Germany’s Best Dry Rieslings – Der Feinschmecker Riesling Cup 2020

Picture: Germany’s Best Dry Rieslings – Der Feinschmecker Riesling Cup 2020

The results of the Feinschmecker Riesling Cup 2020 - Germany’s Best Dry Rieslings - were published in the February 2020 issue of Der Feinschmecker, Germany's leading gourmet journal.

Picture: Feinschmecker Riesling Cup

Dry Riesling in Germany

There are approximately 47,000 hectares planted with Riesling worldwide. Germany—with 22,500 hectares—accounts for about half of the total. From a global perspective, Riesling is a niche grape variety, accounting for less than 1% of world wine production. From a global perspective, it is the fruity-sweet style (with the fermentation stopped so that the wine remains sweet and the level of alcohol low) and the rare noble-sweet style (lusciously sweet wines due to noble rot or frost in the vineyard) that are receiving the attention of the connoisseurs of premium wines.

Dry Riesling has played a minor role in the world of wine, but this is changing. The Rieslings from Alsace and Austria, both considerably smaller producers of Riesling than Germany (Alsace produces approximately 15% and Austria approximately 7% of what Germany produces), have always been in the dry category (although the Rieslings from Alsace have shown a trend toward an increasing level of remaining sweetness in the wine over the past decades), and, importantly, Germany, the dominating Riesling force in the world, has undergone a major trans-formation in the past 40 years: The fruity-sweet Rieslings have been crowded out from the wine lists in Germany, while the “dry wave”—“Trockenwelle”—has swept the country. When you go to a wine bar, wine store, or restaurant in say Frankfurt, Berlin, or Munich, it is very difficult to find a fruity-sweet Riesling. The wine lists are dominated by dry Riesling.

Der Feinschmecker Riesling Cup 2020 - Top 15 Dry Rieslings

1. 2018 Weingut Piedmont, Pulchen, Grosses Gewächs, Riesling Trocken, Mosel (Euro 20)
2. 2018 Weingut Schmitt Erben, Claes, Sonntheilen, Riesling Trocken, Mosel (Euro 12.50)
3. 2018 Weingut Heinz Nikolei, Siegelsberg, RGG, Riesling Trocken, Rheingau (Euro 16)
3. 2018 Weingut Trenz, Johannisberg, Mittelhölle, RGG, Riesling Trocken, Rheingau (Euro 24.90)
5. 2018 Weingut Kühling-Gillot, Oppenheim, Riesling Trocken, Rheinhessen (Euro 18.50)

Picture: Tasting with Carolin Spanier-Gillot, Weingut Battenfeld-Spanier and Weingut Kühling-Gillot, in Hohen-Sülzen - Germany-South and Alsace 2018 Tour by ombiasy WineTours

5. 2018 Weingut Karthäuserhof, Tyrell's Edition Riesling Trocken, Mosel (Euro 24)
5. 2018 Weingut Spiess, Bechtheim, Riesling Trocken, Rheinhessen (Euro 11.90)
5. 2018 Weingut F.J. Eifel, Trittenheimer Apotheke, Alte Reben, Riesling Trocken, Mosel (Euro 19)
9. 2018 Weingut Maximin Grünhaus, Abtsberg, Grosses Gewächs, Riesling Trocken, Mosel (Euro 30)

Picture: Cellar Visit, Vineyard Walk and Tasting at Weingut Maximin Grünhaus in Mertersdorf, Ruwer, with Owner Dr. Carl von Schubert– Germany-North Tour 2017 by ombiasy WineTours

9. 2018 Weingut Manz, Pettenthal, Riesling Trocken, Rheinhessen (Euro 24.90)
11. 2018 Weingut Korell-Johanneshof, Von den Grossen Lagen, Riesling Trocken, Nahe (Euro 17)
12. 2018 Weingut Alexander Gysler, Klangwerk, Weinheimer Hölle, Riesling Trocken, Rheinhessen (Euro 20)
13. 2018 Weingut Toni Jost, Bacherach, Riesling Trocken, Mittelrhein (Euro 9.90)

Picture: Peter and Cecilia Jost, Weingut Toni Jost, Bacharach, Mittelrhein. See: Wine Tasting at Weingut Toni Jost in Bacharach, Mittelrhein, with Cecilia Jost– Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours, Germany

14. 2018 Gut Hermannsberg, Felsenberg, Grosses Gewächs, Riesling Trocken, Nahe (Euro 36)

Picture: Tour and Tasting at Weingut Gut Hermannsberg in Niederhausen, Nahe– Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)

15. 2018 Weingut Dr. Loosen, Graacher Himmelreich, Grosses Gewächs, Alte Reben, Riesling Trocken, Mosel (Euro 21)
16. 2018 Weingut Grans-Fassian, Laurentius-Lay, Grosses Gewächs, Riesling Trocken, Mosel (Euro 29)