Europe

Sip Germany

Mosel Riesling, Sekt, Bavarian beer gardens, Cologne Kölsch and Frankfurt apple wine

Travel across Germany through its real regional drinks: steep-slope Riesling, Rhine and Pfalz wines, German Sekt, Helles, Kölsch, Altbier, Rauchbier, Frankfurt Apfelwein and distinctive spirits. Find regional stories, food pairings and verified bottles.

Destination in depth · Germany

Germany: beyond the beer stein

From the impossibly steep vineyards of the Mosel to Bavaria’s shaded beer gardens, Germany has an astonishing range of drinking traditions. Discover what makes each place special, what belongs on the plate beside it, and which bottles you can actually explore through Sipping.

Explore six regional stories Follow the tasting journey Deep dive: German Riesling Browse German bottles

Featured deep dive · Riesling

One grape. So many styles.

Follow Riesling from the Mosel to the Pfalz, decipher dry, off-dry and Kabinett, discover food pairings and compare bottles from our current retailer catalogue.

Read the complete Riesling guide

13 wine regions

From Mosel Riesling to Baden Pinot Noir, each with its own character.

Far beyond lager

Kölsch, Altbier, wheat beer and Franconian smoked malt.

Made for food

Pretzels, seafood, sausages, cheeses and surprising wine matches.

Vineyards encircling a bend in the Mosel River near Bremm, Germany

01 / Mosel, Saar & Ruwer

Slate, steep vineyards and one of the world’s most expressive white grapes

Riesling grown on remarkable slopes

The Mosel is an extraordinary place to understand Riesling. Vines climb steep, often terraced slopes above the river, where the exposure and local conditions can help a late-ripening grape achieve balance in a relatively cool climate. The Saar and Ruwer are part of the wider Mosel wine region, each with individual sites and personalities.

Not all Riesling is sweet. A trocken wine is dry; a feinherb wine can be gently off-dry; a Kabinett may be dry or carry perceptible sweetness. Look at the full label rather than treating Prädikat as a sweetness scale. Across styles, vibrant acidity can make a Riesling sing with food.

A crisp dry Riesling with river fish or schnitzel; a little residual sweetness with spicy food.

German Riesling: the complete guide Discover German bottles

A glass of German white wine overlooking vineyards near Geisenheim in the Rheingau

02 / Rheingau & Pfalz

Riverbank vineyards, the German Wine Route and an overlooked fizz

From grand Riesling to sparkling Sekt

The Rheingau follows a celebrated stretch of the Rhine, with historic estates, fine dry Riesling and a long story of late-harvest wines. Farther south, the Pfalz is warmer and generously varied: Riesling sits beside Pinot varieties, aromatic whites and ambitious red wines. The German Wine Route offers a natural way to discover producers town by town.

Sekt deserves more attention outside Germany. Some sparkling wines are made from imported base wine, while Deutscher Sekt and estate-focused Winzersekt have more specific German-grape or producer associations. Traditional-method Sekt can be particularly rewarding: ask about grape origin, method and time on lees rather than assuming every bottle is equivalent.

Brut Riesling Sekt with a salty pretzel or canapés; dry Pfalz Riesling with roast poultry.

Sip the Rhine: castles and vineyards Rhine wine buyer guide Understand Riesling & Sekt Find German Sekt

Vineyards and a town alongside the Mosel River in Germany

03 / Baden, Ahr & Franconian wine

Spätburgunder, Silvaner and the shape of a bottle

Germany makes proper red wine, too

Riesling may be the headline, but Germany also makes notable red wine. Spätburgunder is Pinot Noir: look towards Baden and the Ahr for different expressions, from fragrant, lighter styles to more structured and carefully oaked wines. Vintage, site and cellar choices matter more than a simple country stereotype.

In Franconia, Silvaner is a regional signature, often bottled in the distinctive squat Bocksbeutel. It can be savoury, textured and quietly food-friendly. This is a useful reminder that Germany is a collection of drinking cultures, not a single glass repeated everywhere.

Spätburgunder with roast duck or mushrooms; Franconian Silvaner with asparagus.

Explore wine styles More food pairings

Beer garden tables at the Chinese Tower in Munich’s English Garden

04 / Bavaria

Helles, Weissbier, Märzen and the pleasure of taking your time

A beer garden is a way of life

In Munich and across Bavaria, beer has a rhythm of its own. Helles is a golden, malt-friendly lager with a gentle bitterness. Weissbier is a wheat beer, often cloudy, with yeast-driven notes of clove and banana. Märzen and Festbier are distinct traditions associated with autumn and festivals; neither should be confused automatically with a heavy, dark beer.

