German wine the best vineyards in Germany are steep vineyards overlooking rivers, where mechanisation is impossible and a lot of manual labour is needed to produce the wine. Since it can be difficult to get ripe grapes in such a northernly location as Germany, the sugar maturity of grapes (must weight) as measured by the Oechsle scale have played a great role in Germany. German vintners on average crop their vineyards quite high, with yields averaging around 64-99 hl/ha, a high figure in international comparison. "New" crossings used for low-quality white wine commonly yield 150-200 hl/ha, while quality-conscious producers who strive to
The Grapes of Wrath sums up the book's influence: ""The Grapes of Wrath" may well be the most thoroughly discussed novel – in criticism, reviews, and college classrooms – of 20th century American literature." "The Grapes of Wrath" is referred to as a Great American Novel. At the time of publication, Steinbeck's novel "was a phenomenon on the scale of a national event. It was publicly banned and burned by citizens, it was debated on national radio; but above all, it was read." According to "The New York Times," it was the best-selling book of 1939 and 430,000 copies had been printed by February