Volker Gies What a treat to visit 5 young winemakers on a recent trip to Germany, arranged by the Masters of Wine and Geisenheim university. Germany is one country that gets very high marks for putting an emphasis not just on young “millennial” age consumers, but also in terms of encouraging young winemakers in their [...]

  Very excited to visit Schloss Schonborn again this week as a student in the Masters of Wine education program. The first time I went was on a trip sponsored by the German Wine Institute and the European Union for its Destination Riesling program. I remember being very impressed by the Schloss and our host [...]

  During the trip we will be having dinner at this winery, an event called “‘Bistro Freundstück’ Bassermann-Jordan winery is a family dynasty which, together with others, established and greatly influenced quality-based viticulture in Germany for almost 300 years. As scientists, they worked on improving wine-growing methods and consider that they wrote the definitive book [...]

  We may tentatively visit Ludi Neiss … and I will have more to say if we do. For now, the story is that Axel Neib is the fifth generation winemaker and the vineyards have been converted to mostly classic varieties. The picture above tells a million stories and I can’t wait to see it [...]

markus schneider belvini … so on the trip, our group will also be stopping at the winery of Weingut Markus Schneider. According to the web site (a rather creative and loose Google translation) Schneider likes to make fresh, concentrated wine with more mineral than fruit and works on the principle (“less is more.) Red wine [...]

  I am SO EXCITED to be visiting Philipp Kuhn in Pfalz this week! It will be my first time to Pfalz,and Kuhn is one of the key producers of Pinot Noir, along with other international red varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Laurent, and “early Burgundy” — I suppose I will find out [...]

  So I recently received a shipment of the exciting 2010 vintage of assorted German wine from Valckenberg. This is the oldest family owned wine merchant in Germany, and is now run by Wilhelm Steifensand, a seventh generation descendant. Today Valckenberg has multiple domestic partnerships and is active in 24 countries worldwide. The wines in [...]

  Do you love Riesling wine? After spending three days in Germany recently on a Master of Wine sponsored trip, I am absolutely amazed at the quality, minerality, and incredible power of these wines. So you can understand that when I received a case of wines from Valckenberg recently, you can imagine my delight – [...]

Martin Tesch Today in NYC two of the biggest wine shows came to town, both located at the same time at different ends of the city. Now knowing that Riesling is a white, lower alcohol wine, you may prefer to visit Riesling producers first and leave the more alcoholic, more red varietal Spanish wine for [...]

 Riesling Wine: Dry or Sweet? Do you like Riesling wine? If so, the next question would be which type? As you are aware, Riesling can be bone dry or as sweet and thick as honey. And an even sharper question may be how you prefer your Riesling to be packaged? The scary looking, but traditional, [...]

Riesling Producer Profiles & Articles Many of these articles are based on visits to producers. The New Riesling Taste Profile Producer Profile: Tasting Nirvana with Weingutt Donnhoff A Tale of Two Schloss: Schloss Vollards and Schloss-Schoenborn Discussing Hochberg Riesling With Dr. Michel Tasting Riesling with Jakob Schneider Jr, in Nahe Inhaling Wine with Joseph Leinz [...]

Nature or nurture,” you might ask, wondering about the temperament of a child or the elements that go into a particularly delicious, well balanced wine. Today’s wine world is often a hotbed of deception. For example, if you find yourself admiring the buttery, oak-y aroma and palate of an affordable Chardonnay, watch out! You very [...]

Quick! Imagine yourself in a restaurant or wine shop. You want a Riesling wine, yet you are savvy enough to know this grape lends itself to luxuriously rich dessert wines or bone dry wines with incredible mineral content. Just looking…

“Nature or nurture,” you might ask, wondering about the temperament of a child or the elements that go into a particularly delicious, well balanced wine. Today’s wine world is often a hotbed of deception. For example, if you find yourself…

In Germany, the word “schloss” means castle or “manor house.” These are historic structures, many first built during the Roman times near the very best vineyards in the land. The idea was to create a grand estate to showcase the…

If you’ve been in the wine world for a while, you have experienced the Chardonnay craze, the Merlot madness, and the Pinot Noir obsession ignited by a certain popular film. Perhaps you have come to love Sauvignon Blanc so intimately…