German Wine Guide [Hardcover]

The reviews are concise and the ratings seem objective enough to me, with no punches held back when called for. For example, the book has a 5-star rating system, but unlike other books which rarely give anyone less than 2 stars, this book lists quite a few producers as 1 or NO stars!

The book ranks 12 producers as the top in Germany, and argues that they are among the best in the world. I have experienced wines made by 8 out the 12, and agree what the authors say.

Granted, some of the vintage information is three years old. However, the reputations of the wineries has not changed that much. Vintages matter more in Germany and most European areas and much less so in places like California. However, much of that information can be applied equally to all German wineries, so looking online for general vintage information will do just as well -- the relative ratings in the book will still apply, so they are still helpful.

I also dislike using German currency, even though it is a German book that was translated (and translated exceptionally well, I might add). I would have preferred seeing prices in US currency for different price ranges.

A couple of (very short) sections seem to be a marketing campaign for German wines (perhaps that is how it is seen in the industry, as I would suspect, so that would be acceptable). This only amounts to a handful of pages, so not that bothersome.

There are good miniature tutorials on German terminology, wine labels, grapes, Pradikat and other classifications. There are 30 color photographs of different vineyard owners/managers. There are several different sections listing the best estates, along with the author's favorite picks from different wines.

The following sections are covered, with many estates from each section:

Ahr
Baden

Franken
Hessische Bergstrasse
Mittelrhein
Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Nahe
Pfalz
Rheingau
Rheinhessen
Saale-Unstrut
Sachsen
Wurttemberg

Each section has a description of that area as well as a scaled map. Immediately after that is a brief list of names broken down into their rating. For example, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer has 6 five-grape, 15 four-grape, 22 three-grape, 20 two-grape and 5 one-grape ratings. There are an additional 26 "other notable producers" that do not have detailed pages for those estates.

Each rated estate has a full page (or more) with great information about each. Besides access information (owner, address, phone, fax, directions, hours, history, etc.), there is a box about recent productions. This includes the vineyard area (in hectares), annual production (in bottles), top site, soil types, grape varieties (by percentage), average yield (hl/ha) and best vintages of that time. After that is a commentary on the vineyard as well as ratings of some 10 to 20 wines. After that is a black-and-white photo of the vineyard label, which is greatly helpful when looking for the wines at a wine shop.

At the back of the book are sections on the best sparkling wines, Marc and Fine, information bureaus and wine glasses.

Overall, it is an excellent and useful tool for German wines. Well worth the price, which is hardly more than a single bottle from most of the good wines of this region. Definitely a book to own and know.

This book with the unassuming title is an encyclopedia of German wines. It has no pictures of scenery or vineyards. But it has photos of a number of German wine producers, an unusual touch, some of their labels, and some of their wine advertisements. This is a very serious wine book. It is not so much a book to be read as much as one to be studied. Most of it consists of ratings and listings of wines region by region in a highly systematic manner. One of the authors of this book, Armin Diel is a wine producer in Germany himself. In the past, I have enjoyed a bottle of wine from his estate in the Nahe wine region and read a little about the wines produced there.

Although I have no serious expertise on German wines - this book re-assured me of that - over the years I have tried wine in about half of the thirteen wine regions described in this book and tasted wine from others. The mention of the names of familiar towns and wines in Germany made this book interesting for me. Someone who is unfamiliar with Germany and these regions might grow tired of reading the lists of wine produced by various estates in them. In other words, this is probably not the right book for a person beginning to learn about German wines. It seems to me that it is more for someone who already knows something about them.

The authors give the prices, in marks, of the wines in this book, and some might be surprised to learn that a nice bottle of wine, including some of those listed here, can be had in Germany for as little as a few dollars. Another surprise is that there is even information in this book about two not too well known wine regions in the former East Germany, Saale-Unstrut and Sachsen, although they are apparently as yet not highly regarded.

One disappointment about this book, no fault of the authors, is that a good deal of what one reads about in it is not widely available in the United States. This is like reading an appealing menu without being able to order. Even in cities like Austin where I live, a good selection of German wines is difficult to come by.

As suggested earlier, it would be difficult to describe this book as "a read", but it is an excellent reference. The next time I go to Germany, along with my German dictionary, I intend to take this book. Prost!