Robert Parker recently announced a change in his team, with potentially a major impact on how the Wine Advocate will assess German wine. US-based David Schildknecht leaves the team and Germany-based Stephan Reinhardt joins the team.
I have the highest professional respect for David. His talent is exceptional, and he will be greatly missed, said Robert Parker. It's never easy replacing any of our writers, but we believe Stephan is a great addition to the team as a native and recognized authority on German wine.
David Schildknecht
David is one of the authorities for German (but not only German) wine in the English-speaking wine world. He is a legend in German wine circles in the US. I go back with David for many years. When I moved to the US in the early 1980s, David was a retailer in Washington DC. I remember long discussions (in German) with him at Pearson’s on Wisconsin Street, when he worked there. He was also a frequent guest at the German Wine Society (Washington DC Chapter). He now lives in Cincinetti.
Stephan Reinhardt
Born, raised and based in Germany, Stephan Reinhardt has established himself as a leading wine journalist in Germany. But he has also gained recognition beyond the borders of the German-speaking part of Europe. Most recently, his book The Finest Wines of Germany was shortlisted as Best International Wine Book of Year by the Louis Roederer International Wine Writers' Award.
Stephan Reinhardt was editor-in-chief of Vinum, a 10-issue magazine distributed in Switzerland, Germany and Austria, and of Weinwisser, a Swiss/German wine newsletter. He has written stories for a number of publications, including The World of Fine Wine; a handful of German daily newspapers; and lifestyle magazines including Der Feinschmecker, Falstaff and Fine -- das Weinmagazin.
Stephan Reinhardt is passionate about Riesling, Port and Pinot Noir, loves music (especially jazz), travel and soccer (especially the Cologne soccer club). He studied drama (Theaterwissenschaft), communication (Kommunikationswissenschaft) and psychologie (Psychologie) at Munich University and worked as a junior professor (Assistant) at the Institut für Theaterwissenschaft in Munich from 1997 to 2000. He lives with his family near Hamburg, Germany.
I am excited to be writing for one of the greatest wine journals in the world, said Stephan Reinhardt. I have the deepest respect for Robert Parker and the Wine Advocate and am thrilled to be joining his esteemed team of world-renowned reviewers.
German Wine: Reinhardt versus Schildknecht
Looking at David’s and Stephan’s background, I would not be surprised if the coverage of German wine by the Wine Advocate will change with David leaving and Stephan coming on board.
David is very much grounded in the traditional American perspective of German wine. The American taste is leaning towards the fruity-sweet style wines of German white wine. For the American taste, the Mosel Region, with its fruity-sweet Kabinett and Spaetlese wines, is at the heart of German wine. German dry wines are only now gaining interest in the American market. Similarly, although red wine accounts for 1/3 of the German wine production, they are hard to find in the American market.
Stephan comes from different angle. He has lived all his live in Germany. He is very well integrated with the wine scene in Germany - producers, retailers, sommeliers and cunsumers. He is also a bit younger than David and pretty active on facebook. There, in the German discussion groups, or more generally: among wine lovers in Germany, the talk is about premium and ultra-premium German dry wines and the new generation of German premium and ultra-premium red wines. People do talk about fruity sweet Kabinett and Spaetlese wines, but interest for these wines is clearly limited in Germany. Stephan is part of the new wave of German premium dry white and premium red wines. A few days ago, with the new job, Stephan Reinhardt supplemented his friend facebook page with a fan facebook page and called the new page: Stephan Reinhardt trocken.
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate Team
Here is the current team.
Stephan Reinhard: Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as well as Alsace, Champagne and the Loire Valley.
Robert Parker: Northern California, Bordeaux, California Retrospectives, Bordeaux Retrospectives, Value Wines
Neal Martin: Burgundy's Cote d'Or, Macon, Beaujolais, Chablis, sweet white wines of Bordeaux, South Africa, Port, Madeira & Banyuls
Mark Squires: Dry table wines of Portugal, Israel, Greece, Romania, Lebanon and Bulgaria
Lisa Perrotti-Brown: Australia, New Zealand
Jeb Dunnuck: Rhone Valley (North & South), Central & Southern California, Washington State, Languedoc-Roussillon, Southern France
Monica Larner: Italy
Luis Gutierrez: Spain, Chile, Argentina
schiller-wine: Related Postings
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Christian G.E. Schiller's Review of the Book: Ralf Frenzel (ed.) - Riesling, Robert Weil. Tre Torri, Wiesbaden, Germany, 2013, in: Journal of Wine Economics, Volume 9, 2014, No. 1, Cambridge University Press
German Riesling and International Grape Varieties – Top Wine Makers Wilhelm Weil and Markus Schneider at Kai Buhrfeindt’s Grand Cru in Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Visiting Wilhelm Weil at his Weingut Robert Weil in Kiedrich, Germany
In the Steinberg, Eberbach Abbey, Rheingau, Germany
Surprising the World with their Pinot Noir: Johannes and Christoph Thoerle, Winzerhof Thoerle, Rheinhessen, Germany
Doepfner’s im Maingau Meets Frankfurt/Wein, with Weingut Battenfeld-Spanier and Weingut Chat Sauvage, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Five Hochheim (Rheingau) Winemakers Presented their Vintage 2011 Wines in Hochheim, Germany
A Tasting at Weingut Peter Jakob Kühn, Rheingau, with Angela and Peter Jakob Kühn, Germany
German Star Winemaker Clemens Busch, Weingut Clemens Busch in the Mosel Valley, in Washington DC, USA
Riesling, Pinot Noir and Indian Cuisine: A tête-à-tête Dinner with Winemaker Ernst Loosen, Weingut Dr. Loosen, at Rasika in Washington DC, USA
The German Winemakers at the 4th Riesling Rendezvous in Seattle, USA
"Wurzelwerk" Goes America: 3 Vineyards, 3 Winemakers and 9 Wines
Weingut von Hoevel – The New Generation: Max von Kunow in Washington DC, US
An Afternoon with Riesling Star Winemaker Helmut Doennhoff at Weingut Doennhoff in Oberhausen in the Nahe Valley, Germany
Cellar Tour, Vineyard Tour, Tasting and Lunch with Georg Rumpf, Weingut Kruger-Rumpf, Nahe Valley, Germany
Caroline and Armin Diel, Schlossgut Diel (Nahe Valley), Presented their New Wines (Vintage 2012), Germany
Weingut Schloss Neuweier– Robert Schaetzle, Baden, Germany
Lunch at an Iconic Restaurant in Baden, Germany: Restaurant Schwarzer Adler
One of the Fathers of the German Red Wine Revolution: Weingut Huber in Baden
Joachim Heger, Weingut Dr. Heger: Winemaker of the Year, Gault Millau WeinGuide Deutschland 2013, Germany
Steffen Christmann (Weingut A. Christmann) and Wilhelm Weil (Weingut Robert Weil) Presented the New Wine Classification of the VDP, Germany
The World Meets at Weingut Weegmueller, Pfalz, Germany
The Wines Chancelor Merkel Served President Obama and Michelle Obama in Berlin (and the Wines she did not Serve), Germany