Germany’s Unrivaled Bread Culture
On a chilly April morning, I sat in the tasting room of an renowned old Alsatian winery, under the spell of an enchanting rose-and-peach-inflected, off-dry…
Volume 22, Digging Deeper
February 2025
Dear Readers,
We are deep in winter. A stark state of cold and dark. Winds of change are howling. It’s unclear where they will blow us. But little feels safe or familiar now.
In Volume 22, we turn inward. Toward what sources of comfort, light and warmth are at hand. It requires effort, resolve. Groping our way towards the hope of spring, it feels fitting to dig. Dig deep. Deeper. Roots and seeds of resilience and strength are what we’re after.
We launched this volume with a soul-restoring piece by Berlin-based food writer Luisa Weiss. (We also offer a review of Luisa’s unjustly overlooked new book on German food and food culture.) As this volume unfolds, you will also find Martin Sorge on the intangible cultural heritage of German bread (with stellar Sekt pairing), and chef and writer Paul Kern’s fresh interpretation of a classic Pfalz dish reinvented for wine lovers.
You’ll also find Rainer Schäfer’s sharp report on how climate change is remaking viticulture in Germany’s hottest region, Evan Spingarn’s reflections on a troubling word in German tasting notes, Sedale McCall on Austria’s under-the-radar stars, and a close look at why Switzerland hasn’t gone the way of its neighbors with vineyard classifications, from our Basel-based writer Bart de Vries.
If you haven’t caught our new podcast TRINKtalks, we urge you to listen in: recent episodes feature Jancis Robinson, Dorli Muhr, Moritz Haidle, and Daniel Pfitscher, all offering unmissable insights into the world of German-speaking wines.
Finally, a reminder that this kind of specialized journalism neither writes nor pays for itself. As we enter our fifth year of independent, subscriber-funded publication, we remain deeply grateful to our loyal supporters and eager to hear what we can offer to convince those who haven’t yet subscribed to do so. If you enjoy this publication (or our pod!), please subscribe, follow, share, rate, review. It helps more than you know.
Eure
Paula and Valerie
