German wine terms: how to read a German wine label

The short answer: a German wine label tells you four things, if you know the words: the quality level (from Deutscher Wein up to Prädikatswein), the ripeness of the grapes (Kabinett, Spätlese and so on), the sweetness (trocken means dry) and the place, from a broad region down to a single vineyard. Here is the vocabulary, grouped the way you meet it on the bottle.

1. The quality levels

The 13 areas (Anbaugebiete) are Ahr, Baden, Franken, Hessische Bergstrasse, Mittelrhein, Mosel, Nahe, Pfalz, Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Saale-Unstrut, Sachsen and Württemberg. Every Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein label shows one of them.

2. The Prädikat levels (ripeness, not sweetness)

These six names measure how ripe the grapes were at harvest. The finished wine can be dry or sweet, so always look for a sweetness word too.

• Kabinett (kah-bee-NETT): the lightest Prädikat. Delicate, often low in alcohol.
• Spätlese (SHPATE-lay-zuh): "late harvest". Riper and fuller.
• Auslese (OWS-lay-zuh): "selection". Very ripe bunches, picked by selection; often sweet, sometimes with noble rot.
• Beerenauslese (BA): individually selected overripe berries, usually affected by noble rot. Sweet and rare.
• Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA): berries shrivelled almost to raisins by noble rot. Intensely sweet and very rare.
• Eiswein (ICE-vine): grapes frozen on the vine, picked and pressed while still frozen. Sweet, with piercing acidity.

Noble rot is explained in Botrytis cinerea: how it makes great sweet wine.

3. The sweetness words

A Riesling with no sweetness word and a low alcohol (around 8–9%) is usually sweet: the yeast stopped before all the sugar was gone. A fuller alcohol usually means drier. More in the wine sweetness chart.

4. Place: from region to single vineyard

The wine law reform of 2021 rebuilt German labels around origin: the smaller the place, the higher the level. The new rules apply in full from the 2026 vintage, so you will see old and new labels side by side for a while.

• Anbaugebiet: the wine-growing area, the base of the pyramid.
• Region: a district or a Grosslage (a group of vineyards). Since 2021 a Grosslage name has "Region" in front of it, so you can't mistake it for a single site.
• Ortswein: village wine, named after a village (Ort). Grapes at least Kabinett ripeness.
• Lage / Einzellage: a single vineyard, written after the village name with -er: *Wehlener Sonnenuhr* is the Sonnenuhr vineyard in Wehlen.
• Erstes Gewächs (EG): "first growth". A dry wine from a classified single vineyard, under the national law.
• Grosses Gewächs (GG): "great growth". The top level: a dry wine from a top single vineyard, hand-picked, with low yields.
• Bereich: the old word for a district; you will still see it on older bottles.

5. VDP: the growers' own classification

The VDP (Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter) is an association of leading estates. You know a member by the eagle with a bunch of grapes on the capsule. Its own four levels, much like Burgundy's:

• VDP.Gutswein: the estate wine.
• VDP.Ortswein: village wine.
• VDP.Erste Lage: a first-class vineyard, like a premier cru.
• VDP.Grosse Lage: the best vineyards, like a grand cru. The dry wine from a Grosse Lage is labelled GG; sweeter wines from the same site keep the Prädikat names, such as Spätlese or Auslese.

6. The everyday words on the bottle

7. Grapes under German names

• Spätburgunder: Pinot Noir.
• Grauburgunder / Ruländer: Pinot Gris.
• Weissburgunder: Pinot Blanc.
• Riesling, Silvaner, Müller-Thurgau, Lemberger (Blaufränkisch), Dornfelder: other names you will meet often.

8. Rosé, sparkling and cellar words

• Weissherbst: a rosé made from a single red grape variety, named on the label.
• Rotling: a pale red made by pressing or fermenting red and white grapes together. Regional versions: Schillerwein (Württemberg), Badisch Rotgold (Baden), Schieler (Sachsen).
• Sekt: sparkling wine. Sekt b.A. comes from a named wine-growing area.
• Winzersekt: traditional-method Sekt from the estate's own grapes, aged at least nine months on the lees, with vintage and grape on the label.
• Fuder: the traditional 1,000-litre oak cask of the Mosel. Stück: the 1,200-litre cask of the Rhine regions.

Read one label

*Weingut X · 2024 · Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese · Mosel · Gutsabfüllung*: the estate X made it from Riesling grown in the Sonnenuhr vineyard of Wehlen, in the Mosel, picked at Spätlese ripeness in 2024, and bottled it themselves. No *trocken*? Expect some sweetness, balanced by Mosel acidity.

Studying for an exam? German labels are a classic theory topic. Ask SOMM DIGI AI to quiz you on Prädikat levels and VDP terms, or try the Level 1 practice test. For French labels, see French wine terms.

Questions people ask