Poll: What is your favorite German wine region?

What is your favorite German wine region and why? Variety of terroir, wine styles, varieties planted, beauty, history, or any other reasons are all game.

Thanks and Cheers,
Bill

Aw crap, this one's hard. I'd go with Mosel by a hair.

[Robin Garr]

German isn't one of my strengths, but I still have happy memories of visits there. I've got to go with Mosel based on history, beauty, and the clarity, transparency and minerality of its Rieslings at their best. Does the Mosel grow anything else but Riesling?

The problem with democracy right here, people like me allowed to vote in polls like this!

I certainly don't have the breadth of experience to comment with much insight, but that won't stop me. My favorite German wines come from Mosel, so that's what I picked. I've never (knowingly) had a Franken or Baden wine.

German wine is difficult in many ways for the average punter, such as myself, to get to know well. The quality wines are not generally well represented on store shelves so one has to go quite a bit further afield to find them and even at that point the regions outwith Mosel are not common and the Müller-Thurgau or Riesling are going to be what ones finds most often.

ן voted for Mosel, but it just edged out Nahe.

German wine is difficult in many ways for the average punter, such as myself, to get to know well.

I'd disagree entirely - if you're willing to put in even a small amount of time/effort, it's a very easy region to get to know, compared to say the Northern Rhone, Bordeaux, Burgundy, etc.

The wines are incredibly inexpensive, so if you go with producers like Ulli Stein, Meulenhof, Kruger-Rumpf, Leitz, Lauer and such, you can experiment across a range of styles and regions without ever breaking the bank for top quality wines. Even top wines like Leitz's Roseneck Spatlese, Schaefer's Domprobst Kabinett and Schafer-Frohlich's Felseneck Spatlese are quite reasonably priced and available - so unlike most other regions, it's easy to become familiar with the very top producers without it being a major expense. Doesn't hurt either that the wines are so easily accessible for long periods of time - there are very few other regions where you can open bottles on release and really enjoy them (certainly not Bordeaux, Barolo, Cote-Rotie, etc).

And there are some incredibly passionate and quality conscious importers like Terry Theise, Mosel Wine Merchants and Rudi Wiest, so there's a fantastic selection and it's hard to really go wrong if you're going by the back labels. And as far as labelling issues, stylistic diversity and such, there's enough information with things like the Terry Theise catalogs or some of the Crush emails with vintage reports or producer/vineyard surveys - certainly a lot easier to get familiar with those wines than a LOT of other regions where cost or drinking windows become a challenge.

The quality wines are not generally well represented on store shelves so one has to go quite a bit further afield to find them.

That is crazy talk.

Macarthurs and Schneider's are further afield? Not to mention all the great stores to order from online!

I agree with Salil, there are so many great producers being imported at reasonable prices. If one wants to learn about the Mosel, Saar, Ruwer, or Nahe there are lots of options to choose from to get to know the area. The Pfalz, Rheingau and Rheinhessen can be found, but the selections are not as comprehensive. Franken is of course thinner and Baden and Saale Unstrut are almost impossible to find.

And while we mainly only get a limited slice of German wine (the off-dry rieslings) we get pretty much the best of it, and in fairly large quantities relative to the demand (judging from all the older vintages that languish on shelves). All in all a pretty good situation for the consumer.

I go back and forth among the Mosel, Saar, and Ruwer. At their best, I probably like the raciness of Saar rieslings. But the Mosel is a touch more consistent across vintages. And the Ruwer is so small that it's tough to separate out my love for the region and my love for Grunhaus.

The Nahe, the Rhein, the Pfalz and other parts south are a bit too big and lose that delicate filigree of riesling that I love so much from the Mosel.

And needless to say that although I drink all the other wines when in Germany, the rieslings are still my main focus/love.

And while we mainly only get a limited slice of German wine (the off-dry rieslings)

That's starting to change as well - the Theise portfolio's started emphasizing trockens/GGs more, and we're seeing more and more dry wines from top producers like Donnhoff, Leitz, Catoir and Spreitzer, which normally weren't too prominent in the Theise portfolio earlier.

