There is too much good German Riesling available

[T_Fletcher1]

I’ve only discovered an appreciation for German Rieslings within the past 9 months. Over this time period, I’d say approx. 20% of my total wine purchases have been Rieslings. As others voiced, the only problem is my wife does not care much for them.

I’m working through different producers, regions and designations so I’m thankful for threads like this and David’s posts on CT.

[David_Bu3ker]

My only concern is that there is actually not nearly enough available dry Rieslings with some age in the US market! I’d love to find more (any??) to backfill and to experiment with aging. I love the stuff young but aged examples have been really nice too.

There hasn’t been a ton of new release dry German Riesling in the USA for very long. It was barely a trickle (IMO) until about 2008-2010. I would say that 2010 really marked a change in availability. So there’s not much inventory to meet your wants/needs.

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

I’ve only discovered an appreciation for German Rieslings within the past 9 months. Over this time period, I’d say approx. 20% of my total wine purchases have been Rieslings. As others voiced, the only problem is my wife does not care much for them.

I’m working through different producers, regions and designations so I’m thankful for threads like this and David’s posts on CT.

Have you tried your wife with the dry Rieslings as well? I have found that the population at large has an easier time making the transition into Riesling with those rather than kabinett, spatlese and above.

[J_a_y_H_a_c_k]

So many producers and styles, you can afford the very best, and the next vintage is always around the corner. I keep stockpiling the stuff. I do drink it regularly, but still, not as fast as I can buy it. It’s currently at about 20% of the cellar. Has anyone ever looked back and thought they bought too much German Riesling?

No, but it’s much less than 20% of my cellar. It is very rare that I have a German Riesling that I dislike. Maybe they do not rise to the high level’s of, let’s say Saxum JBV or Myriad Elyssian at their best, but it is more likely that I will say “Oh crap, I wanted a good Riesling and I have so few choices” than “What am I going to do with all of this stuff?”

[J_a_y_H_a_c_k]

PS - When did Egon Mueller get so damned expensive while I wasn’t looking.

[Sarah_Kirschbaum]

My only concern is that there is actually not nearly enough available dry Rieslings with some age in the US market! I’d love to find more (any??) to backfill and to experiment with aging. I love the stuff young but aged examples have been really nice too.

There hasn’t been a ton of new release dry German Riesling in the USA for very long. It was barely a trickle (IMO) until about 2008-2010. I would say that 2010 really marked a change in availability. So there’s not much inventory to meet your wants/needs.

Too true! I got lucky in that my husband was working at Moore Brothers waaaay back when they were the only ones bringing in the dry Rieslings - and bringing them in with perfect provenance, thank goodness! - so his dowry came with a bunch of older bottles. But even for us, there isn’t much with real age.

[David_Bu3ker]

PS - When did Egon Mueller get so damned expensive while I wasn’t looking.

A couple of years ago.

[Robert_Dentice]

Don’t overlook all of the other white wine grapes - Grauburgunder, Scheurebe, Silvaner and Weissburgunder.

[Jay_Miller]

No, but it’s much less than 20% of my cellar. It is very rare that I have a German Riesling that I dislike. Maybe they do not rise to the high level’s of, let’s say Saxum JBV or Myriad Elyssian at their best,

I agree totally. Rieslings almost rise as far as the dark and lifeless expanse of deep space where life cannot exist.

[Robert_M_yers]

Obviously a great thing for us but I wonder about the producers. I’ve been saying for 5 years I’m going to start cellaring it more and I keep putting it off. I imagine it’s because it’s so available and relatively cheap with no real price pressure on quality wine. Certain producers sure, but there are what seem like endless quality ones.

I often find, I’m in more of a hurry for other regions where I tend to feel I’ll be priced out soon I guess. I never really thought about this and it makes no real sense, so it’s something I hope to change.

I’m far from an super experienced but I can’t honestly remember opening any kind of Riesling and just being overly disappointed. Again for me that has led to neglect, rather than building up my cellar like I should be. Also for me it is the most difficult wine type to differentiate the nuance from one to another in wines of quality. I keep thinking with age that will/may happen.

[Robert_Dentice]

My only concern is that there is actually not nearly enough available dry Rieslings with some age in the US market! I’d love to find more (any??) to backfill and to experiment with aging. I love the stuff young but aged examples have been really nice too.

There hasn’t been a ton of new release dry German Riesling in the USA for very long. It was barely a trickle (IMO) until about 2008-2010. I would say that 2010 really marked a change in availability. So there’s not much inventory to meet your wants/needs.

Too true! I got lucky in that my husband was working at Moore Brothers waaaay back when they were the only ones bringing in the dry Rieslings - and bringing them in with perfect provenance, thank goodness! - so his dowry came with a bunch of older bottles. But even for us, there isn’t much with real age.

The real question for me is what will be on average peak age for the GGs. I can’t imagine the 04 Keller Hubacker you opened getting any better (as it was near perfect). I feel like peak age will be around 10 years. If this is the case I will soon have lots of aged dry wine and if not I will have some regrets. For now I will be happy drinking JB Becker and a few other producers who have saved older dry wines and random bottles I find like the 02 Rebholz Spatlese Trocken I found this morning in a lower back rack.

