457767 Tue Nov 06 07:21:18 -0800 2007 7 34 Wine 0 3099374 Hi, We'll be headed on a short trip touring around the Black Forest in Germany and Alsace in France in a month, and I'd like to have a little more knowledge of the wines of those areas than I do now. We've been to Alsace before, and I liked the reislings there a lot. I normally find German wines a little to sweet for my tastes, but I realize they are some of the most highly regarded in the world. Can someone point me in the direction of a great, easy to comprehend website about these wines, or maybe just give me their own quick oversight of what not to miss, what to look for, what producers are best ... really any information would be very appreciated. thanks so much in advance. Tue Nov 06 07:21:19 -0800 2007 56762 LulusMom 1 3099436 See the web site of Rieslings du Monde at: http://www.riesling-du-monde.com/anglais/presentation.html also visit Wines of Alsace at: http://www.vinsalsace.com/en/index.html Tue Nov 06 07:37:34 -0800 2007 3099374 12250 Bruce in SLO 1 3099483 Peter Ruhrberg's German Wine Page is a good place to start: http://www.winepage.de/ For detailed background and commentary on some of the top German producers, download Terry Theise's wine catalogues: www.skurnikwines.com/msw/theise_catalogs.html If sweetness is an impediment, look for wines labelled Trocken or Halbtrocken. Tue Nov 06 07:48:55 -0800 2007 3099374 10520 carswell 1 3099830 Fantastic - thank you both so much. Tue Nov 06 09:14:35 -0800 2007 3099374 56762 LulusMom 1 3099847 If you like dry rieslings, as opposed to the more popular slightly sweet style, Alsatian rieslings, as you've found, are fully dry. When in Germany, I'd look for 2 things if you wish to avoid sweetness. First, if the word "trocken" (dry) appears on the label, it's dry. Failing that, look for rieslings from the Pfalz region, as opposed to Mosel/Saar or Rhine...they are generally made in the drier style. Tue Nov 06 09:19:34 -0800 2007 3099374 116345 ChefBoyAreMe 1 3100828 How about if I wanted to try to understand the appeal of the sweeter rieslings - any particular wineries I should look for? Anyone had anything from that region that they especially recommend? any thoughts on places we might try for a tasting? We'll have our 18 month old daughter with us, so we can't explore as fully as we'd like, but she's very well behaved and we should be able to try a few places. Tue Nov 06 12:55:42 -0800 2007 3099374 56762 LulusMom 2 3105905 The black forest region really isn't a big wine region, but alsace is. The rieslings there tend to be bone dry versions, drier in many instances than the german trockens. I drink and collect rieslings and in most cases menus did not have a single label that I recognized. The wines you will see are often "local" and usually meant to be enjoyed young. In Alsace you could look for zind-humbrecht, trimbach or hugel (the three biggest??) and dopff, josmeyer, pierre sparr, or beyer. Still, I would not be afraid to do a lot of sampling. Have fun, its a pretty area. Learn a few terms before you go... french: Vendage Tardive (ven-daj tar-deev) = late harvest = more sugar Sélection de Grains Nobles: dessert wines with botrytis flavors German: Trocken (trow-ken), halb-trocken, and lieblich (leeb-lish) or suss (soose) = dry, semi-dry and sweet You may see the words kabinett, spatlese (shpate-lazuh) and auslese = harvested ontime, late picked, and individually selected very late picked. The later the harvest, the more sugar. (voss emp-feh-lenn zee?) = what do you recommend? add the word "mit" or "with" to ask about a pairing. Wed Nov 07 23:12:54 -0800 2007 3100828 53967 chrisinroch 3 3106026 This is really helpful information, thank you so much. I've had some Trimbach wines (here at home), and enjoyed them. I'm going to take your list with me. Thanks again for the advice. Thu Nov 08 04:09:54 -0800 2007 3105905 56762 LulusMom