VDP clears 594 Grosses Gewächs dry wines for release from 1 September 2026
The VDP says 594 top-tier dry wines from 210 vineyard sites earned the right to be sold from 1 September 2026, against 602 wines from 331 sites in its 2025 release.
Original reporting:Wine Enthusiast · 8 October 2026VDP (Sneakpreview VDP.GROSSES GEWÄCHS 2026)VDP (Sneakpreview VDP.GROSSES GEWÄCHS 2025)
What happened
The VDP said 594 of its VDP.GROSSES GEWÄCHS wines went through its tasting process this year. They earned the right to come onto the market on 1 September 2026 and were produced in 210 sites.
The VDP describes Grosses Gewächs (GG) as dry, top-quality wines from vineyards classified at the highest level of its classification system. That level is called VDP.GROSSE LAGE. The VDP said about 5 per cent of the production of its member estates is bottled at that highest level.
The VDP gave 23 to 25 August 2026 as the dates of its preview. It said the focus this time was on white GGs from the 2025 vintage.
The comparison with last year is close on wine count and wide on sites. The VDP's 2025 release cleared 602 wines, produced in 331 sites, for sale from 1 September 2025. The 2026 total is therefore 8 wines lower, while the site count fell from 331 to 210.
On the vintage, the VDP said ripening in 2025 progressed rapidly. Its president, Steffen Christmann, said the 2025 vintage is marked by exceptional complexity and density in its white wines. That is the association's own assessment, not an independent critic's score.
Key issues — our analysis
- Slightly smaller release than 2025
- Far fewer vineyard sites than 2025
- Vintage quality is the VDP's own view
- Wine counts, not bottle volumes
Who should pay attention
- Family offices holding fine wine
- Wine merchants and cellar managers
- Collectors of German dry white wine
- Insurers valuing cellars
What to watch
- Independent critic scores for the 2025 white GGs
- Release prices quoted by merchants for the 2025 vintage
Sources
How this was produced
This original summary was prepared with AI from the linked reporting and published through automated editorial checks. It has not been individually verified by a human editor. Analysis sections are our interpretation. For information only; not financial, investment, tax or legal advice. Editorial standards · Corrections.
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