"Qualitätsweinprüfung"

German expression for the quality wine assessment. German wine law focuses on "quality in the glass". Therefore, a wine may only be designated and marketed as a quality wine or predicate wine, if the winmaker applies for it and it is granted an official examination number (German: "A.P-Nummer") and a predicate.

The examining authority (in Rheinhessen this is the Alzey testing center at the local viticulture office) makes the final decision based on the results of an anaysis in an approved laboratory and a sesory analysis by a trained tasting panel. The panels observes, whether the wine is typical for its origin in smell and taste. Then, they assess, whether, if they are given, grape variety, predicate, colour, clarity, smell, flavour and harmony match the required quality.