Julia took a well-earned break from the proofs of Wine Grapes to taste the 2011 Germans shown by London specialist importer Howard Ripley recently. She deliberately targeted wines that our German correspondent Michael Schmidt had not tasted at the Weinbörse tastings in Mainz on which he has reported here. Her brief report to me afterwards was: 'Some particularly good Kabinetts. Van Volxem, Weiser-Künstler, Prüm and Keller all looking very good. I found the best balance of sugar and acidity in the Kabinetts and also in some of the Spätlesen. So many of the wines are such incredibly good value.'...