don't mention the Riesling

What? How? Riesling from London? Is it already growing on the banks of the Thames thanks to global warming?

I was in London this year and noticed that German dry Rieslings are currently very popular there. Normally, in English wine marketing circles, any connection to German wine is viewed as a blanket negative. “German wine” here means, first of all, super sweet and cheap.

Sure, how could it be otherwise when 95% of the German wines that are exported to England are middle quality sweet wines? The exporters are not entirely innocent. They even promote this image, which is difficult to miss with brands like “Black Tower” and “Blue Nun” in every supermarket. There are even German estate wines on the English market that you would never recognize as German wine. For example, Grauburgunder from the Palatinate is marketed disguised as Pinot Grigio in Bordeaux bottles.

But something seems to have changed, because you can now find delicious German Rieslings on every halfway good wine list in London.

Not easy to explain, but I suspect a connection with generational change and a certain journalist.

The generational change in viticulture is well known. After “young and wild” came the “2. Generation". While 15 years ago there were a handful of “modern” winemakers and six years ago there were perhaps forty, now there are (estimated) over 150. The trend is passing us by, it was said. Ha ha ha. Top wine on every corner. No more cork muff. The Prädikat system has been thrown overboard and has had to reinvent itself. The intention seems to be that Prädikats wine are wines with residual sugar. No more Spätlese trocken.

The journalist I'm thinking of is Jancis Robinson. She has been reporting on the current revolution in German winemaking since the nineties, and she really seems to like the wines.

The British wine trade has also realized that there is a new name for the very best dry German wines: Großes Gewächs. “Gee Gee” say the Londoners. And so last year I found myself at a tasting called “Großes Gewächs Tasting” in the venerable Middle Temple Hall.

Conclusion of the trip: Dry wines from Germany are now internationally recognized. Riesling is finally cool.

Let's see if the trend spills over to us.