German Riesling Styles & Sweetness Guide
A German label can carry three separate systems at once: a sweetness term, a Prädikat, and an origin classification. This guide keeps them apart, quotes the rule for each, and shows where a "dry Kabinett" or a "sweet Spätlese" fits.
1. Label sweetness (still wine)
The statutory terms depend on residual sugar and total acidity. Above 4 g/L a wine can still be labelled trocken if its acidity is high enough, which is why two Rieslings with the same sugar can carry different words. Feinherb is customary, not statutory.
| Term | Status | Definition | Pairing suggestions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trocken (dry) | Statutory | Up to 4 g/L residual sugar, or up to 9 g/L when residual sugar does not exceed total acidity by more than 2 g/L. source | Seafood, sushi, roast poultry, pork tenderloin, goat cheese. |
| Halbtrocken (off-dry) | Statutory | Up to 12 g/L residual sugar, or up to 18 g/L when residual sugar does not exceed total acidity by more than 10 g/L. source | Spicy Asian cuisine, Thai curries, charcuterie, Mexican street food. |
| Feinherb | Customary (no legal band) | A customary German label term for a wine that tastes between dry and medium-sweet. It has no statutory residual-sugar band; producers use it at their discretion, most often for wines around or above the halbtrocken limit. source | — |
| Lieblich (medium-sweet) | Statutory | Above the halbtrocken limit and up to 45 g/L residual sugar. source | — |
| Süß (sweet) | Statutory | More than 45 g/L residual sugar. source | — |
2. Prädikat (harvest ripeness)
A Prädikat records the minimum must weight of the grapes at harvest, measured in degrees Oechsle, plus harvest rules such as hand selection or frozen grapes. It does not fix the finished wine's sweetness: a Kabinett or Spätlese can be fermented dry and is then labelled "trocken". The minimum must weights are set per region, so the figures below are ranges. Source: Deutsches Weininstitut.
| Prädikat | Harvest requirement | Finished style |
|---|---|---|
| Kabinett | Fully ripe grapes at the lowest Prädikat must weight. Regional minimums differ (roughly 70–82 °Oe). | Made dry, off-dry or fruity-sweet. A dry Kabinett is labelled "Kabinett trocken". |
| Spätlese | Later-picked, riper grapes with a higher minimum must weight (roughly 76–90 °Oe by region). | Made dry or with residual sugar; the term describes ripeness, not sweetness. |
| Auslese | Selected very ripe bunches, unripe or diseased berries removed (roughly 83–100 °Oe by region). | Usually sweet, sometimes botrytis-affected, occasionally dry. |
| Beerenauslese | Individually selected overripe berries, typically with noble rot (minimum 110–128 °Oe). | Sweet dessert wine. |
| Eiswein | Grapes harvested and pressed while naturally frozen at −7 °C or below, at Beerenauslese must weight (110–128 °Oe by region). | Sweet, without botrytis character. |
| Trockenbeerenauslese | Shrivelled, noble-rot berries at the highest minimum must weight (150 °Oe and above). | Intensely sweet, very low alcohol. |
3. Origin classification
German wine law protects origin in tiers from the whole region down to a single vineyard. The VDP, a private growers' association, runs its own four-step ladder for member estates. The two systems overlap in vocabulary but are not the same thing; a Grosses Gewächs is a VDP term, not a statutory one. Source: Deutsches Weininstitut.
Statutory tiers (German wine law)
- Anbaugebiet
- One of the 13 protected wine regions (g.U.).
- Bereich / Region
- A district inside an Anbaugebiet.
- Ortswein
- Wine labelled with a village name.
- Lagenwein
- Wine labelled with a registered single vineyard (Einzellage).
VDP ladder (private association)
- VDP.Gutswein
- Estate wine; the entry tier of the association ladder.
- VDP.Ortswein
- Village wine from classified vineyards.
- VDP.Erste Lage
- Premier-cru site classified by the association.
- VDP.Grosse Lage
- Grand-cru site classified by the association; its dry wine is a Grosses Gewächs (GG).
4. How it tastes (not a legal scale)
Perceived sweetness is a judgement, not a measurement. High acidity makes sugar read drier; low acidity makes the same sugar read sweeter. Where this site reports an impression it is attributed to a source or to our own tasting; it never replaces the label term.
Frequently asked questions
What residual sugar level defines a Trocken (dry) German Riesling?
Under German and EU wine law a Trocken wine has at most 4 g/L residual sugar, or up to 9 g/L when the residual sugar does not exceed the total acidity by more than 2 g/L.
What does Feinherb mean on a German wine label?
Feinherb is a customary, unregulated producer term for a wine that tastes between dry and medium-sweet. It has no statutory residual-sugar band, so two Feinherb wines can differ; the producer's technical sheet or the bottle is the only reliable guide.
What food pairs best with a fruity Spätlese Riesling?
A Spätlese with natural residual sugar pairs well with spicy Thai curries, Sichuan dishes, glazed roast duck, blue cheeses such as Gorgonzola and Roquefort, and pork belly with apple compote.
Worked example: a dry Kabinett
"Riesling Kabinett trocken, VDP.Ortswein" means: harvested at Kabinett must weight (Prädikat), fermented to a residual sugar that meets the trocken rule (label sweetness), from a village-level VDP classification (origin). In our wine catalog such a bottle is listed under both "Trocken" and "Kabinett".