German wine law and climate change

[Martin_Zwick]

Thanks, Martin, one quick point. Klaus Peter Keller’s father was surely referring to the southern area of Wonnegau. Ingelheim (also limestone) on the Rhine was famous for its Spätburgunder in the 19th century.

Of course, thank you for the hint.

[Howard_Cooper]

At the end of the day I buy bottles from my favorite estates like Willi Schaefer, Hofgut Falkenstein, Weiser-Künstler, JJ Prüm etc etc etc and I know I am in good hands.

Great approach. Of course, from time to time the producers change. I had not tasted (or even seen) any wines from Falkenstein since tasting a couple of 1989s until I was tasting a whole bunch of German wines on Saturday afternoon in NYC and Lars was pouring some of their 2015s. I very much liked the wines but did not find any available to buy until the 2017s. Liked what I have tried from what I bought and now have bought a bunch of 2019s.

[Lars_Carlberg]

Thanks, Howard. I’m glad you like the wines of Hofgut Falkenstein. We’re very excited about the 2020s, which are still in cask.

[Andrew_Bair]

I was just gifted the Krebiehl book and one of her points was that the better growers already work towards keeping their Riesling from overripening. I could imagine that you would want to regulate maximum oechsele for quality’s sake, but there really isn’t an internal market anymore for sweet Riesling (below the higher quality prädikat wines). And I don’t think we really need to worry too much about the sugar levels of a sweet Huxelrebe, since none of us really drink these anyway.

Same here - I received Anne’s book for Christmas, and just got through her chapter on Hessische Bergstraße. I thought that her chapter on Baden was the standout so far - she is really on top of all of the latest trends and developments in that region. I also like that she gives more attention to sekt than other English-language writers on German wines have done in the past.

If I have one criticism so far, the maps could be greatly improved if she ever decides to publish an updated version in the future. I found myself having to pull up various other print and online maps while reading about some of these less familiar regions.

Huxelrebe may not be a grape that I would seek out by any means, but I had a really nice 1972 Westhofener Kirchspiel Huxelrebe BA from J.G. Orb at Rieslingfeier a few years ago. Not that 1972 was a great year by any means, and not all of the post-1971 Kirschspiel is as good as the parcels that Keller and Wittmann own - combined with the mediocre crossing, I expected this to be a flabby, uninteresting wine. Sometimes, however, the wiines from lowly grapes or regions that surpass all expectations can be more memorable for me than the acknowledged great wines. (If anyone can enlighten me about J.G. Orb, thanks in advance.)

[Pau1_M3nk3s]

I was just gifted the Krebiehl book and one of her points was that the better growers already work towards keeping their Riesling from overripening. I could imagine that you would want to regulate maximum oechsele for quality’s sake, but there really isn’t an internal market anymore for sweet Riesling (below the higher quality prädikat wines). And I don’t think we really need to worry too much about the sugar levels of a sweet Huxelrebe, since none of us really drink these anyway.

Same here - I received Anne’s book for Christmas, and just got through her chapter on Hessische Bergstraße. I thought that her chapter on Baden was the standout so far - she is really on top of all of the latest trends and developments in that region. I also like that she gives more attention to sekt than other English-language writers on German wines have done in the past.

If I have one criticism so far, the maps could be greatly improved if she ever decides to publish an updated version in the future. I found myself having to pull up various other print and online maps while reading about some of these less familiar regions.

Huxelrebe may not be a grape that I would seek out by any means, but I had a really nice 1972 Westhofener Kirchspiel Huxelrebe BA from J.G. Orb at Rieslingfeier a few years ago. Not that 1972 was a great year by any means, and not all of the post-1971 Kirschspiel is as good as the parcels that Keller and Wittmann own - combined with the mediocre crossing, I expected this to be a flabby, uninteresting wine. Sometimes, however, the wiines from lowly grapes or regions that surpass all expectations can be more memorable for me than the acknowledged great wines. (If anyone can enlighten me about J.G. Orb, thanks in advance.)

Never had any wines from that Weingut. But get your point. Back in 2018 I had a delicious 1983 Reichensteiner from the Mosel (Zeltinger Himmelreich Spätlese). Reichensteiner!
I love the Krebiehl book. Still reading it. Yes, the maps could be better. I do have a quibble about the Baden chapter though too. Back in the mid-eighties Baden was a good source of off-dry to dry Rülander, AKA Grauburgunder. IIRC it was one of the most notable wines from the Kaiserstuhl, but she makes no mention of it’s importance. Tja. Regardless, the changes in Baden between then and now are astounding, and it continues to rapidly evolve.