Founded in 1910, the Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter today has almost 200 members from all German wine growing regions. They cultivate about 4% of Germany's vineyard area.
Members of the VDP voluntarily adhere to quality requirements which exceed those stipulated by the German wine law, such as lower yields. Estates and their wines are inspected and certified on a regular basis. Since 1990, 67 members have been expelled.
The VDP encourages - but does not require - ecologically-friendly viticulture. All grapes must be hand-harvested. Wines of VDP members can be recognized by the VDP logo on the bottle's capsule: the eagle with a bunch of grapes at its heart.
All vineyards by VDP members are classified, falling into one of three groups:
- Estate wines (Gutsweine)
- Classified site wines (Klassifizierte Lagenweine)
- First Growth (Erste Lage)