Five bottles for every occasion.
Our lists combine the verdicts of the leading wine critics with a simple question: when does this wine give the most pleasure – and is it worth the money?
Top 5 Rieslings with fish
With its high natural acidity and usually moderate alcohol, dry Riesling brings exactly what fish and seafood call for: a freshness that carries fat and butter without masking delicate flavours. Wines without noticeable oak influence and with a salty, mineral length work particularly well with the iodine and salt of seafood. The Gutswein, Ortswein and Erste Lage levels often offer the best balance of precision, drinkability and price.
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- 1Westhofener Riesling trocken
Wittmann · Rheinhessen · 2024 - 2»Tonschiefer« Riesling trocken
Dönnhoff · Nahe · 2024 - 3Hochheimer Stielweg Riesling »Alte Reben« trocken VDP.Erste Lage
Künstler · Rheingau · 2024 - 4Siebeldinger Riesling vom Buntsandstein trocken
Ökonomierat Rebholz · Pfalz · 2023 - 5Riesling Kamptal DAC »Kamptaler Terrassen«
Bründlmayer · Kamptal · 2024
Top 5 Rieslings for a summer Sunday afternoon
Long afternoons outdoors call for Rieslings with moderate alcohol (around 11 to 12.5%), lively acidity and clear fruit: they refresh without tiring the palate and can take a slightly cooler serving temperature of 8 to 10°C. Feinherb (off-dry) wines cushion the acidity with a touch of residual sugar, making them equally suited to salads, grilled food and fruit; light, dry Gutsweine and Ortsweine bring the same freshness in a leaner profile. All five wines come from VDP estates in five wine regions and cost around €12 to €20 in the shops.
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- 1»Butterfly« Riesling feinherb
Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken · Saar · 2024 - 2Riesling »101« feinherb
Josef Spreitzer · Rheingau · 2024 - 3Riesling »MC« trocken
Müller-Catoir · Pfalz · 2024 - 4Escherndorfer Lump Riesling trocken
Horst Sauer · Franken (Franconia) · 2024 - 5Edition MM Bopparder Hamm Riesling feinherb
Matthias Müller · Mittelrhein · 2025
Top 5 Riesling Kabinetts
Kabinett is the lightest Prädikat level under German wine law: grapes with comparatively low must weights produce wines often of just 7.5 to 9.5% alcohol. In the cool side valleys of the Mosel, Saar and Ruwer, and in the Nahe, high, lively acidity meets a subtle residual sweetness – the interplay of sweetness, acidity and slate minerality is what makes the classic, fruity Kabinett unique. Good Kabinetts are delightfully drinkable when young, yet can age for decades.
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- 1Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett
Joh. Jos. Prüm · Mosel · 2023 - 2Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg Riesling Kabinett
Karthäuserhof · Ruwer · 2023 - 3Scharzhofberger Riesling Kabinett
Egon Müller · Saar · 2023 - 4Oberhäuser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett
Dönnhoff · Nahe · 2023 - 5Geisberg Riesling Kabinett
Van Volxem · Saar · 2023
Top 5 great Rieslings for value
The VDP's Große Gewächse now mostly cost between €40 and well over €100, yet within this category price and quality vary considerably. At the same time, some top estates bottle Ortsweine and Gutsweine from old vines or top sites that reach GG level in critics' ratings at a fraction of the price. This selection brings both together: two old-vine Rieslings from the Saar and Ruwer at around €20 to €25, and three Große Gewächse from the Nahe, Rheinhessen and the Rheingau which, at around €54 to €69, achieve ratings in the range of considerably more expensive top wines.
See the list →- 1Eitelsbacher Riesling Alte Reben trocken
Karthäuserhof · Ruwer · 2023 - 2Van Volxem Riesling »Alte Reben« trocken
Van Volxem · Saar · 2023 - 3Monzinger Frühlingsplätzchen Riesling Großes Gewächs
Emrich-Schönleber · Nahe · 2023 - 4Westhofener Kirchspiel Riesling Großes Gewächs
Wittmann · Rheinhessen · 2024 - 5Oestrich Doosberg Riesling Großes Gewächs
Peter Jakob Kühn · Rheingau · 2023
Top 5 Rieslings under €15
The VDP's quality pyramid begins with Gutswein (estate wine), followed by Ortswein (village wine), Erste Lage and Große Lage. Gutsweine are blended from grapes grown in several of an estate's own vineyards, often including younger vines or parts of better sites, and usually reach the shops in the spring after the harvest. Because top estates make these entry-level wines to the same standards as their single-site wines and explicitly see them as a calling card, you get a great deal of the house style for little money. In Austria, the Wachau's lighter Federspiel category plays a comparable role.
See the list →- 1»Win Win« Riesling trocken
von Winning · Pfalz · 2025 - 2Riesling trocken
Fritz Haag · Mosel · 2025 - 3Riesling trocken
Schäfer-Fröhlich · Nahe · 2025 - 4Bürgerspital Riesling VDP.Gutswein trocken
Bürgerspital zum Hl. Geist · Franken (Franconia) · 2025 - 5Riesling Federspiel Terrassen
Domäne Wachau · Wachau · 2025
Top 5 mature Rieslings
As Riesling ages, the fresh primary fruit recedes and gives way to notes of dried fruit, honey, herbs, toast and wax. Typical of mature Riesling is the so-called petrol note, which derives from the compound TDN (1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene) – it forms from carotenoids in the grape and is intensified by sunny vintages and long bottle ageing. Riesling owes its longevity above all to its high acidity and, in fruity-sweet and nobly sweet wines, also to residual sugar, which acts as a preservative. Because hardly anyone has the patience or the cellar for it, more and more estates are releasing mature vintages as late releases or from their library stocks – and some merchants run dedicated rarities departments.
See the list →- 1Abtsberg Riesling GG
Maximin Grünhaus · Ruwer · 2017 - 2Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel (Versteigerungswein)
Schäfer-Fröhlich · Nahe · 2015 - 3Riesling Ried Zöbinger Gaisberg 1ÖTW
Hirsch · Kamptal · 2016 - 4Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
Dr. Loosen · Mosel · 2018 - 5Schloss Vollrads Riesling Auslese
Schloss Vollrads · Rheingau · 2016