Dan Melia is also bringing in a lot of dry-tasting (some legally trocken, some not) Rieslings from the likes of Lauer and Ulli Stein, and there's a nice cross section of both lower end and higher end trocken Riesling from producers like Schafer-Frohlich, Rebholz, Catoir, Leitz, etc that's giving us Rieslingheads a few more options.

Now if only those Schloss Neuwaier Rieslings you'd opened at Grand Sich last time were more readily available here...

And while we mainly only get a limited slice of German wine (the off-dry rieslings)

That's starting to change as well - the Theise portfolio's started emphasizing trockens/GGs more, and we're seeing more and more dry wines from top producers like Donnhoff, Leitz, Catoir and Spreitzer, which normally weren't too prominent in the Theise portfolio earlier.

Sure. Although I get the impression that in comparison to a place like France where we get a fair representation of the wine scene, there are still lots of top German wines/producers that don't get exported to the States and our representation is not balanced. Especially when we get beyond riesling. But perhaps there isn't a market for them.

Another vote for Mosel. Unique wines for their combination of fragrance, minerality, moreish acidity and quite light but bright elegance. And the valley together with its tributaries make up arguably the most beautiful wine region in Europe with, alongside the Loire, the most welcoming growers.

I voted Mosel (66% of my German wine, if including Saar). Mostly off-dry Riesling, few dessert Riesling. But if question had been phrased differently (like Desert Island region) I might have gone for Pfalz or Franconia for more variety.

Since you've, like the German gov't, lumped the Mosel, Saar and Ruwer together, it gets my vote, though there is plenty of love left for the Nahe, Pfaltz and Frankenland.

I voted for Pfalz. I find their Rieslings somewhere between Rheingau and Mosel, somewhere near to Nahe. It is for me the golden mean, although from time to time I like to taste the "extremes".

Except the Rieslings some of the producers make lovely Sauvignons Blanc, like for example Weingut Georg Mosbacher in Forst, SB seems to be in in Germany.

Perfect timing for this question. I was just reading up on Germany from The Wine Bible. However, the book was written in 2001 so the information is over ten years old. How much has Germany changed since early 2000? I ask because she lumps Nahe with other wine regions (Ahr, Baden, Franken, Mittlerhein) and basically states they make quaffing wines. Many of the responses have Nahe at the top of the list so I'm wondering how much has changed over the last decade (or was she off on her original statement).

Perfect timing for this question. I was just reading up on Germany from The Wine Bible. However, the book was written in 2001 so the information is over ten years old. How much has Germany changed since early 2000? I ask because she lumps Nahe with other wine regions (Ahr, Baden, Franken, Mittlerhein) and basically states they make quaffing wines. Many of the responses have Nahe at the top of the list so I'm wondering how much has changed over the last decade (or was she off on her original statement).

I wouldn't put much stock in that statement (who is the author?).

Nahe had some outstanding growers before 2000. Donnhoff produced some outstanding wines even then, and other estates like Schonleber and Schlossgut Diel made some fine stuff too (some of the '98 Diels I've been recently opening have been superb).

The quality in the region's gotten even better now - there are some great up and coming producers (Schneider, Kruger-Rumpf) making excellent wines at very good value prices, Schafer-Frohlich and Schonleber are making outstanding ranges of wine from dry through sweet and Donnhoff is still Donnhoff and freaking amazing.

Yeah, Donnhoff himself could probably carry the region all by himself.

[David M. Bueker]

I voted Nahe, basically because I like the overall style of wines that come from most of the notable producers (not so hot on Diel), and because the quality of the dry wines is close to equal with the off-dry and sweet wines. I love the Mosel (all 3 parts), but the dry wines still leave something to be desired. The Rheinau could conceivably get my vote, except that too many of the great sites are dominated by still underperforming estates. I used to be more of a Pfalz fan than I am now. Losing access to Lingenfelder hurt, as well as the reduced availability of Koehler-Ruprecht.

Does the Mosel grow anything else but Riesling?

Just because they do, doesn't mean they should. I have had a good Pinot Blanc (Weißburgunder) or two, and once in a while some vineyards produce solid Pinot Noir (Spätburgunder), but those are the exceptions. Hey Mosel, Stick to Riesling if you know what's good for you.

