Top 100 white wines of Sachsen

Discover the top 100 best white wines of Sachsen as well as the best winemakers in the region. Explore the varietals of the white 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

Taittinger UK Sommelier of the Year 2022 winner revealed

After a two-year hiatus due to Covid, the UK Sommelier of the Year competition was back with a bang and saw Arnese bag the highly-respected title on Monday 18th July 2022. He pipped this year’s runner-up Agnieszka Swiecka (The Five Fields Restaurant) and 2019 runner-up Gareth Ferreira (Core by Clare Smyth) to the post. The competition is organised by The Caterer in partnership with the UK Sommelier Academy (UKSA) – a new non-profit organisation, officially launched yesterday – which provid ...

Drinks industry ramps up efforts to raise money in aid of Ukraine crisis

In addition to the fine wine auctions reported on previously by Decanter, further initiatives have been set up to raise money for those in crisis. UK-based wine importer Les Caves de Pyrene has been helping to relocate families fleeing from war-torn Ukraine and settle them in safe havens across Europe, in accommodation provided by the importer’s European winemakers. To help cover the logistical costs of relocating families, the importer has announced it will hold a fundraising auction and charit ...

Wine lover: The climate needs you!

Kimberly Nicholas PhD (@KA_Nicholas) is a sustainability scientist at Lund University, and author of Under the Sky We Make: How to Be Human in a Warming World  Our 2020 research found that how fast we succeed at stopping warming will determine how much of the wine-growing regions and their characteristic varieties we love will remain in our lifetimes.  Changing to warmer-climate varieties can help limit losses, but there are limits to adaptation.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. ...

The best wines of Sachsen in other styles