Are the British Getting a Taste for Umlauts?
·

Are the British Getting a Taste for Umlauts?

ByDavid Crossley

We British are not the world’s most noted linguists, but that doesn’t seem to put off some of us from drinking “German-speaking” wines. That said, the market for these wines has had a rough ride at times, which makes their current increasing popularity all the more intriguing. Germany has historically boasted a well-established presence in the U.K. wine market. In the 19th– and early 20th– centuries German wines were famously on par with Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, and Port in terms of price. After the fall of Napoleon, the Rhineland and the Mosel both entered a period of prosperity, initiated by…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here
Vineyards in the foreground open onto a river banked on two sides by green hills, with blue skies and low peaks in the distance.

Eglisau: Vines of the High Rhine

ByDennis Lapuyade

Every guide to Swiss wine begins with the same emphatic but overly simple premise: there are six wine regions in Switzerland. That means one of them, Deutschschweiz, is forever miscast as a single entity, even though it encompasses 19 cantons and covers two-thirds of the nation’s surface area. Meanwhile, four of the other official regions are single cantons — Geneva, Vaud, Valais, and Ticino — each with its own story to tell; a sixth — the Three Lakes region — is geographically contiguous, linguistically mixed and, while quite small, celebrated for its diversity. Why, I ask, is there so little…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here
Austrian pine trees used to make Zirbenschnaps
·

Three Ways to Pine for Zirbenschnaps

ByMichael Pabich

​The scent of pine trees is a time machine, a brusque mix of barbed, balsamic beauty. I have a million pine memories. One good whiff and I’m transported home, sap streaking the inside of my scraped arms as I scale the tall white pine in our neighbor’s backyard, lunchbox dangling from the rear belt loop of my short pants. Lost in a cross-hatching of aromatic needles. I’m in the warming house of the town rink, my toes aching with cold. Silhouetted skaters float and spin on the bumpy ice outside. A pine fire acrid with resin heaves black smoke up…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here
Eat & TRINK | Alpkäse and Kamptal Riesling
·

Eat & TRINK | Alpkäse and Kamptal Riesling

ByUrsula Heinzelmann

12/14/2020 Eat & TRINK | Alpkäse and Kamptal Riesling By Ursula Heinzelmann ​ The entirely spontaneous, yet infinitely harmonious tinkling of cow bells. The crunching of my boots along a narrow mountain path. The joyous gurgling of a stream winding its way down among rocks, moss, and roots. This is one of my favorite cheese soundtracks. The accompanying “smelltrack” is of warm stables in the haze of first light and earthy, pungent bodies, redolent of the basic facts of life. Wood smoke rising from under a round copper vat. And of course the reassuring, lactic aroma of warm milk and whey,…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here
Whole spices scattered across a transparent background.
· · ·

He Who Controls the Spice Controls the Universe

ByCarrie Dykes

Picture yourself at a German holiday market (if such things were happening in 2020) — a mug of glühwein in hand and the scent of fresh pfeffernuss cookies in the air. It’s no surprise that these warm, spicy aromas are key attributes in many wines from Germany and Austria, South Tyrol, and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland. And there’s a hidden world of compounds and precursors to thank for this distinctive and alluring range. Much like a chef in the kitchen, growers can influence the aromatic and flavor complexity of their wines by playing with soil type, exposition, vine age,…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here
Phototgraph of three bottles of German sekt
· ·

Sektlaune is a Sparkling State of Mind

BySebastian Bordthäuser

Sekt embodies free spirit, hedonism, even — in its blatant disregard for rules — punk. The limitless maximization of lust for life and the unadulterated joy of the sensual assume the spotlight, while ethics and morals are asked to exit stage left. Whether it’s to christen a ship, toast a victory, or celebrate a birthday in the office (back when we did things like this), bubbles embrace the sparkling side of everyday life. A flash of glam on an otherwise wretched Tuesday afternoon. Sekt is bound to nothing and to no one, neither to food nor occasion. And that’s why…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here
It Takes Two: Eva Fricke and Jenna Fields
· ·

It Takes Two: Eva Fricke and Jenna Fields

ByKathleen Willcox

March 25, 2024 Update: Eva Fricke and the German Wine Collection no longer together. Apparently, the tango takes even more complex footwork than either party anticipated. And the frisson of friction is real. In wine, the relationship between importer and producer works better when it’s more tango than transaction. First there is the careful footwork of their own internal negotiations, then a set of fancy steps together for the audience. The goal is to position the new producer within an aesthetic and cultural context that would-be consumers will find attractive. It is a delicate dance that requires surprising intimacy and…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here
Sekt: The Chequered History
·

Sekt: The Chequered History

ByAnne Krebiehl

For the longest time, Sekt was a dirty word. It stood for bottles of inexpensive, easy fizz with obnoxious plastic corks to be found on the street, next to the debris of spent fireworks, on New Year’s Day. Leftovers from high jinks and cheap thrills the night before. But that was then. Today, Sekt’s star is once again on the rise. We cannot even say that it is returning to its former glory because the story of German Sekt today is unprecedented and, quite literally, effervescent. It was the 20th century that destroyed with consummate efficiency what was once so promising, so frivolous,…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here
View onto the terraced Assmannshäuser Hollenberg vineyards in summer overlooking the Rhine River
· ·

Rheingau – Past, Present, (And Future?) Greatness

ByValerie Kathawala

The Rheingau. A small, splendidly historic region of aristocratic estates and superb terroir awaiting an energizing charge. The steady ship in Germany’s often storm-tossed seas, navigating a course of admirable quality through the centuries. Its large estates set global benchmarks; its noble mien, iconic landscapes, and heralded vineyards have always set it apart. In recent times, however, the Rheingau’s identity has become somewhat obscured by the dominance of large, in some cases impersonal estates and  global warming has diminished its long-held prominence as one of the few German wine regions capable of achieving consistent ripeness. If it is often described as “underachieving,” the word does hint at…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here
Balance with a Bit of an Accent
· ·

Balance with a Bit of an Accent

ByPaula Redes Sidore

“Free your mind and the rest will follow.”  Coming from one of the co-owners of Germany’s oldest wine trading houses, one might suspect a quote from Goethe, Schiller, or Nietzsche. It’s actually the American R&B/pop group, En Vogue. And that makes for a jarring, if fitting, introduction to my conversation with these stewards of tradition in German wine that look back to 1786 in Worms as easily as they look ahead to 2019 Organic Madonna. P.J. Valckenberg has the history and the pedigree, no question. Its customers have included the Swedish royal family and Charles Dickens. In addition to a truly impressive portfolio…...

Membership Required

You must be a member to access this content.

View Membership Levels

Already a member? Log in here