Since you've, like the German gov't, lumped the Mosel, Saar and Ruwer together

Well, yes.

If you ask a Moselaner which region he comes from he'll answer any one of five:

Obermosel is roughly between Perl (at which point France, Luxembourg, and Germany share a border) and the Saar/Mosel confluence
Mittelmosel is the area from Longuich just north of trier and the Ruwer -Longuich downstream through all of the famous vineyards to about Traben-Trarbach or Pünderich
Untermosel (or Terrassenmosel) is Zell all the way downstream to Koblenz
Saar
Ruwer

All five have vast differences.

The other regions could justifiably be split up into smaller sections as well, but I figured it was beyond the scope of this poll.

Cheers,
Bill

And while we mainly only get a limited slice of German wine (the off-dry rieslings)

That's starting to change as well - the Theise portfolio's started emphasizing trockens/GGs more, and we're seeing more and more dry wines from top producers like Donnhoff, Leitz, Catoir and Spreitzer, which normally weren't too prominent in the Theise portfolio earlier.

Dan Melia is also bringing in a lot of dry-tasting (some legally trocken, some not) Rieslings from the likes of Lauer and Ulli Stein, and there's a nice cross section of both lower end and higher end trocken Riesling from producers like Schafer-Frohlich, Rebholz, Catoir, Leitz, etc that's giving us Rieslingheads a few more options.

It will be very interesting to see what happens over the next ten years or so, because as we've discussed before, it's definitely getting drier and quick. German producers sell a lot more wine to Germans than they sell to Americans. From an economic and philosophical standpoint, drier Riesling is the direction that makes sense to a lot of these producers.

Cheers,
Bill

SB seems to be in in Germany.

It certainly does. And that is one of the reasons that while the Mosel is the top choice of America, it is probably fourth or fifth place in Germany. the Mosel and Rheingau are very Rieslingcentric (and for good reason), but other regions simply have more options.

Ask a European what his favorite American AVA is and Napa will undoubtably be the top (and probably only) answer. And it's not for the Malbec, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc or even Pinot Noir. It is the Cabernet that is famous. I would venture to say that only a small fraction of a percent of Europeans know that Oregon and Washington make awesome wine.

Cheers,
Bill

Perfect timing for this question. I was just reading up on Germany from The Wine Bible. However, the book was written in 2001 so the information is over ten years old. How much has Germany changed since early 2000? I ask because she lumps Nahe with other wine regions (Ahr, Baden, Franken, Mittlerhein) and basically states they make quaffing wines. Many of the responses have Nahe at the top of the list so I'm wondering how much has changed over the last decade (or was she off on her original statement).

I wouldn't put much stock in that statement (who is the author?).

Nahe had some outstanding growers before 2000. Donnhoff produced some outstanding wines even then, and other estates like Schonleber and Schlossgut Diel made some fine stuff too (some of the '98 Diels I've been recently opening have been superb).

The quality in the region's gotten even better now - there are some great up and coming producers (Schneider, Kruger-Rumpf) making excellent wines at very good value prices, Schafer-Frohlich and Schonleber are making outstanding ranges of wine from dry through sweet and Donnhoff is still Donnhoff and freaking amazing.

Yes, guys like Tesch, Diel, Dönnhoff and Jakob Schneider have been perhaps not quite famous, but well-known since at least the late 1970s.

And David, the wines have definitely gotten drier in the last ten years. There is more of a focus on Pinot Noir and the other Pinot Varieties, less of a focus on the high-yielding, high Oechsle crossings. There is definitely more emphasis on bringing in cleaner, better-quality fruit, and with that a renewed focus on more ecological farming practices. Technology is playing a bigger role for the average winery that was making bulk wine in the 1980s and 1990s, and the producers who were using a lot of technology to make clean wines in the 1980s and 1990s seem to be going further into non-interventionist cellar-practices. Generally speaking, that is.

Cheers,
Bill

I used to be more of a Pfalz fan than I am now. Losing access to Lingenfelder hurt.

Strange. There is very little buzz about Lingenfelder in the Pfalz at all. They are completely off the radar -I never see the wines for sale.

Cheers,
Bill