What are some good German wines?

By Volker Eichener

I start with the most obvious and best-known: riesling. Riesling is a grape that grows well in the rather cool German climate. It is also found in Alsace, California and South Africa. Riesling wines are usually very crisp and have delicate citrus notes, often combined with mineralic accents by the terroir. Good rieslings come from Mosel, Rhein, Ruwer, Nahe, Pfalz, also Baden (where riesling is called Klingelberger). Rieslings can be dry, sweet or very sweet, especially late harvests, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese or the rare Eiswein (wine made from frozen grapes, happens not every year). If the harvest is late, the wine may get a botrytis aroma. Some famous wineries include: Kloster Eberbach (Rheingau). Dr. Loosen (Mosel). Maximin Grünhaus (Ruwer). Robert Weil (Rheingau). Schloss Vollrads (Rheingau). Van Volxem (Mosel). Markgraf von Baden (Baden). Besides riesling, there are some other grape varieties to taste. Something very special is the wine region of Franken (Northern Bavaria). There, the sylvaner grape produces exzellent, aromatic wines with fine mineral tastes. Zehntkeller and Wirsching from Iphofen are great, also Juliusspital from Würzburg. The grape variety that is usually called pinot grigio, in German Grauburgunder, can be excellent, especially in the region Baden. Great producers are Alde Gott and Kellers Schwarzer Adler. A rare and lesser-known grape variety is Auxerrois which grows on the upper Mosel. Fruity, floral wines. Herber is an excellent winery. Germany is not so famous for red wines, but you may give these ones a try: Red wines from the Ahr, both fruity and mineralic, sometimes volcanic: Stodden, Meyer-Näkel, Adeneuer are the best wineries in the region. The premium red wine from Alde Gott, Alte Reben, from Baden is also recommendable.