Unfortunately, we also carry an ancestral memory of the German wine exported in the 70s and 80s, much of which consisted of medium-sweet wines produced in high volumes rather than to high quality standards, often made from uninspiring, damp- and cold-resistant workhorse varieties such as müller-thurgau.
Times have changed. Germany, like many other wine-producing regions, has benefited from improvements in winery technology. It has also shifted its focus away from fruity, sweet liebfraumilch blends to concentrate more on its beautiful, expressive pinot noir (spätburgunder) and pure riesling.
Germany is the world’s third largest producer of pinot noir, after France and the US, and its fine-boned spätburgunder now has an ardent following among fine wine lovers willing to splash out £50 a bottle. There are some decent supermarket entry-level versions, too.
Riesling has always had an appreciative audience, just, in my view, not a big enough one. Now should be its moment.
Take Blueprint Dry German Riesling 2024, Nahe, Germany (11%, Waitrose, £7.50). This is a light, bright white with pinpricks of effervescence that drinks a bit like vinho verde, but with a sour lime and mineral twist. It isn’t bone dry, but at 7.8g per litre of residual sugar, I’d call it off-dry, with a sweetness level that sits comfortably in the mid-range of the vinho verde scale. Vinho verde is hugely popular and prices have risen accordingly, so the smart money would go for this instead.
Dining and Cooking