Article: The Six Regions Bringing Out the Best In German Wine

Thanks for that. Fascinating discussion. German wines are becoming better, and FAR more expensive, than in the past.

We like wine, but are not in the $120/bottle class of wine drinkers.

We're actually going to the Handthal near Oberschwarzach in Franken for a wine weekend this weekend. You can still get a good 1L bottel of wine for under 6 euros at many Winzer & Weingüter in Franken. Less touristy especially farther from the Main River and a beautiful region. Great area for E-biking too.

We were in the Mosel/Rhine regions last autumn and were a wee bit disappointed with the quality, compared to previous years we've visited. I don't spend much per bottle but we found even the driest wines last year to be overly sweet and slightly cloying. A couple of years before that, the best wines we've had in Germany so far: a fruity, dry riesling in Iphofen and an exceptional bottle of Spätburgunder in Sommerach on Unity Day. The latter was about 11 euros, as I remember.

A true story. We rent apartments and one year our host gave us a bottle of red from Franconia, saying it was his favourite wine. My wife and I thought it awful and poured it down the sink. A few days later he asks me about the wine and I praised its many qualities. He was good enough to give me another bottle, which went the way of the first (after a sampling, of course).

Tip: In Germany stay honest in your feedback instead of trying to ne nice. Germans can easily live with negative feedback, especially when it is about "matter of taste" (e. g. food, art, ...).

But no jokes about German cars ;-)

Have taken several wine experts up to Eberbach Monastery by Eltville as well as Schloss Johannesberg and they were very impressed with the quality of the wines being produced in this area of the Rheingau.
https://www.weingut-kloster-eberbach.de/
https://schloss-johannisberg.de/en/

Sorry MarkK, I couldn't offend the host, he was a lovely man. Him being German or my being in Germany made no difference to me, I would have done the same anywhere in similar circumstances. The wine was vile. And I'd never knock German cars - I always give my cars a name and pat their hoods regularly, in the belief that they will behave well for me during the rental period.

Yes, Ms Jo, Eberbach is very much worth a visit and produces some good wines. My wife and me had a long lunch there in the very attractive restaurant, and many other diners were business types attending some kind of conference.

I know that Germany produces red wine, but why? The whites are the class of German wines, so why do they even bother trying on the reds?

I think you cannot compare red wines, at least from Franken with other red wines from France, Italy, California, etc. I'm not too wine educated other than my taste, but red wines say from Franken could be in another category (or are). Most don't use the same grape types. Climate and soil are different. A good Franken Rotling (red/white blend) is closer to a Rose? Fruitier than the whites and the taste compliments and is a contrast to the whites. Some of the better concentrated Franken reds I have tasted have an intensive raisin taste (and you pay $ for it). Franken reds are a small part of overall wine production there. If you look at the region and taste the wines in it together, it gives you another perspective. The art of the Winzer. I could really recommend a vacation in Spring in The Franken Wine Region with lots of wine tasting... Wein, Spargel, Forelle und Erdbeeren...

The Franken Wine Region with lots of wine tasting... Wein, Spargel, Forelle und Erdbeeren...

Himmel

My wife and I began our wine education with German wines. I remember a trip to the Mosel, where we stayed in Traben-Trarbach at Dreigebelskellerei, a small producer. We had a lovely tasting evening, where the host/winemaker introduced us to the different riesling clones, which were all a little different but so interesting. I ended up inside a big tun. Not because I was drunk, but because it was part of the experience.