Wine Industry Report

The inaugural ‘Riesling Fellowship’ organised by Wines of Germany and hosted by The German Ambassador took place last week and was described as a huge success by all involved. The evening event and tasting saw key industry figures and top Riesling winemakers from around the world gather together to celebrate and recognise individuals who have been instrumental in championing Riesling at an international level.

The event was attended by top winemakers from Germany, France, Austria and Australia and a pre dinner discussion around the topic ‘’Does Riesling demonstrate the importance of terroir better than any other white variety?’’ was chaired by Jancis Robinson MW.

A seasonal menu was prepared by Embassy chef Kay Intek and matched, with the help of restaurateur Martin Lam, to a selection of Rieslings from the winemakers present.

Jancis Robinson described the evening, “An extremely impressive roster of top producers – mainly German but also from Austria, Alsace and Australia via France - forsook their ferments to attend and shared some of their best bottles with a handful of UK wine writers and importers. There was wide agreement that Riesling is rather a wonderful grape variety which can indeed transmit differences in terroir (and age) extremely well.”

Nicky Forrest, Wines of Germany said, “The idea of the Riesling Fellowship is to create an annual event dedicated to celebrating Riesling and those responsible for its success. We were thrilled that so many of our worldwide Riesling colleagues could join us in our first year and hope that the Riesling Fellowship continues to grow in years to come, giving producers and the trade alike a forum to discuss and celebrate their achievements together.”

Winemaker attendees:

· Johannes Leitz, Weingut Leitz, Rheingau

· Johannes Selbach, Weingut Selbach-Oster, Mosel

· Katharina Prüm, Weingut JJ Prüm, Mosel

· Dr Franz Michel, Domdechant Werner’sches Weingut, Rheingau

· Rainer Lingenfelder, Weingut Lingenfelder, Pfalz

· Klaus-Peter Keller, Weingut Keller, Rheinhessen

· Philipp Wittmann, Weingut Wittmann, Rheinhessen

· Helmut Dönnhoff, Weingut Hermann Dönnhoff, Nahe

· Louise Rose, Yalumba, Australia

· Fred Loimer, Weingut Loimer, Austria

· Willi Bründlmeyer, Weingut Bründlmeyer, Austria

· Paul Zinck, Paul Zinck Vins D’Alsace, Alsace