Jenna Fields became infatuated with German wine in an unlikely place: Lotus of Siam in Las Vegas. She had ordered the spiciest dish and “needed to put the fire out.” A glass of Fritz Haag Spätlese, a gorgeous off-dry Riesling, did just that. “It was the first time a food and wine pairing clicked for me,” she says.
After working in wine tasting rooms while in business school at Sonoma State, Fields received a business card in the mail from her boyfriend’s mom. It belonged to Rudi Wiest, the legendary importer (now deceased — Wiest passed away earlier this year) whose historic portfolio helped rebuild the U.S. German wine market. In 2008, Fields convinced Wiest to let her join a customer trip. “I went over there and thought it was just going to be a way to travel because I knew nothing about German wine, but after just a couple of days, I knew I was going to do this for my entire career,” says Fields.
It wasn’t just the world-class wines and stunning scenery that captured Fields, but the people behind the bottles and the centuries-old wine culture. When Rudi Wiest Selections closed in 2019, Fields stepped in to fill the gap. “I just couldn’t let this German portfolio go,” she says. In early 2020, she founded The German Wine Collection and transitioned Wiest’s portfolio to her company. Today, the GWC represents 22 wineries and imports over 350,000 bottles annually. It is the only U.S. importer exclusively focused on German wines.
Amy Jasmine Baker
“I knew for the category, and for these growers, and for the long-term employees of Rudi Wiest, it was better staying together,” says Fields.
Education is paramount to Fields’ mission. In the U.S., part of that is helping customers unlearn long-held misconceptions that all German wine is sweet or that it’s all Riesling. “Of course Riesling will always be the queen of the portfolio, but I find that getting people to understand German wine with varietals that aren’t associated with sweetness is key.” She’s bullish on the quality and affordability of Germany’s Pinot varieties: The country makes spectacular Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris and is now the world’s leading producer of Pinot Blanc.
She hopes to make German wines more fun, too. This sometimes means pouring sekt, German sparkling wine, alongside caviar-topped chicken nuggets.
“German wine has been white tablecloth for so long … having these wines at the wine bars and restaurants where we want to spend our time [is key],” she says.
Fields believes that the proof is in the glass. She sees an opportunity to recontextualize German wine by seeing it listed by grape variety, not by region, so that German Chardonnay and Pinot Noir can be next to those of, say, Burgundy or Sonoma County.
“We’re not tricking people into drinking German wine,” she says. “But we want them to have something they love in the glass and have it being from Germany to be an afterthought.”
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