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
Phenolic content in wine grapes known as teinturiers, such as Alicante Bouschet, which have a small amount of anthocyanins in the pulp that produces pigmented juice. There are several types of anthocyanins (as the glycoside) found in wine grapes which are responsible for the vast range of coloring from ruby red through to dark black found in wine grapes. Ampelographers can use this observation to assist in the identification of different grape varieties. The European vine family "Vitis vinifera" is characterized by anthocyanins that are composed of only one molecule of glucose while non-"vinifera" vines such as hybrids and the American "Vitis labrusca" will