I would concur with that, many many years ago Constantin broke it all down for me on Halbtrocken vs Feinherb but sadly I only vaguely remember the conversation.
Sorry for being inaccurate, I meant that havenât seen wines labeled as Kabinett Halbtrocken as we were talking about off-dry Kabinett wines. As said above, lots of wines labeled only as âHalbtrockenâ in the inexpensive supermarket wine category (although this doesnât mean that all wines labeled only as halbtrocken would be supermarket wines).
Checking out data from CT again - apparently there more than twice as many Kabinett feinherbs than there are Kabinett halbtrockens, so it seems that feinherb is a preferred term over halbtrocken with Prädikat wines. Which isnât surprising, seeing how the undefined feinherb allows for a higher amount of RS compared to halbtrocken, which has a defined upper limit!
Ludes make (have made) a Kabinett Halbtocken. But there are more designated as Feinherb.
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Weiser-KĂźnstler made a 2021 Trabener Gaispfad Kabinett halbtrocken with about 13 grams of sugar per liter and just 9.5 percent alcohol.
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There are definitely some of them. I have talked to producers about this. Some feel that Feinherb is too undefined. Where as a halbtrocken is understood to be that spot between dry and Kabinett and in my words closer to dry than Kabinett.
The 2021 Weiser-KĂźnstler Trabener Gaispfad Riesling Halbtrocken is a great example of this.
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Yes I noticed that there are quite a lot of them, including lots from great producers. However, my point was that it doesnât seem to be as common as Kabinett feinherb!
However, Robert, you are once again conflating Kabinett with sweetness, which is the misconception from which this whole discussion arose! Kabinett only tells the level of must weight (ie. indirectly ripeness), not the sweetness. A Kabinett (trocken) can be drier than a wine labeled as just halbtrocken. However, yes, today a wine labeled just âKabinettâ without any additional information is often going to be sweeter than a wine labeled halbtrocken.
But yes, I can understand why some producers would choose to bottle a wine as halbtrocken in lieu of feinherb, as it is an official term and also more clearly defined, whereas feinherb is giving more of an impression of a style instead of more precise information about the RS.
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Otto - I think it is fair to say when you write Kabinett and do not add Trocken that 99.9% of readers know you mean it as a sweet kabinett.
How would you suggest I refer to a wine picked at Kabinett ripeness levels that is sweet?
When it comes to labeling you have these choices
Kabinett Trocken
Kabinett Halbtrocken
Kabinett Feinherb
Kabinett Eiswein
Kabinett
I think it is clear that Kabinett is referring to sweetness.
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I had a 2021 Darting Riesling DĂźrkheimer Feuerberg Kabinett Halbtrocken in a 1L bottle. Darting seemed to be a producer that preferred the term Halbtrocken over Feinherb. Agreed, feinherb seems to be the preferred term.
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The problem is that Kabinett on its own doesnât give away any indication of sweetness. When it comes to Riesling, yes, the wines are often sweet. However, to my understanding a producer doesnât have to tell how sweet a wine is, so they can make a dry or off-dry Kabinett and label it just as âKabinettâ. Isnât that quite common with grape varieties other than Riesling?
But, yes, I do agree that the term itself is difficult as there is no official term to specifically denote a sweet Kabinett. When talking about Riesling and writing just Kabinett, most likely it is going to be a sweeter wine, so youâve always got probability on your side. However, thereâs always the caveat that the wine isnât sweet after all.
However, Kabinett Eiswein? How does that even work?
CT found only a couple of Kabinett Eisweine and they seemed to be just regular Kabinett wines according to the photos.
It doesnât negate your point, that something like âkabinett halbtrockenâ is an unusual find, but as a curiosity, here is this one (spatlese, not kabinett)
- 2010 Ratzenberger Bacharacher Posten Riesling Spätlese halbtrocken - Germany, Mittelrhein (6/24/2020)
We drink a lot of Ratzenberger, and my biggest complaint is that they are so inconsistent from wine to wine and vintage to vintage. But when they are on, they are such happy wines! This one was spot on, with a lightness on the palate that was perfectly balanced against the depth of flavor. Meyer lemon, apricot, some lavender and even a touch of rosemary on the finish. The sweetness level was in my sweet spot, as it were, for pairing with many Asian dishes. Though this couldn't quite handle the bite of the ginger topping our king salmon, its tenacious acids cut nicely through the fattiness of the fish. Halbtrocken rocks.
Posted from CellarTracker
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Indeed, all kinds of combinations of ripeness and sweetness levels are possible. Not only Spätlese, but Iâve also had some trocken and halbtrocken Auslesen (and one could argue that modern GG wines are often Auslese trocken wines - as long as they are not chaptalized or otherwise manipulated).
The weirdest combination Iâve had was a trocken Beerenauslese. Not a Trockenbeerenauslese, but a trocken Beerenauslese (ie. a dry wine made from partially botrytized grapes). It was pretty horrible. 
FYI - Darting is no more. 
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If the VDP had its way, Kabinett would only mean a fruity-sweet wine. The VDP wants a Prädikat on the label to indicate a wine with noticeable residual sugar, as many drinkers are unaware that Kabinett, Spätlese, and even Auslese can also be fermented dry or off-dry, as per the 1971 Wine Law. Put differently, the VDP is attempting, among other things, to support the assumption that the Prädikat designations historically meant a sweet wine. But the terms evolved, especially after the post-war years.
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Anyone else tried the JJ Prum Spatlese Halbtrocken?
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Never even seen it.
Only made in 1996, or 1986, IIRC - which is quite possibly wrong.
In 2014, I had the 1994 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spätlese halbtrocken from J.J. Prßm at Schloss Monaise. But the 1988 Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Spätlese trocken, which was served first and blind by Hubi Scheid, was even better.
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I have. It is good but obviously not as good as thier sweet wine. They also made a Auslese Trocken. I also have had and still own Prum Kabinett Eiswein.
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I thought Eiswein was a Prädikat on its own, so Kabinett Eiswein didnât make any sense to me, as two Prädikats seemed to conflict with each other. However, Wikipedia gave some clarification on the matter:
Until the 1980s, the Eiswein designation was used in conjunction with another Prädikat (which indicated the ripeness level of the grapes before they had frozen), but is now considered a Prädikat of its own.
So I guess Robertâs Kabinett Eiswein must be quite old then?
1970s era. I forgot the exact vintage.
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