Building a successful restaurant wine list has never simply been about finding the highest-scoring or most expensive wines.

For sommeliers, every bottle must earn its place. It needs to perform at the table, complement food rather than compete with it, appeal to a broad range of guests, and give service teams confidence when recommending it. The best restaurant wines combine technical quality with versatility, offering enough complexity to reward experienced wine drinkers while remaining approachable to those discovering a style for the first time.

Those qualities were on full display at the 2026 Sommeliers Choice Awards, where the 2023 Schloss Vollrads Kabinett Riesling, represented in the United States by Delicato Family Wines, was named Riesling of the Year, earning a Gold Medal and 95 points.

Image: 2026 Sommeliers Choice Awards winner - 2023 Schloss Vollrads Kabinett Riesling.

The wine impressed judges with its purity and balance. Pale straw in colour, it opens with aromas of ripe stone fruit, citrus blossom and wet stone. On the palate, vibrant acidity carries juicy fruit while a savoury mineral edge adds tension, precision and length. Rather than relying on richness or weight, it succeeds through freshness, elegance and harmony, qualities that make it particularly compelling in a restaurant setting.

For sommeliers, that's exactly the point.

Why Kabinett Works So Well in Restaurants

Restaurant wines have a very different job from wines tasted in isolation.

A wine might impress in a judging room through concentration and power, yet struggle when paired with food over the course of an entire meal. Conversely, wines with freshness, balance, and moderate alcohol often become indispensable on restaurant wine lists because they enhance the dining experience instead of dominating it.

This is where Kabinett Riesling excels.

Produced from ripe grapes harvested at the earliest Prädikat level, Kabinett is defined not by richness but by precision. Its hallmark is transparency, with fruit, vibrant acidity and minerality working in harmony to create wines of remarkable freshness, balance and food compatibility. 

Image: Team carefully harvests the grapes by hand.

The result is a wine style that remains energetic from the first sip to the last.

For sommeliers, that translates into exceptional flexibility.

A well-made Kabinett can comfortably accompany oysters, shellfish, sashimi and delicate fish dishes, while its aromatic lift and bright acidity also make it an outstanding partner for vegetable-led cuisine. It performs equally well alongside dishes featuring chilli, ginger, aromatic herbs and spices, where fuller-bodied white wines can often feel heavy or lose definition.

The style also offers enough structure to complement roast pork, smoked fish and richer poultry dishes, making it one of the few white wines capable of moving confidently across multiple sections of a tasting menu.

Image Source: Schloss Vollrads.

That versatility has practical benefits for restaurants.

A wine that pairs across numerous dishes gives sommeliers greater freedom when recommending by the glass, simplifies food pairing conversations, and allows guests to enjoy a single bottle throughout an entire meal. It also offers an excellent gateway into German Riesling, particularly for diners who may have preconceived ideas about sweetness but are often surprised by the balance and freshness that define classic Kabinett.

The Estate That Helped Define Kabinett

The story behind this award-winning wine makes its success even more significant.

Located in Germany's Rheingau, Schloss Vollrads is one of the oldest continuously operating wine estates in the world, with more than 800 years of documented history.

Even more remarkably, it is one of the very few major estates devoted exclusively to Riesling.

Its influence extends far beyond longevity.

Schloss Vollrads is widely credited with the first documented Kabinett designation in 1716, when the estate began reserving its finest wines in a cabinet room within the castle. Those specially selected wines became known as "Kabinett" wines, establishing a precedent that would later help shape Germany's Prädikat classification system.

More than three centuries later, the estate continues to produce the very style it helped define.

For sommeliers, provenance matters.

Guests increasingly want wines with authentic stories, regional identity, and genuine heritage. Schloss Vollrads offers all three, not through marketing, but through centuries of continuous Riesling production in one of Germany's most respected wine regions.

Why the Rheingau Continues to Matter

Great estates require great vineyards.

The Rheingau has long been recognised as one of the world's benchmark regions for Riesling, producing wines celebrated for aromatic purity, vibrant acidity and mineral precision.

