Having surgery in a couple weeks and need some reading material.I love German reislings but know next to nothing about them.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Best wishes on a fast recovery, Mike.
Can you read German? Frankly, there are not many good books written in English about German Riesling (at least none that are current/relevant).
The Finest Wines of Germany by Stephan Reinhardt (2012) is ok, but is far from comprehensive. I really like Wein Spricht Deutsch from Stuart Pigott because it covers all of the German regions, plus wines produced in all other German-speaking lands (Alsace, Alto Adige, Austria, Switzlerland, Lux, etc.) It is massive (and in German), but the maps and charts are worth a look as a reference. Weinatlas Deutschland is also worth having if only for the maps. I also like some of the much older books which give some historical context even if they are irrelevant regarding todays production or producers -look for Schoonmaker, Langenbach, Ambrosi on Amazon.
Cheers,
Bill
I think “The Finest Wines of Germany” would serve as a decent introduction to many of the great producers if you only know a little bit about them already. I wish it was a bit more in depth, especially around regions and vineyards but it’s probably your best bet, assuming as above that you may only speak English.
Just download Terry Theise’s catalog for free
In short, no, at least not in English and not anything like up to date.
Sadly I agree with Russell.
“Rheingold. The German Wine Renaissance” by Owen Bird is a very insightful introduction to what is going on in the German wine scene right now. At times, it is very technical, but always frank and with a lot of authority. I can highly recommend it.
There are some interesting ones in the old and out-of-print category, but nothing very worthwhile in English with recent information. As Howard mentions, the importer catalogs make for good reading though, and also the articles on Lars Carlberg’s site.
The Wines of Germany. Stephen Brook. Out of date but essential as it gets.
Some of the old books likely out of print that I have liked are
Hugh Johnson, Wine Atlas of German Wines
Peter Sichel’s rewrite of Schoonmaker’s book on German wines
Stuart Pigott, Life Beyond Liebraumilch
Interesting that you mention that one. I have copy that David Schildknecht gave to me. Throughout the introductory sections, David scribbled lots of notes in the margins about where he disagreed with Brook. It makes for fun reading.
Terry Theise’s book “Reading between the Wines” is a good read that talks about the region. Definitely not a “guide” to German wines but worth checking out
I guess I found this book to be a bit of a waste. A lot of philosophy that can be had with some real insight just by reading Terry’s catalogs. As someone who has looked at his catalogs for years, I did not get much from the book.
“Rheingold. The German Wine Renaissance” by Owen Bird is a relatively new book, published in 2005 by arima publishing in the UK. Inter alia, it reviews critically the Bourgogne based classification approach of the VDP, in which the predicates Kabinett, Spaetlese and Auslese are no longer an indicator of quality but have been donwgraded to an indicator of sweetness in the finished wine.
Christian,
The VDP resolution states “Specific taste profiles for the Prädikats are to be determined region by region…” Has this been done? Where is this information located.
David, I do not know what hs been done in terms of determining the specific taste profiles of the predicate wines. Sorry.
Makes the whole VDP pronouncement a little hollow if the regions do not follow through. Much ado about nothing.
Mike,
The “Gault Millau Guide to German Wines” is a bit dated but is still available from Amazon. It covers all the regions and profiles the major producers and their vineyard sites. I have found it to be helpful.
Good luck with your surgery.
Don Appleton
John Gillman has some wonderful and quite in depth articles. While certainly not a book, a few coupled together might provide what you need.
Thanks for all the great suggestions and well wishes.I ordered the finest wines of Germany ant Gault Millau books to start . I have a couple areas of Basal Cell Carcinoma that need to be removed, the result of years on the water and fair skin. A fairly routine procedure with a very high success rate, but I need to stay at the clinic most of the day. Thanks again!!