At the end of the year, both leading US wine magazines Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator publish their list of the Top 100 wines of the year. Highly prestigious! Below are the German wines that made it to the top this year. Of note: In the past it was almost exclusively noble sweet German wines that made it into these selections. This year, there are dry Rieslings as well as a German Sekt (for the first time ever?) and a German Pinot Blanc (quite likely also a first time).
Wine Enthusiast
The Wine Enthusiast includes 3 German wines in its Top 100 wines of the year, an ultra-premium fruity-sweet Riesling from the Mosel, a sparkling wine from the Pfalz, and an off-dry entry-level wine from the Mosel.
#9: Fritz Haag 2017 Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Auslese Große Lage, Mosel (97 points)
Intensely ripe aromas of pineapple and blossom perfume this exuberantly sweet auslese. It’s a stunningly concentrated, intoxicating wine, laden with sweet honey and stone-fruit flavors balanced by zippy lime acidity. Fresh and primary now, it is nuanced enough to gain complexity for decades to come. Loosen Bros. USA. Editors’ Choice. —A.I. abv: 7.5% Price: $44
#39: von Buhl 2016 Riesling Brut, Pfalz (94 points)
Whiffs of cookie crumbles and blossom introduce this bold Riesling sparkler. The palate is loaded with crisp pear and yellow apple flavors edged by a hint of copper and spine-tingling acidity. It’s a rich, luxuriously textured wine with a long, penetrating finish. Rudi Wiest Selections. Editors’ Choice. —A.I. abv: 12.5% Price: $40
#97: St. Urbans Hof 2017 Nik Weis From Old Vines Riesling, Mosel (90 points)
Slate and crushed earth tones permeate from start to finish in this racy, intensely mineral Riesling. Just a shade off dry on the palate, it offers concentrated tangerine and lemon-skin flavors offset by a steely tang. This vibrant wine should open and improve through 2022. HB Wine Merchants. —A.I. abv: 10.5% Price: $18
Wine Spectator
The Wine Spectator includes 2 German wines in its Top 100 wines of the year, two dry white entry-level wines, a Pinot Blanc from the Pfalz and a Riesling from Franken.
#82: 2017 Friedrich Becker Pinot Blanc Becker Family (90 points) $18
#90: 2017 Hans Wirsching Riesling Iphöfer Kronsberg Alte Rebe, Franken (90 points) $19
schiller-wine: Related Postings
UPCOMING Tours/ Wine Dinners/ Tastings - Annette and Christian Schiller/ ombiasyPR & WineTours/ schiller-wine, Germany, France, USA (Issued: November 1, 2019)
Annual Riesling Party at the Schiller Residence in Washington DC, USA (2019)
Tasting and Vineyard Walk with Oliver Haag, Weingut Fritz Haag– Germany-North Tour 2017 by ombiasy WineTours
Impressive Vineyard Tour and Tasting at Weingut Reichsrat von Buhl in Deidesheim, Pfalz, with Richard Grosche - Germany-South and Alsace 2018 Tour by ombiasy WineTours: Baden, Alsace, Pfalz and Rheinhessen
Tasting at Weingut St. Urbans-Hof in Leiwen, Mosel, with Nik Weis – Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
Wine Tasting at Weingut Friedrich Becker – Germany-South Wine Tour by ombiasy (2014)
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Wirsching in Iphofen in Franken with General Manager Uwe Matheus – Germany-East Wine and Art Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)