Top 100 red wines of Sachsen

Discover the top 100 best red wines of Sachsen as well as the best winemakers in the region. Explore the varietals of the red wines that are popular of Sachsen and the best vintages to taste in this region.

Discovering the wine region of Sachsen

Sachsen (Saxony) in eastern Germany is one of the world's Northernmost wine regions, located at a latitude of 51 degrees north. The roughly 493 hectares (1,218ac) of vines in the region are planted aLong a 25 mile (40km) stretch of the Elbe river valley, from Pillnitz near the city of Dresden, in a north-easterly direction to Diesbar-Seusslitz, just downstream of the city of Meissen. Despite its northerly location, Sachsen has a long history of viticulture, with the earliest documents of wine-growing around Meissen dating to 1161. Since Germany's reunification in 1990, great enthusiasm has gone into building and developing the Sachsen wine industry; there are many part-time growers and an enthusiastic local market.

Investment is needed to boost quality however, and with yields roughly half that of other German wine regions, investors' enthusiasm has not matched that of the growers. Sachsen's Climate is cold-moderate continental with an annual mean temperature of 10° celsius (50°F). The average temperature in January is -0. 5° celsius (31°F) and in July it is 18° celsius (64°F).

However, winter temperatures can drop as low as -28° celsius (18°F). Sachsen's wines are also influenced by the soils and geology of the Elbe Valley. Carboniferous granite, and feldspar with some mica and quartz are found, as is sandstone. This is often is overlayered by loess, clay and sand deposits.

News from the vineyard of Sachsen

Major Champagne merger for Nicolas Feuillatte to go ahead

Nearly 9% of Champagne’s vineyard area will be covered by the merger between Centre Vinicole – Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte and the Coopérative Régionale des Vins de Champagne (CRVC), which includes the Champagne Castelnau label. A deal was delayed earlier in 2021, but the merger has now been approved by the two companies’ extraordinary general assemblies. It is expected to be effective from 31 December. Together, the two groups will create a new cooperative, ‘Terroirs et Vigne ...

Amanda Barnes wins John Avery Award for The South America Wine Guide

Amanda Barnes has been awarded the John Avery Award for her The South America Wine Guide book, which was described as ‘heralding a new era’ in wine travel books. The book, which is the result of a decade of research conducted by Barnes while travelling the continent, details the wine regions, wines and producers of Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Peru. It highlights over 70 wine regions and maps out 40 in detail — many of which have never before been mapped or documented in the En ...

Chianti Classico DOCG raises the bar: Producers to add new subzone and Gran Selezione 

In 1932, the Italian government expanded the boundaries of Chianti to incorporate neighbouring territories where grapes and chianti-style wines had long been produced. And in 1967, four years after the enactment of the Italian DOC system (Denominazione di Origine Controllata), the first official Chianti DOC was created, including seven sub-zones: Colli Fiorentini, Colli Senesi, Rùfina, Colli Aretini, Colline Pisane and Montalbano, plus the original Chianti Classico. The entire area was elevated ...

The best wines of Sachsen in other styles