Quality levels: Cabinet

As a quality wine with distinction cabinet, wine in Germany is called the upper grade. To achieve this level of quality, the wine must have given an official exam number and thus meet specific statutory requirements. These requirements are in Germany at 73 degrees Oechsle, in certain wine-growing regions such as Baden even at 76-83 degrees Oechsle.


In Germany was never able to develop from the cabinet a real style of wine. Only in a few growing areas such as the Mosel Saar or the quality is found in a few winemakers wines that would also meet this quality level really. A wine cabinet with the title is distinguished by the lightness of the wine, there are often residual sweet Riesling with a lower proportion of alcohol. In the rest of the wine growing areas in the Cabinet by some growers is more of a stopgap solution to it for marketing reasons, to accommodate all the wines rather than wines chaptalised run and are not intended to be marketed as a late harvest.

For this reason we find today many Kabinett wines also with 12.5% ​​alcohol. The term cabinet dates from the Middle Ages, there was to house in the monastery of Eberbach, the local wine cellars especially precious wines, was this “treasure chamber” called the Cabinet. This is where the current statutory predicate term Cabinet on this wine cellar.