VDP Classification

According to the VDP's timeline, on 27 November 1910 four associations of natural-wine auctioneers joined to form the VDNV, with founding members from the Rheingau, Rheinhessen, the Pfalz and the Mosel, Saar and Ruwer; Trier's Lord Mayor Albert von Bruchhausen became chairman. The 1969/71 wine law banned the term 'Naturwein' (natural wine), and the VDP's history page records that in 1971 the VDNV became the VDPV and one year later took the name 'Verband der Prädikatsweingüter'. The VDP's classification page says it first considered its own classification in response to side effects of the Wine Act of 1971, and that the association changed its name to VDP.Die Prädikatsweingüter in 2000. In 2001 the Casteller Decisions adopted a first three-stage internal classification whose top level was to be called 'Grosses Gewächs', and in 2002 the VDP General Assembly specified the Grosses Gewächs as a dry wine. The four-tier classification was unanimously adopted at an extraordinary general meeting in 2012, building on the Grosses Gewächs concept first defined in 2002.

• 1910: the VDNV is founded; the VDP's history page says its members' wines were then sold in wooden fuder barrels at auctions
• 1994: according to the VDP's timeline, members decided to stop using Grosslage (vineyard block) names on their wines and resolved to develop their own classification of German vineyard sites
• 1999: Hessen's 'Erstes Gewächs' quality classification regulation is passed, and Rheingau wines may use the term on the label from the 1999 vintage, per the VDP
• 2006: the Marienthaler resolutions make VDP.Erste Lage the uniform term for the top category and name its dry wines Grosses Gewächs, dry to a maximum of nine grams of residual sugar from the 2006 vintage

The VDP describes itself as divided into eleven regional associations, listed from north to south as Sachsen/Saale-Unstrut, Ahr, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Mittelrhein, Nahe, Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Franken, Pfalz, Württemberg and Baden. The VDP's regions page contrasts the Mosel's steep slate slopes and Riesling dominance with the cool Ahr, characterized by Pinot Noir, the sun-drenched Pfalz, Franken as a Silvaner stronghold and near-Mediterranean Baden to the south. Each region defines the grape varieties permitted for its VDP.Grosse Lage and VDP.Erste Lage wines, and the VDP's classification page lists them region by region.

• In 1910 the Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Rheinpfalz and Mosel-Saar-Ruwer regional associations merged to form the Verband Deutscher Naturweinversteigerer, which later became the VDP, according to the VDP
• The VDP's timeline records Nahe and Baden estates joining the VDNV in 1925 and Franken joining as a regional association in 1955
• In 1986, per the VDP's timeline, estates in Baden and the Mittelrhein formed regional associations, raising the number to nine
• The Sachsen-Saale-Unstrut regional association was founded in 2010, the VDP's hundredth year, according to its timeline

Decanter reported in 2019 that 55% of all VDP vineyards are planted with Riesling, compared with 23% across Germany, and the VDP's association page gives the same figures. The VDP's philosophy page names Riesling, Silvaner and the Pinot family as the varieties its growers prioritize for expressing terroir. Riesling appears on the VDP.Grosse Lage variety list of every regional association, though in the Ahr only for noble sweet wines, and the Nahe's list is Riesling alone. The Ahr's other VDP.Grosse Lage varieties are Pinot Noir and Frühburgunder, Franken's list includes Silvaner, and Lemberger is listed for Württemberg and for Baden's Badische Bergstrasse and Kraichgau. Grosses Gewächs must contain no more than 9 g/L residual sugar and are released no earlier than September 1 of the year following harvest for whites, and a year later for reds.

• Riesling: on every region's VDP.Grosse Lage list; the Nahe's list is Riesling alone
• Ahr VDP.Grosse Lage varieties: Pinot Noir and Frühburgunder, with Riesling allowed only for noble sweet wines
• Franken VDP.Grosse Lage varieties: Riesling, Silvaner, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Noir
• Fruity and noble sweet wines from VDP.Grosse Lage and VDP.Erste Lage sites carry the classic predicates Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein

The VDP's classification page describes a pyramid built on the principle 'the narrower the origin, the higher the quality'. The tiers are based on origin, paralleling the Burgundian approach of Premier Cru and Grand Cru. The VDP defines the four tiers as follows. Gutswein (estate wine) forms the base, with grapes from estate-owned vineyards and a maximum yield of 75 hl/ha. Ortswein (village wine) must originate from a single village using regionally defined varieties. Erste Lage (premier cru equivalent) requires optimal growing conditions, hand harvesting, and a yield ceiling of 60 hl/ha. Grosse Lage (grand cru equivalent) represents Germany's finest sites: yields are limited to 50 hl/ha, harvesting must be done selectively by hand, and dry wines from these sites carry the Grosses Gewächs (GG) designation. The VDP says a VDP.Grosse Lage label names the vineyard without the place name; Decanter, in an article last updated 13 March 2019, likened this to the grand crus of Burgundy. According to the VDP, member estates must prove in a company audit at least every five years that they follow its rules. The DWI states that the new German Wine Ordinance for the first time standardises and regulates the terms Großes Gewächs and Erstes Gewächs within single-vineyard wines, and the VDP says these designations will in future be awarded by a committee jointly established by the German Winegrowers' Association and the VDP.

