Roughly once a generation, the German government pops the hood on the country’s wine law for a tune up. 2021 is one such year, with a new set of revisions taking effect in early May. On the surface, the changes appear more incremental than revolutionary. Yet controversy has followed as various stakeholders realize that some new wrinkles may have unexpectedly far-reaching consequences. So let’s pour ourselves a glass of dry wine (law) and savor some juicy power dynamics. Here are the early winners and losers of the 2021 German Wine Act. Winner: The VDP’S Long Game You can’t say the…
A fresh crop of Masters of Wine was announced late last month: Ten individuals who have grasped the holy grail of wine education. Among them is Moritz Nikolaus Lüke of Bonn — the tenth German to achieve the distinction. He joins an elite crew who have earned the title by passing legendarily rigorous blind tasting examinations and writing a series of theory papers as well as a research-based thesis. TRINK caught up with Lüke to find out what the experience was like, learn about his Covid-driven research paper — and get an answer to the question we’re all naturally most curious about: what he drank…...
Ask a German about their favorite domestic vacation spots and Bodensee — aka Lake Constance — routinely sits near the top of the list. The country’s largest lake offers plenty of water and winter sports, proximity to Switzerland and Austria, the island of Mainau, and the Reichenau peninsula with its medieval history and churches. Then ask about dream winegrowing destinations, and watch Bodensee slip way, way down the list. With a reputation for simple wines that do little more than embody lake life, it is no wonder that in recent times Bodensee has struggled to be taken seriously. But a small group of young…...
Maps illustrating German viticulture in the Middle Ages show a dense, far-reaching expanse. Vines and wine were integral to daily life, sacred and secular. Vineyards formed a distinctive cultural landscape and wine a vital cultural asset — a long, living link to the past. Today, that link is being tested. The German wine industry is contending with what some experts have called its greatest crisis since World War II. Fueling the crisis are anti-alcohol messaging, demographic shifts, rocketing costs, and the increasingly erratic tolls of the climate crisis. Worse, there’s no clear sense of where rock bottom lies. But German…...
“Where are all the dynamic, characterful wines from Germany?” Bastian Fischer asked in exasperation after 16 years in the UK wine trade. This year he answered that question himself by opening his own shop. Trinkfluss Wines, just outside London, focuses “on some of the most electric, food-friendly, and downright delicious wines anywhere,” in Fischer’s view. His new venture, baptized with the German word for drinkability, quenches the thirst for Germany’s full gamut of varieties. But one swallow doesn’t make a summer. The somms and wine aficionados who shop at specialist wine stores like Fischer’s may have embraced German wines, but…...
Müller-Thurgau was a blessing and a curse for 20th-century Germany. Emily Campeau asks whether new respect from growers can make a contender in the 21st.
