Overview
- Paula Löber, 29 and a project manager at Rotkäppchen-Mumm, won the title in Neustadt an der Weinstraße after a televised final that the viewing public decided through online voting.
- The contest combined expert jury rounds, blind tastings and live stage challenges to test candidates’ tasting skills and onstage knowledge.
- Löber’s victory is only the second national title for the Saale-Unstrut region since the early 1990s and follows a week of regional preselection that produced five finalists.
- Kathrin Knierim (Rheinhessen) and Natalie Schäfter (Württemberg) were named Weinprinzessinnen and will join Löber in representing roughly 14,000 German wine businesses during the coming year.
- The Deutsches Weininstitut says the 2026 harvest produced very ripe, healthy grapes that should yield aromatic wines but probably lower volumes because berries were smaller, giving extra weight to the queen’s promotional role for domestic sales and exports.