On the other hand, if you ask some wine journalists, conaisseurs, trade insiders, or even non-German producers which wines they find the most exciting you will be surprised to hear German wines being mentioned with persistent frequency. Authorities on the subject, like Hugh Johnson, Jancis Robinson, or Stuart Pigott keep reminding the world that Germanies finest wines, usually Rieslings, are among the finest wines made anywhere on the globe. Few people seem to be hearing the message. This can be seen as great news for consumers! Wine is trendy, and most fine wines are getting terrifyingly expensive. Top Burgundy is out of reach for most of us. The hype of Bordeaux has recently been breaking all records. New world wines are breaking price barriers with almost every issue of the "Wine Spectator". If German wines were as fashionable the delights of an Auslese from Dr. Loosen or H. Dönnhoff would be well beyond me, and a lot of other people. It is true that the top dessert wines, Trockenbeerenauslesen and the like from leading producers, are essentially unaffordable due to the high prestige and miniscule scale of production. But below that there is plenty of excellent German wine selling at prices that only gets you dish water in Burgundy.
It is high time to discover the wonderful wines that are made in Germany. Yes, there is a lot of sweet plonk still being made. Yes, the dry wines are still too thin and acidic in many cases. Careful selection is important, but this is true of any country. For the curious and adventurous wine drinker, the rewards are well worth the effort. A growing list of superb producers, committed to the highest quality standards, and a string of very good vintages have increased significantly the chance to find profound wines of individuality, breed, elegance, and depth. It has taken a while to overcome the simple post war equation of "good wine = sweet wine" and the later one of "good wine = dry wine" that have shaped wine consumption (and thus production) in Germany between the two poles of sugar water and acid water. Good producers and increasingly knowledgable consumers know that quality comes not from the presence or absence of residual sugar but from other factors such as low yields, late and selective harvesting, minimal interventionist wine making, and above all the interplay of noble grape varieties and their most suitable terroirs. Germany is blessed with great resources of the latter kind, and a growing number of wine makers that realise their vineyards' potential to the full. This is not to say that many growers aren't still limping behind the quality leaders at depressingly slow speed. Much more great wine could be made in Germany, and it is my hope that economic success for the best producers may encourage others to improve their wines to similar standards.
A fine German Riesling directly appeals to the senses with its natural aromas and grace, and also to the intellect with its transparency to terroir, the complexity it reaches with bottle age, and the sense of history and place that it can convey. It is also a sound investment, providing more than instant gratification: Like fine Bordeaux it can develop for decades. I am not the first to predict that German wine will reach cult status in the not too distant future. If so, this is the opportunity to be ahead of the fashion. The prediction may not come true, of course, but this is no reason to miss out on one of Germanies greatest cultural contributions to the world. A contribution that is less known but just as worth knowing about as our contribution to the construction of fast automobiles, to perfecting the art of genocide, to producing unpenetrable philosophy and literature, and to brewing as well as consuming an ocean of (rather good) beer.