And what all those letters on the label actually mean.
German Riesling labels can feel intimidating. Eagles, abbreviations, embossed letters on the bottle. It’s easy to assume they’re decorative rather than meaningful.
They’re not.
The bottle we’re talking about here, a Peter Kuhn VDP Grosse Lage GG Riesling, sits firmly in the top tier of German wine. Think of it as Germany’s equivalent of Grand Cru. Once you understand the label, you’ll never overlook one of these bottles again.
In this blog, you’ll learn:
- why Peter Kuhn is considered an elite Riesling producer
- what VDP, Grosse Lage and GG actually mean
- how Germany classifies its best dry Rieslings
- why biodynamics and vineyard slopes matter
- what to expect from this wine in the glass
The producer: Peter Kuhn & biodynamics
Peter Kuhn is one of Germany’s most respected Riesling producers and a pioneer of biodynamic viticulture.
You’ll often hear terms like sustainable and organic. Biodynamic farming goes a step further.
It treats the vineyard as a living ecosystem by:
- using natural predators instead of pesticides
- nurturing soil health and microbial life
- considering seasonal and lunar cycles
- minimising intervention wherever possible
The goal isn’t ideology. It’s terroir expression. Wines farmed biodynamically are often said to show a clearer sense of place, because nothing is masking what’s happening in the vineyard.
The vineyard: Doosberg, Rheingau
This Riesling comes from Doosberg, one of the top vineyard sites in Rheingau, a region internationally recognised for producing some of Germany’s finest dry Rieslings.
Add one more to the collection?🍷
Why Rheingau excels:
- steep vineyard slopes
- cool climate
- long ripening periods
- exceptional acid retention
Those slopes are critical. You can’t machine harvest them, which means:
- all fruit is hand-picked
- yields are lower
- grape selection is tighter
Lower yields and longer ripening lead to greater concentration without losing freshness, exactly what you want in a dry Riesling.
Dry vs sweet Riesling (and how sweetness actually works)
Riesling spans the full spectrum from bone-dry to lusciously sweet, but sweetness isn’t just about ripeness.
It’s mostly a winemaking decision.
During fermentation, yeast converts sugar into alcohol. If fermentation is stopped early, some sugar remains, creating an off-dry or sweet wine.
In a dry Riesling like this:
- fermentation is allowed to finish
- sugar is fully converted
- acidity remains high and precise
That’s why this wine is crisp, linear, mineral-driven, and refreshing rather than sweet.
Decoding the label: VDP, Grosse Lage & GG
This is where German Riesling gets interesting and where this bottle enters the top 1%.
VDP
VDP stands for Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter, an elite association of Germany’s best producers.
Membership isn’t automatic. Producers must meet strict standards around vineyard quality, yields, winemaking practices, and site expression.
The eagle symbol on the label tells you the producer is part of this association.
Grosse Lage
This indicates a single vineyard site of the highest quality, Germany’s answer to Grand Cru. Only exceptional vineyards qualify.
GG – Grosses Gewächs
This is the final layer and the most important.
GG means:
- the wine is dry
- it comes from a Grosse Lage site
- it represents the producer’s best expression of that vineyard
In short, GG signals the best dry wines from Germany’s best sites.
Add one more to the collection?🍷
That’s the 1%.
What to expect in the glass
This Riesling delivers everything you want from a top-tier dry German Riesling:
- lemon and citrus zest
- white peach
- crystalline acidity
- flinty, stony minerality
- subtle herbaceous notes from cool-climate ripening
It’s energetic, precise, and long, driven by acidity rather than weight. The herbaceous edge reinforces the cool-climate origin, much like you see in high-altitude Malbec or classic Chianti Classico.
Why this wine matters
This isn’t just a great Riesling. It’s a benchmark.
You’re tasting:
- a top producer
- a classified single vineyard
- biodynamic farming
- dry Riesling at its highest level
If you ever see the VDP eagle, Grosse Lage, and GG on a label, you know you’re looking at one of Germany’s finest wines.
Final takeaway
German Riesling doesn’t need to be confusing. Once you understand the classification, it becomes empowering.
VDP GG Rieslings are the elite tier. Crisp, dry, site-driven wines built for both pleasure and longevity.
And this Peter Kuhn example shows exactly why they’re so highly regarded.
If you love precision, minerality, and energy in wine, this is where you want to be.
