It's hard sometimes to avoid standing up during a panel discussion and shouting "You're missing the point!"
The UK wine trade is stuffed to the rafters with Riesling enthusiasts but scratch the surface and you'll find the majority of them think German wine = Mosel wine and they're seemingly ignorant of any contemporary developments and the exciting waves of dry wines that come from other, more southerly regions.
I can understand if your only contact with dry German wines has been from the Mosel that you might find them a bit lean and acidic (in fact even Mosel dry wines have gotten much more drinkable if some of the examples I've tasted from St Urbans Hof, Sybille Kuntz or Heyman Loewenstein are anything to go by)
If Australian and New Zealand producers can convince wine-drinkers to try dry Riesling then why do the UK trade think it's such an up-hill struggle? The major barrier I see with my guests is the conviction that German wines are sweet! It's the first thing they always ask when I recommend a German wine
I found this a really frustrating discussion to sit through and I truly hope that the German producers present don't take too seriously the thoughts of the gentleman from Matthew Clark.
The future isn't in Mosel kabinett (with climate change it's getting tricky to do anyway), the future isn't with blending Riesling with Sauvignon blanc or Chardonnay, the future isn't with bordeaux shaped bottles and non-Germanic fantasy names.
It's hard sometimes to avoid
It's hard sometimes to avoid standing up during a panel discussion and shouting "You're missing the point!"
The UK wine trade is stuffed to the rafters with Riesling enthusiasts but scratch the surface and you'll find the majority of them think German wine = Mosel wine and they're seemingly ignorant of any contemporary developments and the exciting waves of dry wines that come from other, more southerly regions.
I can understand if your only contact with dry German wines has been from the Mosel that you might find them a bit lean and acidic (in fact even Mosel dry wines have gotten much more drinkable if some of the examples I've tasted from St Urbans Hof, Sybille Kuntz or Heyman Loewenstein are anything to go by)
If Australian and New Zealand producers can convince wine-drinkers to try dry Riesling then why do the UK trade think it's such an up-hill struggle? The major barrier I see with my guests is the conviction that German wines are sweet! It's the first thing they always ask when I recommend a German wine
I found this a really frustrating discussion to sit through and I truly hope that the German producers present don't take too seriously the thoughts of the gentleman from Matthew Clark.
The future isn't in Mosel kabinett (with climate change it's getting tricky to do anyway), the future isn't with blending Riesling with Sauvignon blanc or Chardonnay, the future isn't with bordeaux shaped bottles and non-Germanic fantasy names.