Quality wines (formerly Q.b.A.) must undergo sensory and analytical testing in order to receive an official test number. They should be free of wine defects in appearance, smell and taste and correspond to a taste profile typical for the region. In this respect, quality wines are distinguished from table wine and country wine.

Production is subject to specific regulations that largely govern the parameters for vinification and marketing (grape varieties, maximum yield, sugar content, minimum alcohol content, etc.).

The Prädikatswein (formerly Qualitätswein mit Prädikat) represents a higher category of quality wines. Particularly high demands are placed on it with regard to must weight, condition of the grapes and type of harvest.
Prädikat wines must have a certain minimum must weight depending on the Prädikat level and growing region. Enrichment (chaptalisation) to increase the alcohol content is prohibited. The must weight is measured in Oechsle to determine the degree of maturity.

The predicates are:

• Kabinett: Kabinett wines are generally lighter, more elegant wines that must meet certain quality requirements: The natural sugar content in the must must be at least 76 degrees Oechsle in Baden. According to experience, the wines are to be drunk in the first three to five years.
• Spätlese: As the name suggests, these wines are harvested at a later stage when they are fully ripe. In Baden, legal minimum requirements stipulate 85 degrees Oechsle.
• Auslese:Third quality level of the German Prädikat wines (see quality levels); for this, diseased and unripe berries must be sorted out. The natural sugar content of the must in Baden is at least 98 degrees Oechsle.
• Beerenauslese: Made from overripe and noble rotten berries whose juice has a natural sugar content of at least 124 degrees Oechsle in Baden.
• Trockenbeerenauslese: Wines made from shrivelled, noble rotten berries. In Baden, the minimum must weight must be 150 degrees Oechsle.
• Eiswein: Ice wine is made from grapes that must be frozen at harvest and pressing (harvest at a minimum of -7 degrees Celsius) and whose must weight must reach at least the value specified for a Beerenauslese.

Sources: Wikipedia and Badischer Wein.