German Prädikatswein Classification

The Weingesetz defines Prädikatswein as a wine with a protected designation of origin that has undergone an official quality test and meets minimum requirements for production method and grape ripeness that exceed those for Qualitätswein. The designation Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP) was simplified to Prädikatswein. Under § 20 of the Weingesetz, a German wine may carry one of the terms Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese or Eiswein only once the Prädikat has been granted on application together with an official test number (amtliche Prüfungsnummer). 7.34 million hectolitres of wine were officially tested for quality in 2022 (DWI). The VDP counts among the weaknesses of the Wine Act of 1971 that thousands of vineyards were lumped together into vineyard blocks named for the best-known vineyard within, and that the sugar content of the grape juice alone determined the quality classification. An amendment to the German Wine Law in 1982 raised Eiswein to an independent Prädikat (DWI). The 10th Act amending the Wine Act is dated 15 January 2021 (BGBl. I S. 74). Under Weinverordnung § 54, products from grapes up to and including the 2025 vintage may still be labelled under the version of § 39 that applied until 7 May 2021, and the current Weingesetz § 20 still names the six Prädikate from Kabinett to Trockenbeerenauslese.

• The Weingesetz defines Prädikatswein by an official quality test plus minimum requirements for production method and grape ripeness above those for Qualitätswein.
• The name Qualitätswein mit Prädikat (QmP) was simplified to Prädikatswein.
• Eiswein became an independent Prädikat through a 1982 amendment to the German Wine Law (DWI).
• The 2021 reform act is dated 15 January 2021; Weinverordnung § 54 allows the earlier § 39 labelling for grapes up to and including the 2025 vintage, and Weingesetz § 20 still names the six Prädikate.

Must weight is measured in degrees Oechsle (°Oe), named after its inventor, the Württemberg pharmacist and mechanic Ferdinand Oechsle. Must weight denotes the weight ratio of one litre of must to one litre of water at 20°C, so a ratio of 1.076 means 76 degrees Oechsle. A must of 90°Oe, for example, contains 209 grams of sugar per litre, which after fermentation gives 12 to 13% alcohol by volume. The legal thresholds are set regionally: Weingesetz § 17 has the state governments fix natural minimum alcohol levels, taking account of climate, soil and grape variety, graded by Prädikat. In wine-growing zone A the Prädikatswein minimum may not fall below 9.5% vol, with a reduction to 9.0% vol permitted for certain varieties and sites in the Ahr, Mittelrhein, Mosel and Saale-Unstrut; in zone B it may not fall below 10.0% vol. The state governments may set these levels differently for individual Anbaugebiete or parts of them. Spätlese is not necessarily sweet and Auslese is not always sweet (DWI).

• Oechsle measures must weight, the density of grape must relative to water at 20°C, which results primarily from its sugar content.
• The state governments may set the natural minimum alcohol levels differently for individual Anbaugebiete or parts of them, graded by Prädikat (Weingesetz § 17).
• The Weingesetz requires at least 7% vol actual alcohol for Kabinett, Spätlese and Auslese, and at least 5.5% vol for Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein.
• In noble sweet wines the yeasts do not manage to ferment all of the natural sugar, so such wines generally have very little alcohol.

Kabinett is the first of the six Prädikate of Prädikatswein. Kabinett wines are fine and light with low alcohol content (DWI), and they can be vinified in all flavours from dry to residual sweet (wein.plus). For Spätlese the Weingesetz allows only fully ripe grapes picked in a late harvest, and the wines tend to show more intense flavor and concentration. For Auslese ('selection'), the Weingesetz allows only fully ripe or nobly rotten grapes; the DWI adds that unripe berries are separated out and that the wines are often intense in aroma and taste but not always sweet. For Beerenauslese, the Weingesetz allows only nobly rotten or at least overripe berries, and the harvest must be by hand. Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA), the pinnacle, is made from botrytis-shrivelled, raisin-like berries, and both Beerenauslese and TBA are selectively harvested by hand, berry by berry. Under the Weingesetz, if, exceptionally, no noble rot has occurred because of the variety or the weather, overripeness of the shrivelled berries is enough, and hand harvesting is required for both Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese. Eiswein is made from grapes as ripe as Beerenauslese. The Weingesetz requires that the grapes are frozen at harvest and pressing; the DWI adds that growers aim for healthy grapes without botrytis, which gives a fresh, concentrated fruit taste, and the wines generally have a relatively stable acidity.

