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
Quinta classification of Port vineyards in the Douro the permitted production level of the vineyard and what price the grower can receive for the wine they produce from the grapes. Quintas are given numerical ratings in several categories – age of the vines, altitude, aspect, vine density, gradient, granite content of the soil, schist content of the soil, types of grape varieties planted, overall location of the vineyard, microclimate, mixture, vineyard soil type, vine productivity, and vineyard maintenance. Vineyards that have favorable attributes in a particular category (such as being planted with an optimal low density of vines) are award points while negative attribute (such as having too