Dry German Wine

Go for the word "trocken" on the label. Try to go to restaurants/ places that are recommended by wine geeks, trust their recommendations. Most speak English.

M.

Well, you should know that this ubiquitous plonk is not at all representative of what the Germans can do... Michaels advice is sound, but you might also want to look for Halbtrocken (semi-dry). And, speaking of sweet plonk - try a good Auslese or Beerenauslese for dessert to surprise you. Anders

Black cat selection? After 1971 "Black cat" or "Schwartze Katz" was the generic name given for wine from Zell and 2 neighboring villages, a total of

Nitpicking: it is "Hochheim" - like in "High-home" :-)

Any estate can put their names on bottles... In such cases the wine usually is a blend. The best is always single vineyard wines and the label will always give that name, Vollrads and Johannisberg are an exception as both are single (huge) vineyard properties, afaik.

Anders

The german wine market is hard to overview, even for germans, so why not concentrate on the top class from the beginning?

The "Rheingau Riesling" is the wine to look out first. The region is southeast of cologne, an hour or so by car, and well worth a visit, even for touristic reasons. Two of the best regarded vineries are "Georg Breuer" at Rüdesheim (a tourist trap) und "Franz Künstler" in Hochheim (Künstler means artist in german :-) Try the "Hochheimer Hölle Kabinett trocken", one of the best german white wines < 10$. "Schloss Vollrads" is also a good advice (and a nice place to sit in the garden of the castle in late summer). And don't miss the monastery "Kloster Eberbach", good vines, but a bit on the expensive sides. And many many others (take your Little Johnson with you..)

The rhine vines from the other side of the river ("Rheinhessen") are not always in the same league, a lot of massmarket vines, but "Gunderloch" in Nierstein is top class. You can't go wrong with any of his vines.

Riesling from the Mosel area can also be excellent, but i don't have names handy.

An excellent vinery in southern germany (Baden/Kaiserstuhl) is "Franz Keller" in Oberbergen near Freiburg. Keller is a legend, who also runs a top class restaurant, and was the pioneer of dry german wine some twenty years ago. Not only Riesling, but (again) you can't go wrong with any of his vines. Should be availble in good vine shops.

Ans if you are still curious, try some "Silvaner" from "the "Franken" region. Funny bottles, not that easy to transport. "Hans Wirsching" and "Fürst Löwenstein" are just two vineries to look for. You may find some bottles at "Karstadt" (department store)

Enjoy your trip

Frank

In addition to these, I'd also recommend Robert Weil. The winery is in Kiedrich, a bit upriver from Rüdesheim, and they have good tasting room. Their better wines are just terrific.

Even though Rüdesheim really *is* a tourist trap, there are some good wines to be found there from small, relatively unknown producers. It's also a good centrally located HQ for trips to other towns along the Rhine.

Cheers,

-Topi Kuusinen, Finland

I really don't have much Nahe experience outside Dönnhoff. Any other producers you (or anyone else) especially recommend? I just picked up a Qba from the Staatsweingut(!!!!!) that a store recommended, I'm skeptical but we'll see. Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

The Staatsdomäne Niderhausen-Schlossböckelheim used to be very, very good some 25 years ago. However, after the cellarmaster of that time moved on there was a decline that continued until it all was sold to a Maurer who's reputed to do good work. If you talk about Staatsweingut Bad Kreuznach, I've no information. Top producers of Nahe are Dönnhoff and Emrich-Schönleber, followed by: CRUSIUS, GÖTTELMANN, KORRELL - JOHANNESHOF, KRUGER-RUMPF, OSKAR MATHERN, GUTSVERWALTUNG NIEDERHAUSEN- SCHLOSSBÖCKELHEIM, PRINZ ZU SALM-DALBERG SCHLOSS WALLHAUSEN, SCHÄFER-FRÖHLICH, TESCH,

Thanks Anders for the info, will file it.

The Qba was indeed Staatsweingut Bad Kreuznach, uninspiring.

Dale

Dale Williams Drop "damnspam" to reply

Does anyone have an opinion of the Dr Loosen Rieslings? I have found them to be most ejoyable.

I've tried several Loosen wines, all of them were good but only one sticks in my mind as being great- that was a Berncastler Badstube Icewine; truly brilliant!

Hi Dale,

I liked the Kirschrother Wildgrafenberg Riesling QbA Trocken a lot (made a short posting on it sometime back too). I have been planning to visit the village but it is very poorly connected by public transport and I do not have a private car at the moment.

Cheers

You should try some of the wines from Dr. Burklin-Wolf. These are some of the best wines from the Pfalz. Except for their desert wines BA, TBA all of their wines are vinified dry. The Ruppertsberger Gaisbohl is great but on the expensive side. You might start off with their Estate Riesling a real value and fine dry wine. Check out any of their wines you can find, I am sure you will not be disappointed.