Yes, I had several Riesling mostly when I visited Germany last year. I drove 50 miles along the Mosel river stoping at 3 or 4 wineries. People at the wineries tried to explain to me about the German Riesling Quality Categories. I remember they have something like 6-8 catogories that were based on grape ripeness and how some wine categories were sweet and others were dried. It was very complex, but I do remember liking one of the categories. Too bad I don’t remember which one.

YES – the one i had seemed unfocused and very sweet
NO – with Riesling being one of my favorites i would love to try more from Germany

QoTD: Yes, and yes. I know I’ve had quite a few German Rieslings (it was my grandfathers favorite wine), but I didn’t really pay attention to names until I got hooked on wine later on. A few months ago I tried a few Rieslings by Markus Molitor, and mmmm were they good (especially the auselese).

Speaking of German wines…are you holding out on any recommendations for Sekts, Gary? You’ve talked about grower champagnes, and mentioned a little Cava, how about some German bubbles too? The only reference I’ve found is the Raumland Pinot Blanc Brut Prestige in episode 222, which you gave a pass.

QotD: Yes, I have had a lot, as it is tied for one of my favorite wines. It shares it’s spot with Gewurztraminer and Gruner Veltliner. When are you going to do some Austrian wines like Gruner?

qotd- yes and yes german rieslings are some of my favs

Sorry, no and no, but marked down the 2004 JJ Riesling for my next Wine excursion!

QOTD: Y/Y. I’ve tasted that JJP you had today (maybe not that vintage), but had some German Rieslings off-and-on over the past decade+. My favorites are the von Schubert Maximum Grunhauser – bought them many times and those Mittel Mosels are fantastic.

QOFD:

Yes. I haven’t had more than one, though. Limited selections and all…here…just imagine SUPERMARKET WINE ON CRACK; thus is my selection.

QOFD:

Yes. I haven’t had more than one, though. Limited selections and all…here…just imagine SUPERMARKET WINE ON CRACK; thus is my selection.

QOTD: had one like 2 weeks ago bought another one before but took it me to a family party and never got a chance to try

oh man! the ending! rediculas! great stuff! love it. i wonder…does the oak monster go home at night, open a bottle of wine and say ” aaaahhhhh…the gary-vee-monster makes an appearence…very heavy gary-vee on the mid-palet…” and so forth? you never know…it could happen.

QOTD: no and no. not a lot of access to german wines here. but i should seek them i out. try different things. and i will.

thanks! great show!

QOTD: Yes. Drink a crap load of German Riesling. And it pisses me off when I pull them out for my friends who only take red wine seriously and dismiss German Rieslings as sugar water. For me Riesling, followed very closely by Pinot Noir, if done well, is the most food friendly grape around. In fact, I would go so far as to say Riesling in its finest expression crushes any other white varietal or blend out there. It’s simply no contest. And yes I have had JJ Prum wines. They ALWAYS bring the thunder.

I’ve had one once, though I don’t remember much about it. However, I did buy two different ones this week!

QOTD: Yes and YES!!!!
My wife and I spent 2 years in the Mosel Valley area in 03,04, and 05.
We were able to visit many local Weinguts.
Our favorite was located in Brauneberg. Weingut Heinrich Krebs. He runs a great B&B. His girlfriend has a wonderful gift shop as well.
Heiner produces many different styles of Resling. Our favorite was the 2003 Brauneberger Juffer Reisling-Kabinett Halbtrocken. We brought back a case and have 5 bottles left. They are only pulled out for special occasions. Other areas to hit on the Mosel would be Bernkastel-Kues, Zell(famous for the black cat), Piesport and Trittenheim.
The best part is that many of the local producers sell their wine for 5 to 10 euros a bottle.
If you line it up in advance, often for a small fee you can do a wine probe. It is a tour of the vineyards, sampling wine on the way and a home cooked meal waiting for you on your arrival back.

Great Job Gary. Keep selecting the interesting bottles.

QOTD: Y/Y, I’ve tasted about 50 so far… I still have a bottle of the ’01 JJP Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese laying down- what a vintage that was! I had the ’01 Auslese earlier this year and it was fantastic.

I also would love to see Gary get into some Austrian rieslings on WLTV – they can be amazing (and dry!)… the ’03 Hiedler Heiligenstein Riesling I tasted earlier this month was the most exciting new wine discovery of the year for me.

QOTD: I’m totally on board with the German Riesling phenomenon! Although I’ve probably only had about four GR’s, the ability of Germany to get all that flavor into a bottle of wine absolutely fascinates me! I’ve been eyeballing the J.J. Prum stuff for awhile now and it lookes like I need to take another plunge. Thanks GV for keeping the VaynerNation AWARE!

No….never had one.

No….never had more than two.

🙂

No….never had one.

No….never had more than two.

🙂

QOTD: Yes, and Yes GV. But honestly, it’s taken me about 5 yrs to really begin to appreciate the rieslings, it was a slow transition for me to begin to understand that burnt bmx tire was a something to be liked. I really didn’t get it until after doing several blind tastings. Thanks for the great show as always. Mott Link it Up !!

QOTD: Yes, and Yes GV. But honestly, it’s taken me about 5 yrs to really begin to appreciate the rieslings, it was a slow transition for me to begin to understand that burnt bmx tire was a something to be liked. I really didn’t get it until after doing several blind tastings. Thanks for the great show as always. Mott Link it Up !!

QOTD: yes and no. I guess I have a mission to track some down in the next week or so!

QOTD: yeap/nope. Lots of Niagara Rieslings! Had a German riesling with Christmas dinner, actually!

German Rieslings are what turned me on to the wine world. This is still my first choice for white wines, although I am a regular red wine connaisseur. Last one I tasted was a Max Richter 2006 QbA

Yes and Yes. My parents are German and my grandfather is a fan of Rieslings. He brought 4 of them to Christmas dinner. We only got through two of them because my parents had a different wine planned for the ham.
Oddly enough the first one, a Kabinett, was amazingly sweet. eat some fine chopped grass and then follow it with a big glob of honey. That’s what it was like. The Spatlese was drier than it.

PLEASE DO MORE GERMAN RIESLING ON YOUR SHOW!!! 😉

QOTD: Yes for sure / yes for sure. My best dry German Riesling in a while was the 2005 Künstler Hochheimer Hölle Riesling Erstes Gewächs from the Rheingau region! On the sweet side, I had a 1976! Christoffel �rziger Würzgarten Auslese ** a while ago.. Absolutely stunning wines!