The classic beer garden is as much about company, shade and an easy meal as the drink. Brotzeit, pretzels, Obatzda cheese and roast meats can be wonderful alongside a carefully poured lager. Alcohol-free wheat beers and lagers also make a useful way into the region’s brewing traditions.

Helles with a pretzel and Obatzda; Weissbier with roast chicken or a lightly spiced dish.

Explore German beer styles Beer & Cider hub

Cologne Cathedral and Hohenzollern Bridge above the Rhine in Germany

05 / Cologne, Düsseldorf & Bamberg

Kölsch, Altbier and the remarkable Rauchbier of Franconia

Three cities, three very different beers

Cologne’s Kölsch is a delicate, pale, top-fermented beer traditionally served in slim Stange glasses. Its name is geographically associated with Cologne and nearby breweries. Düsseldorf answers with Altbier: darker, clean, pleasantly bitter and also top-fermented, but markedly different in its malt character.

Head to Bamberg and you encounter Rauchbier, a smoked-malt beer whose flavour can recall beechwood smoke and savoury food. It is a distinctive local speciality, not a description of all German beer. These three traditions are a far more revealing introduction than assuming everything German must be a pilsner.

Kölsch with Halve Hahn (a rye roll and cheese); Altbier with roast pork; Rauchbier with smoked trout.

Learn about Altbier What is Rauchbier?

Frankfurt skyline across the River Main, Germany

06 / Frankfurt & the orchard

Apfelwein, apple orchards and a refreshingly different local ritual

The apple wine served from a Bembel

Frankfurt’s traditional drink is Apfelwein, a fermented apple drink associated with the city and surrounding Hessian orchards. In a traditional apple-wine tavern it may arrive in a blue-grey stoneware Bembel and be poured into a diamond-patterned Geripptes glass. Order it pure or mixed with sparkling water if you prefer a lighter, longer drink.

It belongs with food: the sharpness cuts through Handkäs mit Musik, sausages and the herbs of Frankfurt green sauce. It is related to cider, but it deserves its local name and its own story. Germany’s wider spirits also range from grain-based Korn to fruit brandies, herbal liqueurs and the wine-linked gin of the Saar.

Apfelwein with Handkäs or green sauce; Saar gin with a simple, citrus-led tonic.

Discover cider traditions German spirits in our catalogue

Illuminated Christmas market stalls in Munich, Germany

A seasonal tradition

When the markets glow, the Glühwein flows

German Christmas markets bring winter into focus: warm spiced Glühwein, gingerbread, roasted nuts and stalls filled with light. Glühwein is typically gently heated with citrus and spices rather than boiled; white-wine versions and alcohol-free Kinderpunsch are also popular. Follow our Christmas collection for recipes, variations and festive pairings.

Explore Glühwein

Taste the country, not all at once

Five ways into Germany

A suggested discovery route over multiple occasions. It is not a drinking challenge, and every stage has a non-alcoholic or food-first alternative.

01 / Germany tasting route

Start with sparkle

A dry Riesling Sekt: fresh bubbles, clean acidity and a useful aperitif.

02 / Germany tasting route

Follow the river

A Mosel Kabinett or dry Riesling to discover the importance of site and balance.

03 / Germany tasting route

Take the beer-garden route

Try a classic Helles or Weissbier, including an alcohol-free version if preferred.

04 / Germany tasting route

Meet Frankfurt

A small glass of Apfelwein, ideally with something savoury to eat.

05 / Germany tasting route

Finish another day

Discover a German herbal liqueur or a Saar gin rather than rushing the route.

Research & useful distinctions

We distinguish where wine is grown from where it is bottled, and regional beer traditions from beer that merely uses a German-sounding style name. Our current catalogue is stronger in German Riesling, Sekt and spirits than German beer; we link to genuinely relevant beer guides rather than label unrelated products as German.

German Wine Institute: 13 regions German Wine Institute: Riesling German Brewers Association: beer styles Frankfurt: Apfelwein tradition

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Related Sipping picks

Genuinely German Riesling, Sekt and spirits from our approved affiliate catalogue. German beer varieties are explored in the beer chapters until suitable German bottles are available through our partners.