Bereich; pl. Bereiche

[beh-RIKH] German for "region." Under the German wine laws established in 1971, a Bereich is a district or subregion within an anbaugebiet (quality-wine growing region). There are forty-three Bereiche throughout the thirteen Anbaugebiete. Within a Bereich, there are grosslagen (general sites) and einzellagen (individual sites or vineyards). If a wine label carries a Bereich name (instead of a Grosslage or Einzellage), it's considered to be of satisfactory quality (much like a French regional wine from anjou, bordeaux burgundy or côtes-du-rhône). However, the higher-quality wines will generally carry the name of an individual vineyard (Einzellage) from one of the better Bereiche.