The Wines of Germany
by Anne Krebiehl MW
I am really glad I got this book, The Wines of Germany, by Anne Krebiehl MW, Anne has done an amazing job of research here on this incredibly informative tome and she has with some talent made it easy to understand and readable. With German wine law being as dysfunctional as it is, she has made it as clear as possible, which was no easy task even for a Master of Wine, like she is. You can through the pages see Krebiehl is passionate about her subject and knows her stuff, she has a real grasp of Germany’s past, present and future. The layout and chapters are well thought out and go by with surprising ease, this includes a ton of history of both Germany, its wines and individual personalities, plus a great overview of each of Germany’s 13 main regions, from the Mosel to the Rheingau and beyond. There is everything you’d want and more about climates and terroir, plus it goes deep on winemaking styles and almost every varietal and where they thrive, with a heavy lift on Riesling, as one would expect, as well as a nice amount of time given to Spatburgunder, Germany’s name for Pinot Noir. It was also good to see loads about my favorites and old friends, like Donnhoff, Leitz and Selbach, to spotlight just a few.
Of course there are things, grapes and producers that were overlooked, but overall there is so much is here, there can be no complaints, plus there are some great finds here, and I will be doing my best to get my hands on some of Anne’s recommended wineries and future stars, including Gesine Roll of Weingut Weedenborn in the Rheinhessen and Weingut Benedikt Baltes in the Franken region, to name a few. There are plenty of pages dedicated to the classics and the established stars too, with many interesting tidbits about the domaines and I learned a lot, and I’m well informed about German wine and have visited many times! There’s much here that you’ll want to have on hand or close to hand if you are studying the wines of Germany or planning to travel there to visit the main wine areas as well as the lesser known spots. I got my copy early out of England, but it is now widely available and on Kindle too, if you are an acid freak or Riesling fan you’ll want this book.
($40 Est. Paperback – Kindle SALE $16.17 – as of 4/4/20)
94/100 Rating, grapelive