to a wine-making cooperative (called "Winzergenossenschaft" in Germany), or sell the wine in bulk to winemaking firms that use them in "bulk brands" or as a base wine for Sekt. Those who own vineyards in truly good locations also have the option of renting them out to larger producers to operate. 5 892 vineyard owners owned more than 5 ha each in 1999, accounting for 57% of Germany's total vineyard surface, and it is in this category that the full-time vintners