Drinking Germany

These are exciting times for German winemakers and their wines, says Andrew Catchpole

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THERE IS A RENEWED ENERGY AMONG GERMANY'S WINEMAKING FRATERNITY WHICH, coupled with an ongoing evolution both stylistically and with the labelling of the wines, was palpable at the funky G Major UK trade tasting in London this April. 

Modern and in the swing of things, with a saxophonist and a sensory wine and art class to jolly things along, the crisp presentation sent a clear message that Germany means business when it comes to upping the ante regarding the image and communication of its wines. 

And there’s much to shout about, with so much going on. Most knowledgeable wine people readily agree that Germany delivers not just great quality, but some fantastic value for money, with the flagship variety, Riesling, being one of those highly regarded by commentators, sommeliers and merchants alike. 

Moreover, there has been an ongoing collective trend to produce dry styles of Riesling, which has undoubtedly helped those selling and recommending these wines to drinkers, who in turn are increasingly oblivious – due to upcoming younger generations – of any past negative associations with cheap and sweet offerings. 

This change is marked, even in the most traditional of previously off-dry and sweet-leaning regions such as the Mosel. 

“Younger producers are following the lead of pioneering winemakers such as Ernst Loosen before them, seeking out quality, going back to the steep and hard-to-work slopes, and the perception of the Mosel as a traditional region producing sweeter styles of wine is also changing with drier styles increasingly to the fore,” says Leweke von Marschall of Mosel-based Richard Bockling. 

The challenge now facing Germany is two-fold: it needs to continue to drive global understanding of its outstanding portfolio of typically drier Rieslings, while relaying the message that the country’s winemakers make much, much more besides. 

“We need to get away from the brain thing, and get into the tasting thing,” is how Christian Nett of Weingut Bergdolt-Reif & Nett describes the challenge. “It is really important to get younger people into German wines, and the diversity of the wines, which is understood in Germany, but not beyond our borders.”

Nett, who cultivates diverse varieties in the warmish Palatinate, suggests that global understanding of the evolution in Germany lags a decade behind the reality of the wine scene today, but is confident the world is catching up. It’s an assertion born out in several northern European countries, where proximity to Germany – plus factors such as Berlin being a regional cultural beacon, looked to as a trend-setting city by a younger generation – has seen imports of German wines growing.

“In Germany now 95% of Riesling in the on-trade is dry and globally the drier styles are definitely having an impact, with a buzz around our wines in Holland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and countries such as the Czech Republic and even Italy,” says winemaker Ernst Loosen. “The taste for dry Riesling is also growing fast in the US and we are selling like crazy in China, but also with off-dry styles.” 

The Deutsch Wine Institute’s Great Britain and Scandinavian contact Carola Keller backs up these assertions, pointing to the fact that in Norway, for example, one in three bottles of white wine drunk is German. She also describes dynamic growth across Scandinavia, and says the UK (third largest export territory after the US and then Netherlands) is delivering high value growth at all levels above £7. 

China and the broader Asia Pacific region is also in growth, with Loosen suggesting that the mix of prestige drinking in China coupled with the clamp down on corporate gifting has benefitted the perceived high quality but reasonably priced (compared with top Bordeaux, for example) and food-flexible Rieslings that Germany offers. 

“In Asia our off-dry styles of Riesling can also be more compatible with both the general Chinese palate and also the spicier elements in many foods, so once the door is opened these styles are gaining in popularity too,” suggests Loosen. 

Keller says the ongoing work of the DWI is now to promote diversity: “Our challenge is to continue to focus on our great asset, Riesling, but while also encouraging people to try the vast diversity of German wines, the variety of styles, producers and regions.”

One of the drawbacks for Germany is that, despite being an economic powerhouse and major political player at the heart of Europe, its culinary prowess is little known beyond its borders, which in turn means there is no ‘ethnic’ German restaurant sector to showcase its wines. 

“Few people beyond Germany understand or know of the excellence of its culinary scene,” says Martin Lam, ex-chef and UK-based wine and restaurant consultant. “Germany has 11 three Michelin star restaurants alone, and a far greater concentration of Michelin stars than the UK, but there are almost no German restaurants of quality, ignoring a few bratwurst vendors, seen beyond Germany, so there is little understanding of this.”

