How to Select German Fine Wine

When selecting a bottle of German wine, we usually try to point out these three basic factors when trying to separate the best from the "rest".

Factor 1

The ESTATE and WINE MAKER is a key ingredient in the selection process. While this seems obvious, people tend to generalize by region or grape, but when selecting fine German wine the producer is very crucial since great wine making is more challenging in a cool climate area such as Germany vs. the warmer regions of California. Not only is it problematical that the labels are in German, but in addition there are multiple estates with similar names. (JJ. Prüm vs. Dr. F. Weins-Prüm vs. S.A. Prüm or Reinhold Haart vs. Joh. Jos. Haart). How can one know who makes the best wine?

Rudi Wiest Selections is dedicated to only represent the best producers from Germany. If you select wines from producers of our portfolio, you are guarantied to have great German wines. Feel free to read about these great German Estates and also check out the press recognition these estate have.

If you are just getting started in fine German wine and are going to arm yourself with only one weapon when selecting wine, know the names of the great estates and a quality commited importer, Rudi Wiest Selections.

Factor 2

The LOCATION of the vineyard sites, also known as "terroir" as this sums up soil, micro-climate and sun exposure. With 13 different appellations or wine growing regions and the fact that Germany is so far north, the location has tremendous influence on the character of the wine. While wines from the Mosel valley are delicate and filigrane, the wines from the Pfalz are earthy and more volumenous due to climate and soil differences. Within the regions, individual vineyard sites then make for great differences also. Great vineyard sites or Grand Cru sites such as the Bernkasteler Doctor, the Wehlener Sonnenuhr or the Forster Jesuitengarten are sites that have proven over centuries to produce the best wines of the area, if made by a knowledgable wine maker.

A note to vineyard sites:
There are many great vineyard sites in Germany, but you have to be aware of one simple fact — many wineries, with varying standards, might be producing wine from the same "great" vineyard. Single vineyard wines from great producers are gems of German wine making, since the great estates almost always own the best portions of these vineyards, and use low yields and diligent selection to achieve great quality, which again comes back to the producer's commitment.

A perfect example of this lies in the beautiful Mosel valley, it is the small town of Piesport. Wine made from the village of Piesport is called Piesporter, and Piesporter just happens to be one of the most bastardized names in all of German wine. If you have ever dabbled in German wine you are sure to have seen "Piesporter Michelsberg," unfortunately most of these wines have nothing to do with the town of Piesport. Piesporter Michelsberg is a sub-region of the Mosel surrounding Piesport, not a vineyard. The wines under this declaration mostly come from flat mediocre vineyards at best, and is almost always of very, very, very poor quality.

The best vineyard in Piesport is the Piesporter Goldtröpfchen. But there are over 350 different estates making wine from the Piesporter Goldtröpfchen vineyard. So if you want the best, you have to look for the wines of Reinhold Haart. His wines which are made from the best portions of the Piesporter Goldtröpfchen vineyard, and vinified to perfection and earn high scores every vintage.

Factor 3

The VINTAGE. While Germany due to its harvest categories references by ripeness and the basic wines (Qualitätswein, Kabinett) of a great estate will be consistant year in year out, and Spätlese and Auslese wines of great producers will be good even in off years, the wines to collect and store for a long time are found in great vintages. Germany has been fortunate that since the late 1988 all the German vintages have been very good to excellent. The ones that stand out are 2003, 2002, 2001, 1999, 1997, 1995, 1994 and 1990, while 1988, 1989, and 1993 can be considered superb vintages.

Seals of Approval

German wines seem complicated, since the labels offer so much information that one can not immediately understand, but it offers immense information to the knowledable wine consumer.

		As a short cut to help identify the best German producers, one can use the the VDP Seal. It is the symbol of an exceptionally high quality standard selfimposed by the VDP organization and one can find it either on the capsule and / or on the label.
		Furthermore, among these estates, Rudi Wiest Selections has hand picked some of the best performers and most consistantly highly awarded esates. Every bottle of wine imported by Rudi Wiest Selections bears the quality seal of Rudi Wiest Selections.

Advanced German Wine Knowledge

Knowing how to read a German wine label, reveals a lot of information about the wines. German wine labels are probably the most informative wine labels in the world. If you know how to read the label, you will get an excellent idea of the weight or body of the wine according to harvest categories and the way it was vinified (dry, medium-dry or fruity).

Now for a small test. Look at these labels from two different estates that just happen to have the same last name of "Prüm," Joh. Jos. Prüm and Dr. F. Weins-Prüm.

If you had seen these two bottles at your local wine shop you should now be able to note that (1) the wines are from two different estates, (2) that both of the wines were harvested from the great Wehlener Sonnenuhr vineyard and (3) finally that Joh. Jos. Prüm and Dr. F. Weins-Prüm are both top notch German estates that are members of the VDP. The wines differ in weight or body, as the JJ Prüm wine is a Spätlese while the Dr. F. Weins-Prüm wine is a Kabinett level wine.

The VDP seal, on the Joh. Jos. Prüm label (left) is in the upper third portion on the left, and on the Weins-Prüm label it is in both in the upper left and right corners.

Final Point

Remember that above and beyond all, the producer is key and Rudi Wiest Selections is committed to only importing the finest wines fromt the best estates of Germany.