With winery names well beyond the pronunciation capabilities of your average North American, Germany has long been a tongue twister of a wine region for many.  Unfortunately, I’m not about to facilitate anything.  Having sat through a lecture on Terroir, Ripeness and Style – with each presenter getting up and speaking better English than I could ever speak German, rhyming off names of vineyards, wineries and regions which rolled off their tongue like butter on a hot roll and then they’d segue back to English with ease.  I still can’t get some of these names out, and I heard them being said a few times; the good news is you don’t have to be able to pronounce it to enjoy it – you just have to be able to find it.

Riesling is still king in Germany (20,627 ha); Pinot Noir seems to be her Queen (11,371 ha) and the rarely-seen-on-a-label (over here anyway) Rivaner, their prince, in the middle (14,983 ha).  Today I tried a few Rieslings, but also looked at a grape not even listed in the top 8 of Germany’s white grapes:  Gewurztraminer, with some very good results.

Riesling … (Read more)

To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.