Term (French terrasse for earth accumulation, derivative of lat. terra for earth) for a common form of vineyard design on slopes and especially steep slopes, where the vineyards have to be artificially created. The rows of vines must be aligned at right angles to the slope, in extreme cases only one row of vines is planted per terrace. The individual terraces are often supported by dry stone walls. This makes the laborious work easier or even possible in the first place and prevents erosion. Such vineyards with a steep incline are often found in vineyards at high altitudes.
Well-known terraced vineyards can be found in the Portuguese Douro Valley, in the Italian Aosta Valley, in the Swiss cantons of Vaud and Valais, on the French Rhône, in the German wine-growing regions of the Middle Rhine, Moselle, Rheingau and Württemberg, as well as in the Lower Austrian Wachau. The picture above shows the single vineyard Uhlen in the municipality of Winningen on the Moselle. Over the centuries, countless terrace walls have been built here. For a complete list of keywords relevant to the vineyard see under vineyard area and vine variety-specific keywords under vine.