• Kabinett: the first Prädikat, light wines with low alcohol (DWI), vinified from dry to residual sweet (wein.plus); Spätlese: fully ripe grapes from a late harvest, also vinified from dry to residual sweet (wein.plus).
• Auslese: only fully ripe or nobly rotten grapes under the Weingesetz; state governments may require hand harvesting for Auslese and Eiswein.
• Beerenauslese: overripe or nobly rotten berries, hand harvested by law; Eiswein: grapes frozen at harvest and pressing (Weingesetz § 20(4)).
• Trockenbeerenauslese: largely shrivelled, nobly rotten berries, hand harvested by law; TBA sits at the top of the quality pyramid and cannot be harvested every vintage.

Under Annex III Part B of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33, trocken (dry) may be used if the sugar content does not exceed 4 g/l, or 9 g/l provided total acidity, expressed as tartaric acid, is not more than 2 g/l below the residual sugar. Halbtrocken (medium dry) may be used above that maximum up to 12 g/l, or 18 g/l provided total acidity is not more than 10 g/l below the residual sugar, and lieblich (medium sweet) up to 45 g/l. Kabinett and Spätlese can be vinified in all flavours from dry to residual sweet (wein.plus), and Auslese is not always sweet (DWI). Half of all German Qualität and Prädikat wines were marketed in the dry style in 2022; in the 2023 official quality tests, 3,595,000 of the 6,987,000 hectolitres tested were trocken. Under Weinverordnung § 16, Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein may be sweetened only with grape must, and § 21 bars a test number for Prädikatswein made using oak chips or alcohol correction. Noble sweet wines such as Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese generally have very little alcohol, because the yeasts do not manage to ferment all of the natural sugar (DWI), and German Eiswein generally has well over 100 grams of residual sugar per litre with often only around 7% vol alcohol.

• Trocken: up to 4 g/l, or up to 9 g/l when total acidity is at most 2 g/l lower than the residual sugar.
• Halbtrocken: up to 12 g/l, or up to 18 g/l when total acidity is not more than 10 g/l below the residual sugar (Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33).
• Half of all German Qualität and Prädikat wines were marketed dry in 2022.
• Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein may be sweetened only with grape must, under Weinverordnung § 16.

The VDP (VDP.Die Prädikatsweingüter) traces its origins to 1910, when four regional growers' associations merged to form the Verband Deutscher Naturweinversteigerer, which later became the VDP; it has around 200 members. The VDP classification is not stipulated in German wine law but follows the association's own private regulations. Its four-stage model of VDP.GUTSWEIN, VDP.ORTSWEIN, VDP.ERSTE LAGE and VDP.GROSSE LAGE was unanimously adopted in January 2012, and the VDP presents it as analogous to the Burgundian classification with Premier Crus and Grands Crus. The VDP's classification of vineyard quality is based, among other things, on historical maps of German winegrowing. Dry wines from VDP.GROSSE LAGE sites are called VDP.GROSSES GEWÄCHS, while fruity and noble sweet wines from these sites carry the classic predicates Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein. VDP.GROSSE LAGE harvests are limited to a maximum yield of 50 hectoliters per hectare, though the VDP's own footnote allows deviations from its regulations on a year-by-year basis, and the grapes are harvested selectively by hand. Under Weinverordnung § 39, a Bereich or Großlage name must be preceded by the word 'Region', a village or single-vineyard name requires must of at least the natural minimum alcohol set for Kabinett, and single-vineyard wines may not be sold to consumers before 1 March of the year after harvest. The current Weinverordnung (§ 30) treats Erstes Gewächs and Großes Gewächs as quality marks of the Komitee – Klassifikation Erster und Großer Lagen in Deutschland e. V., and allows use under the previous rules until that body's approved rules take effect, at the latest up to and including the 2030 vintage.

