The Wonderful World of German Wines

May 18, 2021

In case you missed out on last week’s post, we talked a whole lot about chardonnay. This week we’re looking at another few wines from the winegrowing regions of Germany which are less common in the American wine market today.

Yes, Riesling can be dry! And some of the most fabulous examples of Riesling are dry, IMO. A lot of people think sugary, syrupy sweetness when those two syllables (‘reese-ling’) are spoken. But if you haven’t tried a dry, or ‘Trocken’ Riesling I adjure you to taste one. One of my favorites from The Wine Connection is the Nägelsförst dry Riesling from Baden, Germany. If you want to make your next night of Chinese takeout night even more magical, you should throw this beauty into the mix. The way the brightness of acid and aromatics in this wine pairs with the super savory flavors in Chinese food (and with most Asian cuisine it works) is incredible.

Another wonderful wine I’d like to mention is Silvaner which is most commonly cultivated in Bavaria – far south in Germany. The grape has been there practically since wine-growing began in the region and isn’t very popular (that I’m aware of..) in many other parts of the world. Granted, they grow Silvaner in some other parts of Germany, in Austria, in Alsace, and in Switzerland. From what I understand Silvaner is quite a difficult grape to grow that reveals a great difference in profile depending on where it’s grown. At the moment we have Hans Wirsching’s 2017 Iphöfer Kalb (100% Silvaner) in both 375’s and 750’s. The bottles come in a very unique shape called a ‘Bocksbeutel’ that looks like a WWI canteen. It was a common shape for bottles made in the region from as early as the late 1600s to keep them from rolling. I had this wine last night with Persian-style chicken and saffron cranberry rice. Woah! What a pairing!

Lastly, I’d like to take a glance at Spätburgunder. I’ll give you a few minutes to try to figure out how to pronounce that. OK, its shpat-bur-goon-der. This is actually just a German name for Pinot Noir. I can hear the sighs of relief. In Germany, Spätburgunder has been cultivated since around the 4th century. Germany is in fact the world’s third largest producer of Pinot Noir! German Pinot Noir (or Spätburgunder) is often lighter in body and tannin than its counterparts produced in other warmer parts of the world. Overall, Spätburgunder’s boast freshness and complexity that make them very great values in the Pinot Noir market. At the moment the 2012 Salwey Rappen Spätburgunder is one of my favorites. It drinks like Premier Cru red Burgundy, and at $34.99 that’s a quite a deal.

Everyone is itching to travel the globe at the moment. While as of today you can’t just hop on a plane and go to Germany, you can take a tour of Germany’s wine regions through enjoying some of these spectacular wines. Come check us out soon – we would love to set you up with some German goodies.

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