German Fine Quality Wine Classification

German fine premium wines are subdivided into the following six classes according to the sugar content of the grapes at the time of harvest:

1. Kabinett: Reserve wines

The wines in this class are the lightest of the fine premium wines and are usually dry or semi-dry.

2. Spatlese: Late harvest wines

The grapes for this level of wine are usually picked a week or more after the start of the harvest season and are more ripe, bringing more sugar, fuller body, and more intense flavor to the wine.

Untold German wine label terms

3. Auslese: selected wines

This class of wine is made from hand-selected, ripe whole bunches of grapes and covers a wide range of styles from dry to sweet, often fuller and riper than late-harvest wines.

4. Beerenauslese (or BA): A grape-by-grape selection of wines

These wines are made from very ripe, hand-selected grapes, often infected with noble rot, and are sweeter, richer, more flavorful, and more nectar-infused than select wines.

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5. Eiswein: Ice wine

Made from grapes pressed on ice from the vines, this grade has a rich, pure varietal aroma and produces a fruity, acidic and very sweet ice wine.

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6. Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA): A grape-by-grape wine

This class of wine is made from grapes that have been hand-selected, infected with noble rot and dried out, and is very sweet, rich and rare.

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