Saxony (wine region)

A footpath through vineyards in the village Pillnitz in Saxony
A winery in Saxony

Saxony (Sachsen) is a region for quality wine in Germany located in the German federal state of Saxony. The region is sometimes referred to colloquially as the Elbtal (Elbe valley). The wine region covers 462 hectares (1,140 acres),[1] which makes it Germany's third smallest region, just ahead of Mittelrhein and Hessische Bergstraße in size. It is situated along the Elbe river from the Pillnitz section of Dresden to the village of Diesbar-Seußlitz located north of Meissen.[2] Together with the Saale-Unstrut wine region, Saxony is one of the northernmost wine regions in Europe and are the only two of Germany's 13 wine regions that are located in the former East Germany.[3] After German reunification in 1990, the vineyard surface was expanded from 200 to 450 hectares with European Union subsidies,[2] but in recent years the vineyard area has decreased.

  1. ^ German Wine Institute: German wine statistics 2009/2010 Archived 2011-07-26 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b "Wein.de (German Agricultural Society): Saxony". Archived from the original on 2007-10-30. Retrieved 2008-01-01.
  3. ^ J. Robinson (ed) "The Oxford Companion to Wine" Third Edition pg 599 Oxford University Press 2006 ISBN 0-19-860990-6