Hi guys. What a sad inditement of the British knowledge and understanding of German wine, despite all the massive efforts of the DWI in both Mainz and London, however having spent 2 weeks back in the UK over Xmas and shopping in the dreadful supermarkets with my wife, it is obvious that Liebfraumilch still rules; the merchandising in stores still places this and it's Black Tower cousins in key positions on the shelf, and it's only in Waitrose with their army of MW's who are giving quality German wine the space it deserves. I would also add that my wonderful army of German winemaker friends do nothing for the general public to understand what is inside a bottle of "Rudesheimer Berg Rottland Spatlese Trocken Erstes Gewachs"' and now with the recently revised rules by the VDP it is becoming even more goddam difficult to fathom, and I'm not the only 1 saying this as I just spent 1 month back in September at 4 VDP auctions and without naming names, many of the top winemakers are aghast at these changes. These masters of winemaking need to understand that marketing plays a very important role in the sale of wine, and in all honesty if I was an English customer I too would play safe by only purchasing wines that I had a faint idea of what's inside. I noticed that Erni Loosen now sticks a "DRY" sticker on his GG's, an admirable start that it no way detracts from the usual illegible (and often artistically beautiful) wine label, how about the others follow suit? Or what about a "traffic light" system on the reverse as some Riesling makers in Australia follow? As you might guess I am a passionate devotee of German wine and Riesling in particular, and having lived in Asia for 17 years and sharing my German wines with both foreigners and locals, once you get a Mosel Riesling in the mouth of a Vietnamese or Thai person to go with their very light and delicate cuisine, you will have a follower for life. What do we need to do guys to spread the word?
Your survey
Hi guys. What a sad inditement of the British knowledge and understanding of German wine, despite all the massive efforts of the DWI in both Mainz and London, however having spent 2 weeks back in the UK over Xmas and shopping in the dreadful supermarkets with my wife, it is obvious that Liebfraumilch still rules; the merchandising in stores still places this and it's Black Tower cousins in key positions on the shelf, and it's only in Waitrose with their army of MW's who are giving quality German wine the space it deserves. I would also add that my wonderful army of German winemaker friends do nothing for the general public to understand what is inside a bottle of "Rudesheimer Berg Rottland Spatlese Trocken Erstes Gewachs"' and now with the recently revised rules by the VDP it is becoming even more goddam difficult to fathom, and I'm not the only 1 saying this as I just spent 1 month back in September at 4 VDP auctions and without naming names, many of the top winemakers are aghast at these changes. These masters of winemaking need to understand that marketing plays a very important role in the sale of wine, and in all honesty if I was an English customer I too would play safe by only purchasing wines that I had a faint idea of what's inside. I noticed that Erni Loosen now sticks a "DRY" sticker on his GG's, an admirable start that it no way detracts from the usual illegible (and often artistically beautiful) wine label, how about the others follow suit? Or what about a "traffic light" system on the reverse as some Riesling makers in Australia follow? As you might guess I am a passionate devotee of German wine and Riesling in particular, and having lived in Asia for 17 years and sharing my German wines with both foreigners and locals, once you get a Mosel Riesling in the mouth of a Vietnamese or Thai person to go with their very light and delicate cuisine, you will have a follower for life. What do we need to do guys to spread the word?