I often wonder how seriously one should take German whites other than Riesling - they often appear to offer the sweetness without the hard graft on the side of the winemaker and as for the dry ones the price versus usefulness ratio seems to be high.
When I was a kid my grandfather would occasionally open a bottle of German white, Bruessele from Adelmann was his favourite - the Swabian weather doesn't really favour sweet wines and he was diabetic anyway - for the sake of a drink and conversation. It was different to going for a glass in a pub or wine bar, the bottle takes equal significance with the conversation but the conversation is never about the wine which serves to inspire and complement the conversation - much like we drink Bordeaux with our meals. Under these conditions, and the assumption being that the stuff you drink is of the higher quality (in the case of Adelmann this often merely equates to being expensive), it seems only right that the wine is a Riesling. Or look at another way - why ruin a good wine by eating a meal with it or why ruin a potentially good occasion by a pedestrian wine.
But then I suppose you are right, there are enough questionable Rieslings out there so if one finds a great non-Riesling then why not.
Does this post have a point? I don't think so. Let's give it one - There is a chap I know in Eibstadt makes a great auslese and Sekt with a grape called the Albalonga - might be worth a try (no affiliation or commercial interest on my part).
Riesling versus the rest
I often wonder how seriously one should take German whites other than Riesling - they often appear to offer the sweetness without the hard graft on the side of the winemaker and as for the dry ones the price versus usefulness ratio seems to be high.
When I was a kid my grandfather would occasionally open a bottle of German white, Bruessele from Adelmann was his favourite - the Swabian weather doesn't really favour sweet wines and he was diabetic anyway - for the sake of a drink and conversation. It was different to going for a glass in a pub or wine bar, the bottle takes equal significance with the conversation but the conversation is never about the wine which serves to inspire and complement the conversation - much like we drink Bordeaux with our meals. Under these conditions, and the assumption being that the stuff you drink is of the higher quality (in the case of Adelmann this often merely equates to being expensive), it seems only right that the wine is a Riesling. Or look at another way - why ruin a good wine by eating a meal with it or why ruin a potentially good occasion by a pedestrian wine.
But then I suppose you are right, there are enough questionable Rieslings out there so if one finds a great non-Riesling then why not.
Does this post have a point? I don't think so. Let's give it one - There is a chap I know in Eibstadt makes a great auslese and Sekt with a grape called the Albalonga - might be worth a try (no affiliation or commercial interest on my part).