Elin McCoy – ‘The pleasures of German wines get lost among the umlauts’

Ever since a trip to the Rhine’s steepterraced vineyards last summer, I’ve been asking myself whether Germany’s wines are doomed to remain a niche category – one that inspires maniacal devotion only from wineworld insiders like me.

Everyone knows sommeliers are crazy for German Rieslings; from New York’s preacher of the gospel Paul Grieco at Terroir wine bar to the many who post Instagram photos of the rare ones they’ve enjoyed off-duty.

The country’s whites are supremely food-friendly. While premature oxidation plagues older white Burgundies, great aged Rieslings are amazingly consistent, and usually bargains. Not to mention the quality of recent vintages.

But in my informal sommelier poll, I was told Germany just doesn’t sell the way Burgundy does. And drinkers who eagerly lap up cuvées made from obscure grapes in Corsica or Georgia rarely know Germany has more to offer than Riesling (though thankfully they now know not all Rieslings are sweet).

Among my many trip discoveries was the deliciousness of the country’s other whites. Many drinkers are surprised to learn Germany is the world’s leading producer of Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder). During a hushed day of sipping and spitting at the annual Grosses Gewächs tasting in Wiesbaden, I found many to like, as well as superb bright, fresh Sylvaners, like those from Fürst-Löwenstein and Horst Sauer, that have the same appeal of Sauvignon Blanc, but more subtlety.Several producers I visited are in sync with the wine zeitgeist. Peter Jakob Kühn’s brilliant Rieslings are supercharged with energy and should convince other producers to take the biodynamic route he champions. At August Kesseler’s winery, built into a wall of rock, five Pinot Noir cuvées account for 30% of production and they’re subtle, savoury and smoky.Yet the amount of German wine exported to the UK has fallen by 64% since 2010; 40% to the US. The good news is a 17% uptick from 2016 to 2017 in the US, including a significant increase in German sparkling wine. One importer says German wine is having ‘a moment’ – that it’s where Burgundy was 20 years ago before it became wine lovers’ holy grail.

One problem is what I call the no-great-German-restaurants-outside-Germany factor. Surely Italian wine’s popularity grew out of the proliferation of top Italian restaurants and the country’s appeal as romantic travel destination.

There is, sadly, no Under the Tuscan Sun film counterpart to boost interest in any German wine region. Despite the fairy-tale castles I spotted from a boat drifting down the Rhine, none has been transformed into a lavish Six Senses super-luxury hotel with a spa, vineyard experiences and aerial yoga (don’t ask) like its new one in Portugal’s Douro Valley.

Nor are wine-friendly German dishes embedded in our consciousness. Bavarian bratwurst and schnitzel eateries focus on German beer, not Riesling. Only recently has a high-end, serious German restaurant opened in New York. Half the list at Michelin one-star Günter Seeger NY is devoted to German wine. Elsewhere they get a half-page if they’re lucky.

Maybe more important are the labels. Wine lovers still suffer from fear of gothic script and difficult-to-pronounce German names. The non-official prestige category of dry German wines, VDP Grosses Gewächs (GG on labels) is not nearly as easy to understand – or say – as grand cru, and that’s only one of many complicated terms. The pleasures of the wines get lost among the umlauts. That’s why August Kesseler and Peter Jakob Kühn switched to new, simpler and elegantly modern labels for all their wines in 2012 and 2013, respectively.

Maybe climate change will be the tipping point that pushes German wine into a brighter spotlight. With warmer summers, Germany’s Spätburgunders have become more consistent and complex, yet retain a cool minerality and savoury quality that make the best serious alternatives to Burgundy. Last year, New York importer Lyle Fass told me his sales of German Pinots were up 300%. It’s a good start.

What I’ve been drinking this month

Before wildfires descended on northern California wine country, I was in Napa. Ashes & Diamonds is a fascinating new project and its Vineyard 1 Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 is winemaker Steve Matthiasson’s recreation of a typical Napa Cab from the 1960s. It’s super savoury and herbal, with a long finish, and only 12.6% alcohol. The grapes come from the historic Rutherford vineyard George III and, in keeping with wines of the era, it was aged in a mix of French and American oak. It’s a fitting red to drink to the region’s recovery.

Andrew Jefford – ‘The wines didn’t open the door to the magical kingdom of Burgundy bliss’