[A_Gillette]

^ I don’t find that there are endless quality producers and I try quite a few German rieslings that I find relatively uninspiring. What I do find is that the world class producers are priced at a level that makes them accessible to anyone. Egon might be an exception to this with the kabi now breaking $100, but other top saar producers are priced at a fraction of his prices.
A

[Robert_M_yers]

Might also be that that I just keep drinking good ones (uninspiring) and cant differentiate enough between them. The title said “good” so I find that at a different level than inspiring I guess. I’ll never be a $100 Riesling buyer though that I can foresee, so if that’s what it takes to get me motivated to find the inspiring wines they’ve already lost me I’d guess.

[Robert_Dentice]

^ I don’t find that there are endless quality producers and I try quite a few German rieslings that I find relatively uninspiring. What I do find is that the world class producers are priced at a level that makes them accessible to anyone. Egon might be an exception to this with the kabi now breaking $100, but other top saar producers are priced at a fraction of his prices.
A

I know you drink lots of Riesling so you are coming from an informed opinion. I do think that Germany has an enormous amount of great wine and more on a % basis that does not get imported to the U.S. than any other country. And new producers are popping up all of the time (usually it is a daughter or son taking over an older Domain).

[A_Gillette]

Might also be that that I just keep drinking good ones (uninspiring) and cant differentiate enough between them. The title said “good” so I find that at a different level than inspiring I guess. I’ll never be a $100 Riesling buyer though that I can foresee, so if that’s what it takes to get me motivated to find the inspiring wines they’ve already lost me I’d guess.

My whole point is that you don’t have to spend anywhere near $100 to get the best of the region. Carve out Egon and a kabi from a top producer is somewhere around $25-35.

a

[A_Gillette]

^ I don’t find that there are endless quality producers and I try quite a few German rieslings that I find relatively uninspiring. What I do find is that the world class producers are priced at a level that makes them accessible to anyone. Egon might be an exception to this with the kabi now breaking $100, but other top saar producers are priced at a fraction of his prices.
A

I know you drink lots of Riesling so you are coming from an informed opinion. I do think that Germany has an enormous amount of great wine and more on a % basis that does not get imported to the U.S. than any other country. And new producers are popping up all of the time (usually it is a daughter or son taking over an older Domain).

That might be true. I don’t have enough experience to say. At VDP last year, I was struck my the significant drop off in quality from the grosser ring tasting to the bernkasteler ring tasting. In my view, there was generally a significant difference between the quality level for top tier producers versus the next rung down, with a few outliers.
A

[Josh_Grossman]

A major reason I’m here and am on the path of an oenophile was the first old riesling someone shared with me. I do feel like it rewards aging at least as much as anything else? I keep stockpiling it too–but it’s because I try not to drink younger vintages and I only really got serious about collecting in 2014. I do try to buy older vintages when I can–but for whatever reason, I don’t see producers I know and buy pop-up that much at the few auctions I frequent (mostly Winebid). I also am not drinking as fast as I buy it but hope that evens out in ten years and starts going the other direction in 20 years. I do feel like German labeling is even more complicated than Burgundy and is intimidating to much of the wine buying US public. That said,

I am selling quite a bit of wine at auction, but the estimates for the Rieslings were absurdly low considering the quality of the wines. 1971 Auslese for $80 from decent producers, 1975/6 same for less than $50. The estimates were based on what has sold, and so were correct. Do I value these wines more than the estimate? Absolutely. So not selling, and putting together a series of tastings to enjoy the wines
German wines are the orphan child; as the tide on most wines rise, Riesling (and Port) are sinkers. I am not sure the drinker part of me considers this to be a problem.

happy to trade you some of my 2015 trockens for some of these?

[Robert_Dentice]

^ I don’t find that there are endless quality producers and I try quite a few German rieslings that I find relatively uninspiring. What I do find is that the world class producers are priced at a level that makes them accessible to anyone. Egon might be an exception to this with the kabi now breaking $100, but other top saar producers are priced at a fraction of his prices.
A

I know you drink lots of Riesling so you are coming from an informed opinion. I do think that Germany has an enormous amount of great wine and more on a % basis that does not get imported to the U.S. than any other country. And new producers are popping up all of the time (usually it is a daughter or son taking over an older Domain).

That might be true. I don’t have enough experience to say. At VDP last year, I was struck my the significant drop off in quality from the grosser ring tasting to the bernkasteler ring tasting. In my view, there was generally a significant difference between the quality level for top tier producers versus the next rung down, with a few outliers.
A

There are a lot of great producers outside of and some not so good in the VDP.

[Ian_S]

I don’t understand how too much good Riesling is a problem. You can drink twice as much since it’s half the alcohol content. Drink it for breakfast. It’s fruit juice so it’s good for you!

[David_Bu3ker]

There are a lot of great producers outside of and some not so good in the VDP.

This.