Wine · Terminology

Spätlese

German for 'late harvest' — the second Prädikat rung: riper grapes, fuller wine, dry or sweet.

Spätlese means "late harvest" — the second rung of Germany's Prädikatswein ladder. The grapes are picked after the main harvest, at a higher must weight than Kabinett, giving a wine with more body, more concentration and more aromatic depth.

The name describes when the fruit was picked, not how sweet the wine is. A classic Mosel Spätlese is medium-sweet with bracing acidity; a Spätlese trocken takes the same ripe fruit and ferments it dry, producing a fuller, higher-alcohol wine with no sweetness at all.

In practice

  • Roughly 76–90 °Oechsle depending on region and variety.
  • No chaptalisation — as with every Prädikat level.
  • Some botrytis influence is possible but not required or typical.
  • Excellent ageing: 10–30 years for good Riesling Spätlese from a top site.

Where you'll meet it

  • The Mosel, Rheingau, Pfalz and Nahe.
  • Austria, where the same term is used with its own must-weight thresholds.
  • On any Riesling label worth reading twice.

Sweet Spätlese versus Spätlese trocken

Spätlese (classic) Spätlese trocken
Fermentation Stopped early Run to dryness
Residual sugar ~20–45 g/L Under 9 g/L
Alcohol 7.5–9% 12–13.5%
Palate Sweet, light, electric Dry, full, powerful
Region Mosel, Nahe, Rheingau Pfalz, Rheinhessen, Baden — the warmer regions

Both are legitimate expressions of the same Prädikat. The label word trocken is the only reliable signal, which is why learning it matters more than learning the Oechsle tables.

Where it fits in the ladder

Kabinett → Spätlese → Auslese → Beerenauslese → Trockenbeerenauslese, with Eiswein sitting at Beerenauslese must weight by a different route.

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