Germany
Cool continental
A cool-climate country of steep river valleys, revered for Riesling in every style from bone-dry to lusciously sweet.
Overview
About Germany
Germany is one of the world's most northerly wine countries and has the largest plantings of Riesling anywhere. It is divided into thirteen wine regions (Anbaugebiete), and its wines are classified by the ripeness of the grapes at harvest — Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein — under the 1971 wine law, while the growers' association VDP maintains a separate, vineyard-based hierarchy.
Dry (Trocken) wines are now the majority, and Pinot Noir (Spätburgunder), Pinot Blanc and Silvaner have all gained ground, though Riesling remains the country's flagship.
Where is a grape grown?
Hover a marker to see what's grown there, and click it to open that place. On a touch screen, tap once to preview and again to open. Bigger markers have more grapes linked to them.
Germany
The land
Climate & terroir
Climate
Cool continental
Vineyards cluster on south-facing slopes along rivers, which capture and reflect heat and reduce frost risk. Climate change has improved ripening reliability in the last decades.
Terroir & soils
What the vines grow in
Slate along the Mosel, quartzite in the Rheingau, limestone and loess further south and volcanic soils in the Kaiserstuhl.
Go deeper
How the wines are classified
German wine is classified by the ripeness of the grapes at harvest, and the VDP growers' association adds a vineyard-based ladder.
Prädikatswein
Ranked by must weight at harvest: Kabinett, Spätlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese and Eiswein. The ladder shows ripeness, not sweetness.
VDP classification
A growers' association: Grosse Lage (grand cru), Erste Lage, Ortswein and Gutswein, moving from a named top vineyard to an estate wine.
Trocken and Halbtrocken
Label terms for dry and off-dry wines. 'Trocken' is now the majority style.
Within Germany
Regions
Franken
The Main valley around Würzburg, known for dry, earthy Silvaner sold in the flat Bocksbeutel bottle.
Mosel
Germany's slate river valley, with some of Europe's steepest vineyards and the most delicate, mineral, low-alcohol Riesling.
Württemberg
A red-wine stronghold around Stuttgart, making light Trollinger, Lemberger and Schwarzriesling, mostly drunk locally.
What's grown here
Grapes
Grapes linked to Germany or to a place within it. Each grape's page links back here.