German Fine Wine

Despite a rich heritage of winemaking, and some very fine, historic estates, the popular image of German wine was blighted by the mass of sweet, low-quality Liebfraumilch-style wines that reached their peak in the 1980s. But in the last 30 years, a focus on terroir, lower yields and dry styles has led to a scintillating array of refined, delicate wines. This, plus a new classification system emphasising vineyard quality (notably via the top-tier ‘grosse lage’ or grand cru designation) has seen a wealth of wines celebrated for their purity, ageability and site expression.

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More than Riesling

The most famous German wines tend to be Rieslings, but the huge wealth of variety within the category means it is a source of endless fascination, discovery and enjoyment. Our collection spans the dry, chiselled tones of the Mosel to lusciously sweet, ageworthy renderings; the single-vineyard bottlings of the prized Grosses Gewächs to the fresh, summer-in-a-glass, value bottlings; light-footed, off-dry Spatleses to fuller, food-friendly Kabinetts. Other aromatic whites are also worth trying, from Pinot Gris to Silvaner, while Germany’s Pinot Noirs are enjoying a rapid rise to prominence, with growing interest – and temperatures – leading many producers to make wines whose silky, rounded fruit profile can rival those of Alsace or even, in some cases, Burgundy.

Notable German wine regions

Mosel

The Mosel is Germany’s best known wine region, its steep, slate-covered slopes the source of some of the world’s finest – and most ageworthy – Riesling. The cool climate and mineral-rich soils here create wines of remarkable finesse, delicacy and aromatic intensity, generally combining high acidity and low alcohol in a broad spectrum of styles, from bone-dry to lusciously sweet. The dramatic landscape, which necessitates rigorous, back-breaking viticulture, contributes not just to the wines’ prestige, but their vivid expression of terroir.

Rheingau

The Rheingau is among Germany’s most historic regions, responsible for some of the country’s most ageworthy, structured Rieslings. Located along the north bank of the Rhine River, the region benefits from a relatively warm climate and excellent sun exposure. As with the Mosel, Riesling is the dominant variety, typically vinified in a dry to off-dry style, and again underpinned by firm acidity and a mineral backbone. The wines tend to show a touch more body and ripeness than in the Mosel.

Rheinhessen

Immediately south of the Rheingau, across the Rhine River, Rheinhessen is Germany’s largest wine region. These days it is something of a hub of innovation, and very much on the rise, with a new generation of winemakers embracing the region’s diverse soils, which support a wide range of grape varieties. Riesling, of course, thrives here, largely via fuller, more fruit-driven iterations than those of the cooler Mosel, with dry styles dominating. But Silvaner, Pinot Gris and, increasingly, Pinot Noir (aka Spätburgunder) are also popular.

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Popular German wine

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Show in Bond Pricing Buying in bond means the wine is stored in a bonded warehouse and no duty or VAT has been paid—ideal for storage or resale. <br>Duty paid means taxes are included and the wine is ready for home delivery and drinking.

2021 Recher Herrenberg Spätburgunder, Jean Stodden, Ahr

2022 Scharzhof Riesling QBA, Egon Müller

2020 Kiedrich Riesling QbA Trocken, Eva Fricke

2021 Herrenberg Grosses Gewächs, Spätburgunder, Jean Stodden, Ahr

2022 Niersteiner Riesling 1G, Weingut Wittmann

2022 Höllenpfad im Mühlenberg Riesling Grosses Gewächs, Dönnhoff, Nahe

2022 Mölsheim Riesling Trocken, Battenfeld-Spanier, Rheinhessen

2021 Burgstadter Spätburgunder, Fürst, Franconia

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German wine FAQs

Are Germany’s red wines worth trying?

In a word, yes. While Germany has traditionally been best known for its white wines – notably Riesling – its reds have been gaining significant acclaim in recent years. Here we’re talking Pinot Noir – or Spätburgunder, as is it known in the native tongue – plantings of which have grown substantially since the 1990s, notably in Baden. German Pinots tend to boast a particularly attractive velvety feel to them, harnessing the typical red-fruit sweetness of strawberry and cherry, but allied to a touch of herbal earthiness and sometimes a hint of spicy oak. For adventurous wine lovers keen to experiment, they offer a fine alternative to red Burgundy.

How do you know if a German Riesling is sweet?

It’s a constant conundrum, and one that puts many people off trying these wonderful wines. More’s the pity, since the delicacy – and diversity – of German Riesling makes it a fantastically rewarding style to explore. These days, deciphering the sweetness level is a little easier (not least because, when buying online, we provide guides to the sweetness level, on top of other research which is at your fingertips). The key things to look for are: • The word ‘trocken’, which means dry, and is often appended to a wine’s name, to clarify its lack of sweetness. • The various ripeness levels, which give an indication of likely sweetness – Spätlese means ‘late harvest’, for example, so will likely have some botrytis, while Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese are all at the sweet end of the spectrum. Kabinetts, meanwhile, tend to be lighter and drier. • Similarly, the alcohol level provides a big clue – lower-alcohol wines (below 10%) are likely to have had the fermentation stopped early, thereby retaining some residual sugar; those above 12% tend to have been fermented to dryness.

German Wine Producers

The top names of German wine are not just bastions of their own country’s wine scene, they bestride the wider wine world. Egon Muller, for example, which traces its family history at the legendary Scharzhof estate to the 18th century, produces some of the finest, most ageworthy – and most expensive – Riesling anywhere on Earth. Fellow Mosel star Dr Loosen stretches back 200 years, with current guardian Ernst Loosen having earmarked the importance of individual sites and older vines well before such elements became more widely prized across the country. More recently, a winemaker such as Eva Fricke perhaps best embodies modern German wine, starting up her own label in the Rheingau where she crafts razor-sharp wines following organic and biodynamic methods. All have prized site above all else, with the top rank of ‘Grosses Gewächs’ wines now the benchmark among such equally quality-focused names as Battenfeld-Spanier, Shäfer-Fröhlich and Weingut Wittmann.