• The VDP traces its predecessor association to 1910 and has around 200 members.
• VDP.GROSSES GEWÄCHS denotes a dry wine from a VDP.GROSSE LAGE site; fruity and noble sweet wines from those sites carry the classic predicates.
• The VDP caps VDP.GROSSE LAGE yields at 50 hl/ha, with year-by-year deviations possible, and the grapes are harvested selectively by hand.
• Under Weinverordnung § 39, a Bereich or Großlage name must be preceded by 'Region', and village and single-vineyard wines need must of at least Kabinett-level natural alcohol.

Weingesetz § 3 lists 13 specified wine-growing regions (Anbaugebiete) for Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein: Ahr, Baden, Franken, Hessische Bergstraße, Mittelrhein, Mosel, Nahe, Pfalz, Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Saale-Unstrut, Sachsen and Württemberg. Prädikatswein is wine with a protected designation of origin that has passed the official quality test (Weingesetz § 2). Ripeness minimums can differ between regions: the Weingesetz lets the state governments set the natural minimum alcohol levels differently for individual Anbaugebiete or parts of them, and the Weingesetz allows the Prädikatswein natural minimum alcohol to drop to 9.0% vol for certain varieties and sites only in the Ahr, Mittelrhein, Mosel and Saale-Unstrut. Eiswein is a specialty of northern wine regions (DWI), and it is becoming rarer as Germany experiences warmer winters. In the 2023 official quality tests, 372,000 of the 638,000 hectolitres tested in the Mosel were in the mild or sweet (lieblich, süß) style.

• Weingesetz § 3 names 13 Anbaugebiete for Qualitätswein and Prädikatswein.
• Under Weingesetz § 17, the reduced 9.0% vol Prädikatswein minimum applies only in the Ahr, Mittelrhein, Mosel and Saale-Unstrut, for certain varieties and sites.
• In the 2023 quality tests, 372,000 of 638,000 hl tested in the Mosel were mild or sweet.

Law and primary sources (the Weingesetz and Weinverordnung on the federal law portal, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/33, and the VDP for its own classification) and descriptive sources (the Deutsches Weininstitut, a promotion body, cited only for description and attributed): https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/weing_1994/BJNR146710994.html, https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/weinv_1995/BJNR063010995.html, https://www.winesofgermany.com/our-wine/quality-standards/quality-standard/449/pr%C3%A4dikat-categories, https://www.winesofgermany.com/our-wine/quality-standards/quality-standard/182/must-weights, https://www.winesofgermany.com/our-wine/quality-standards/quality-standard/180/proven-qualitiy, https://www.winesofgermany.com/wine-industry/wine-law-and-regulations, https://www.winesofgermany.com/our-wine/quality-standards/quality-standard/462/new-origin-pyramid-for-qualit%C3%A4t-and-pr%C3%A4dikat-wines, https://www.winesofgermany.com/our-wine/wine-tasting/wine-tasting/195/levels-of-sweetness-in-german-wines, https://www.winesofgermany.com/our-wine/wine-tasting/wine-tasting/418/ice-wine, https://www.winesofgermany.com/our-wine/wine-tasting/wine-tasting/192/noble-sweet-wines, https://www.winesofgermany.com/glossary-entries?tx_dpnglossary_glossary%5Baction%5D=show&tx_dpnglossary_glossary%5Bcontroller%5D=Term&tx_dpnglossary_glossary%5Bterm%5D=20&cHash=e7fd0c83e74bc411ea0e484a1396b0f4, https://www.winesofgermany.com/glossary-entries?tx_dpnglossary_glossary%5Baction%5D=show&tx_dpnglossary_glossary%5Bcontroller%5D=Term&tx_dpnglossary_glossary%5Bterm%5D=101&cHash=40f3a577852fa383e4045ad921e7e76f, https://www.winesofgermany.com/fileadmin/DWI/News_Medien/PDF/Statistik_2024-2025.pdf, https://www.vdp.de/en/the-wines/classification, https://www.vdp.de/en/vdp/association, https://www.vdp.de/en/vdp/history, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32019R0033 (the Weingesetz and Weinverordnung were re-read in their current versions on 2026-11-09). Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/wine-news/mosel-saar-ruwer-shortens-name-to-mosel-88185/, https://magazine.wein.plus/faq/wine-appellation/what-does-cabinet-mean, https://magazine.wein.plus/faq/wine-appellation/what-does-spaetlese-mean. Last verified 2026-11-09