If you aren’t already a disciple of German Riesling, now is the time to open up your heart to one of the most rewarding wines on the planet. I’m not talking about respecting German Riesling, I’m talking about drinking it. There’s a big difference, and with the imminent arrival of vast quantities of wine from the enormously appealing 2015 vintage (and the simultaneous softening of the sometimes pointy 2014s), there’s never been a better time to integrate German Riesling into your life.
Earlier this week when the weather was really nice, I was out of doors imbibing kombucha, the brewing of which is a recently-acquired hobby of my wife. I was completely absorbed by a shocking book on the history of punk music called Please Kill Me and its unsettling effect isn't indicative of naivete on my part - I've read Marquis de Sade extensively, but this is real.
While waiting for a cab at the train stain in Strasbourg, Alsace, we watched two seriously drunk backpackers trying to figure out if they were in France or Germany. Their confusion was warranted: Alsace has been part of Germany at least four times, and at first glance the city looks like a German fairy tale come to life.
If we can concede that “generational” changes in the wine industry occur every decade or so, I am very concerned that forthcoming generations of wine professionals, perhaps starting now with people in their early to mid-twenties, are going to hold the same opinions of Burgundy as I do about Bordeaux.
No other estate in Burgundy, or perhaps the world, has achieved such an enviable reputation in such a short amount of time. Admittedly the seeds were planted two centuries ago and at a certain point in history, the Liger-Belairs owned a dizzying collection of vineyards that included the monopolies of La Romanée, La Tâche and La Grande Rue as well as considerable parcels in Clos de Vougeot, Chambertin, Saint-Georges, Malconsorts, Reignots and Vaucrains.