• VDP.Gutswein: from the estate's own vineyards, yield limited to 75 hl/ha; all grape varieties accepted, with at least 80 per cent of the varieties grown typical for the region
• VDP.Ortswein: from vineyards within one locality, regional varieties only, maximum 75 hl/ha; the VDP recommends not marketing the wines before March 1 of the year following the harvest
• VDP.Erste Lage: maximum 60 hl/ha, selective hand harvest, tasting by an examination commission; first put on the market at the VDP.Weinbörse in Mainz at the end of April
• VDP.Grosse Lage: maximum 50 hl/ha, vineyards demarcated by parcel; dry wines bottled as VDP.Grosses Gewächs in a special bottle embossed with the GG grape logo; fruity and noble sweet wines released May 1 of the year after harvest

Membership cannot be applied for: the VDP says existing members invite candidates that have drawn national and international attention through many years of outstanding quality, then examine whether the estate and its wines meet VDP requirements. Conditions listed on the VDP's association page include ownership of vineyards the VDP classifies as 'good and best sites' and use of the VDP.Eagle on the capsule. The VDP's grower directory lists, among others, Joh. Jos. Prüm, Egon Müller - Scharzhof, Dr. Loosen, Fritz Haag, Haart and Van Volxem in Mosel-Saar-Ruwer; H. Dönnhoff and Emrich-Schönleber in the Nahe; Robert Weil and Schloss Johannisberg in the Rheingau; and Keller and Wittmann in Rheinhessen.

• Mosel-Saar-Ruwer members in the VDP directory include Joh. Jos. Prüm, Egon Müller - Scharzhof, Dr. Loosen, Fritz Haag, Haart and Van Volxem
• Nahe: H. Dönnhoff and Emrich-Schönleber; Rheingau: Robert Weil and Schloss Johannisberg; Rheinhessen: Keller and Wittmann
• Steffen Christmann of VDP.Estate A. Christmann has been VDP President since 2007, according to the VDP's history page
• Members must run the estate full-time, with cultivation, development and marketing of the wines in the estate's hands and supervised by qualified personnel, per the VDP's association page

The VDP's 2024/25 situation report says that five years earlier the association decided all VDP estates would undergo sustainable certification, and that this agenda was achieved with the year 2025. The same report states that 82 VDP estates farm 40.3% of the VDP vineyard area organically (some still in conversion) and that every tenth VDP estate also farms biodynamically. The VDP.Weinbörse takes place every year at the end of April in Mainz; the VDP reports that its 2026 edition, in the fair's 52nd year, drew more than 3,000 trade visitors from 29 countries to the Rheingoldhalle to taste the 2025 vintage from 186 member estates. The VDP's timeline dates the founding of a Rheinhessen Weinbörse in Mainz to 1974. The VDP.Grosses Gewächs sneak preview ran from 23 to 25 August 2026 in the colonnades of the Wiesbaden Kurhaus, focusing on white GGs from the 2025 vintage and reds from the 2024 vintage.

• VDP 2024/25 situation report: about 5,850 hectares, roughly 5.7% of Germany's vineyard area, and an estimated 33.5 million bottles sold in 2025
• Revenue of about 426 million euros, per the VDP's 2024/25 situation report
• Average 2025 end-consumer bottle prices reported by the VDP: VDP.Gutswein €11.50, VDP.Ortswein €17.00, VDP.Erste Lage €22.50, VDP.Grosse Lage €42.00
• The VDP has announced the next VDP.Weinbörse for 25 and 26 April 2027

Primary sources: https://www.vdp.de/en/the-wines/classification, https://www.vdp.de/en/the-wines/philosophy-of-quality-1, https://www.vdp.de/en/vdp/history, https://www.vdp.de/en/vdp/association, https://www.vdp.de/en/vdppraedikatsweingueter-situation-report-2024-2025, https://www.vdp.de/en/wines/vdpregions, https://www.vdp.de/en/sneakpreview-vdpgrosses-gewaechs-2026-wiesbaden, https://www.vdp.de/en/recap-vdpweinboerse-2026, https://www.vdp.de/de/der-vdp/die-geschichte/zeitleiste, https://www.vdp.de/en/vdp-welcomes-bundesrat-decision-on-wine-ordinance, https://www.vdp.de/en/growers, https://www.winesofgermany.com/wine-industry/wine-law-and-regulations. Secondary sources: https://www.decanter.com/learn/advice/what-is-the-vdp-51673/, https://www.decanter.com/wine-reviews-tastings/grosses-gewachs-376405/. Last verified 2026-09-28