Lam is hardly a lone voice when he states that German Riesling can be a fantastic and highly flexible food wine, perfectly suited to the plethora of global influences and cuisines found in cities such as London. And the trend in modern British and much European cooking towards vinegar and salt pickled ingredients, with sweet and sour elements to dishes, also plays to the strengths of Riesling, including its off-dry styles. 

“Once people have become comfortable with the idea of dry Rieslings, they can then perhaps be encouraged towards off-dry styles which can work so well with so many styles of food,” concludes Lam.

Riesling gateway

Tobias Brauweiler, head sommelier at Hakkasan in London, agrees, also arguing that Riesling remains the best gateway to Germany’s breadth of diverse varieties and styles. 

“Sommeliers typically have German wines on the list and these are wines that they like to sell, but they are always a hand sell, even Riesling,” says German-born Brauweiler. “But Germany is much more than Riesling, there are so many interesting varieties, with whites such as Scheurebe, Silvaner, Pinot Blanc and very good Pinot Gris (or Grigio), along with excellent Pinot Noirs, all of which open up so many possibilities with food. 

“So in a way [the lack of public understanding] doesn’t matter because our job is to recommend something good for the customer, something that will work with the menu, and in this way we are gradually introducing people to the idea that Germany is more than just Riesling,” he adds.

In many ways Germany’s progress and position on the global stage will continue to be defined by the limitations of the nation as a producer. Consider that the long-term average annual production is 9.15hl, accounting for around 2% of global wine production, with domestic thirst for German wines again in growth (following market share denting small vintages in 2010 and 2013), and add in a relatively high entry-level price for the wines, and it is obvious that Germany necessarily needs to position itself as a relatively niche producer of quality wines.

“We will always be a smaller producing nation with mainly small producers, so we can’t really produce large volumes of value wines, having to concentrate on quality instead,” says Keller. “So we need to promote quality and being premium so that people understand this across all of Germany’s wines.”

Currently, though, it’s not Germany’s medley of other exciting and often highly food-compatible whites that are leading the charge in expanding horizons. The Pinot Noir, now often labelled with its international rather than indigenous name of Spätburgunder (as with its white compatriots Weissburgunder and Grauburgunder – namely Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris), is one of the latest emerging stars on the world’s wine scene. 

Recently anointed master of wine Anne Krebiehl is a passionate advocate of German Pinot Noir and explains why – albeit from a very small base and low recognition – it is now starting to make waves. 

Soil variety

“Germany has so many different soils and climates,” says Krebiehl. “And while people say that Pinot Noir needs Burgundian type soils to really excel, in Germany we see excellent Pinot Noirs from limestone, but also schist, slate, sandstone and volcanic soils, so you have a really wide choice. But remember that these are all within an Old World framework in style.”

It’s a message that is gradually gaining ground, helped along by hikes in the prices of Burgundy and an often very favourable quality-to-price ratio for their German rivals. Bear in mind, too, the often-overlooked fact that Germany has the third-biggest plantings of Pinot Noir in the world after France and the US (where sparkling wine takes the lion’s share), and the potential, coupled with the quality now coming out of Germany, is clearly high. 

Back to London, which remains at the forefront of global wine trends, there are some intriguing signs that Germany’s modern offerings are engaging with a fresh generation. 

At the uber-hip Sager + Wilde wine bar in the East End of London, bearded hipsters can be found quaffing German Pinot Noir by the glass, while the creative types of Clerkenwell and media folk of Soho have been devouring German Riesling dispensed on tap at Vinoteca’s influential wine and food oasis. And at Gordon Ramsay’s eponymous three Michelin-starred flagship restaurant in swish Chelsea, Grosses Gewächs quality reds and whites are also being poured by the glass. 

It’s a niche but growing scene that is being echoed among influential and cutting-edge restaurants and bars around the world, marking, perhaps, the long-overdue renaissance of quality German wines.