Protected by the Taunus Mountains and moderated by the Rhine River, the region enjoys conditions that allow Riesling to ripen gradually while retaining freshness, producing wines with both immediate appeal and impressive ageing potential.

Image: Vineyards in the heart of the Rheingau.

Those characteristics are clearly reflected in the 2023 Schloss Vollrads Kabinett Riesling.

The citrus blossom, stone fruit, and mineral character identified by the Sommeliers Choice Awards judges are not simply tasting descriptors. They are expressions of site, climate, and a winemaking philosophy that seeks elegance over excess.

Preserving History While Investing in the Future

Although Schloss Vollrads is deeply rooted in history, it continues to invest in the future of Riesling production.

In 2022, the estate broke ground on a new gravity-flow winery built into the hillside above the historic castle.

The facility has been designed to allow grapes and wine to move naturally through production with minimal pumping, helping preserve fruit quality while reducing energy consumption and unnecessary handling.

Sustainability sits at the heart of the project.

Solar panels, battery storage, combined heat-and-power technology and lower-carbon construction materials have all been incorporated into the design. Once fully operational, the winery is expected to supply approximately 80 percent of the estate's energy and heating requirements while supporting the long-term production of site-driven Rieslings.

Image: Schloss Vollrads - New wine cellar powered by renewable energy.

These investments reflect an understanding that stewardship extends beyond the vineyard. For restaurants increasingly interested in sustainable producers and responsible farming, initiatives like these add another dimension to the estate's appeal.

Leadership Focused on Place

Since becoming Managing Director in 2020, Ralf Bengel has continued Schloss Vollrads' long-standing commitment to elegant, terroir-driven Rieslings.

A native of the Rheingau and a graduate of Hochschule Geisenheim University, Bengel built his career working with Riesling, including at the renowned Kloster Eberbach estate, before joining Schloss Vollrads in 2018.

Under his leadership, the estate has continued its transition towards certified organic viticulture while maintaining the stylistic consistency that has defined Schloss Vollrads for generations.

Rather than reinventing the winery, Bengel's approach has focused on strengthening its identity, ensuring the estate continues to express both its historic vineyards and the character of the Rheingau.

Image: Ralf Bengel, CEO of Schloss Vollrads, stewarding one of Germany's most historic wine estates.

Why Sommeliers Chose It

The Sommeliers Choice Awards evaluate wines through a lens that mirrors real restaurant service.

Rather than recognising technical excellence alone, judges assess wines for qualities that matter in hospitality: balance, drinkability, value, food compatibility and overall appeal within an on-premise environment.

That makes the recognition of the 2023 Schloss Vollrads Kabinett Riesling particularly meaningful.

This is not simply a wine that performs well in a tasting flight. It is a wine built for the dining table.

Image Source: Schloss Vollrads.

Its freshness encourages another sip. Its acidity refreshes the palate rather than tiring it. Its aromatic complexity rewards attentive drinkers without becoming intimidating, while its versatility allows sommeliers to recommend it confidently across a broad range of cuisines.

These are precisely the qualities that continue to make Kabinett one of the hospitality industry's most quietly dependable wine styles.

A Wine That Reflects Modern Hospitality

The success of the 2023 Schloss Vollrads Kabinett Riesling is about more than one outstanding vintage.

It reflects the enduring relevance of a style that aligns naturally with the way many restaurants serve wine today.

As menus become more globally inspired and guests increasingly seek wines that emphasise freshness, balance and drinkability, Kabinett offers a combination of precision, versatility and authenticity that few styles can match.

For Schloss Vollrads, the award represents another chapter in an extraordinary history that stretches back more than eight centuries.

For restaurant professionals, it serves as a timely reminder that some of the most valuable additions to a wine list are not always the newest trends, but the classic styles that continue to prove their worth in service, year after year.

The 2023 Schloss Vollrads Kabinett Riesling is one of those wines. Its recognition as Riesling of the Year celebrates not only exceptional quality in the glass, but also the enduring role that great Kabinett continues to play at the restaurant table.

Header Image: Schloss Vollrads - Wine shops & sales team

Also Read:
How Top Restaurants Choose Wines For Their Wine Lists
Mastering the Pairing: South African Wines and Global Cuisines