Germany

Many years ago, a Navy friend brought us a bottle of German wine as a hostess gift.  Brian was elated because he’d found this wine in the U.S.  I was surprised to discover that the gift was German red wine from a region I’d never heard of, the Ahr.  No surprise, Brian told us – the Ahr is a very small wine region that produces mostly red wines, so it’s very hard to find Ahr wines outside of Germany.

The dog days of summer are once again upon us. Whether your remedy to beat the heat is a cool pool, a shade tree, or a blasting air conditioner, it always helps to have a relaxing beverage to help ease the pain. IntoWine.com asked our panel of wine experts to recommend refreshing white wines for those hot summer nights:    

"On a hot summer evening, I look for a chilled white wine.  I also find that if the wine has a bit of sweetness, it offsets the heat a bit.  My go-to wines on these evenings tend to be Rieslings.  Rieslings are one of the most versatile wines for matching with food.  They are especially great with light summer fare such as a salad or fish or fruit.  They also make easy sipping on their own.  For these casual spontaneous occasions, my favorites are the basic German offerings.  One of the best features these wines have is their low alcohol level.  Usually carrying less than 10% alcohol, these wines are not heavy nor do they leave you tipsy from a glass or two.  Right now the stores are filled with the marvelous 2005 vintage, the excellent 2006 vintage and are just starting to stock the very good 2007’s.  While there are some wonderful, but pricey offerings, the basic Dr. L from Dr. Ernest Loosen is available for around $10.  The Lingenfelder Bird label Riesling is only a couple of dollars more.  Both wines provide a lot of pleasure and don’t break the bank.  Perfect for casual sipping on a hot summer night." - Loren Sonkin, IntoWine Featured Writer 

Tradition. Hundreds of years of winemaking. The Aldinger family has owned Weingut Gerhard Aldinger since 1492; Ernst Dautel’s weingut ancestors began making wine in 1510. Staatsweingut Weinsberg is part of Germany’s oldest wine college. Wherever you look in Württemberg, you’re surrounded by winemaking history.

I begin this article with a disclaimer: Baden is one of my favorite wine regions in all of Germany – not that I’ve ever visited a German wine region I didn’t like. I’m heartily biased toward Baden, however, not least because I’ve spent so much time there. Our good friends – the ones who arranged last fall’s winery tour – have taken us all over Baden, ensuring that this warm and inviting part of Germany will always have a special place in my heart.

Dramatic. Historic. Traditional. Cutting-edge. All of these terms describe Germany’s Mosel-Saar-Ruwer wine region, often called “Moselle” in English-language guidebooks. Mosel wines are uniquely German and internationally acclaimed. Perhaps more than any other German wines, Mosel wines truly reflect their terroirs.

Last fall, I discovered the Nahe wine region for myself.  It’s easy to overlook the Nahe when the wine regions along the Rhine are so close by, but I highly recommend this beautiful part of Germany.  I’m already planning my next trip to the area.

Johannisberg Riesling. Kloster Eberbach. The Geisenheim Research Institute. These famous names remind us that the Rheingau has always been at the center of Germany’s winemaking tradition.

The Mittelrhein is magical. Whether you visit the Rhine River valley by car, boat or on foot, you’ll fall in love with the steep, vine-covered hillsides peppered with castles. This wine region, which stretches from just south of Bonn to Bingen, is one of my favorites. Here I feel transported to a time of legend, and for good reason. The Mittelrhein’s crags are part of German folklore.

During my recent trip to Germany, I spent a lot of time exploring wine regions in the western part of the country.  On one memorable day, I drove most of the Deutsche Weinstrasse (German Wine Route) in the Pfalz wine region with my family.

I step out of the “working van,” as our tasting guide, Nathalie Müller, parks next to rows and rows of grapevines.  My husband and friends clamber down and inhale the clean air.  High above the town of Leimen, I can see the grapevines stretching across the hills.  Ms. Müller grabs a plastic crate of wine bottles and offers us each a wine glass.  Deftly, she opens a bottle and pours 2006 Leimener Kreuzweg Auxerrois dry Kabinett into our glasses.