Buying German Wine

There is of course not a lot one can say about this subject in complete generality. My experience is restricted to Germany and the UK. The US market seems to have shrunk considerably over the last decade, but has see a whopping +36% over the last year, due to the excitement about the 2001 vintage. Menatime, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, and Scandinavia seem to have become more important export markets for fine German wine. The UK imports a huge (but decreasing) amount of Liebfraumilch and the like. At the higher end, the UK market is mainly concerned with sweeter styles of Riesling from the classic regions along the Rhein and Mosel. Trocken wines are still few and far between. The US and UK prices are often rather inflated, due to 3 tiers system, and/or high taxes, and the small volume of the market for fine German wine. The prices usually are more than double of those in Germany.

The best place to buy German wine is of course Germany itself. Almost all producers are happy to sell directly to private customers, and many of the best are hard to find in shops. It is a good idea to phone in advance, to insure that they aren't sold out and can devote some time to their customer. They will let you taste their wines before buying, usually up to Auslese levels. The more geniune interest one shows, the more likely one is to be able to taste rarer and more expensive wines. With luck they might even have a BA or TBA open, and let you have a sip, but that is not something one should expect. I find this is a wonderful way of buying wine, and invariably spend more time and money than originally planned.

Here is a rough guide to the prices of fine Rieslings from leading producers. (Other white varieties tend to be cheaper, but reds are booming, and thus often surprisingly expensive.) It is possible to pay less, and still get a very good wine, but that would have to count as a bargain. It is also possible to spend more in each category, especially when the wine is sold through auction. In fact, somewhat surprisingly for those who equate German wine with Liebfraumilch, a small number of German wines can reach price spheres well above even first growth Bordeaux. At auctions, the greatest young wines regularly reach several hunderd euros a bottle. The record of over € 4600 for a bottle (yes, just one!) of Egon Müller's Scharzhofberger TBA '94 has recently been set. The more common price ranges for high quality Rieslings are:

Kabinett    5 - 10  €
Spätlese    8 - 15  €
Auslese    15 - 100 €
BA         50 - 200 €
Eiswein    70 - 300 €
TBA       200 - 400 €