Give a gift they’ll savour all year long. Gift a Membership Now

GGs in Wiesbaden 2019 part 3 – Franken, Pfalz and Rheinhessen

crates containing empty bottles of wine

The final part of Michael’s report from three days of valiant tasting at the end of August, plus three complaints. See also part 1 and part 2, and our guide to coverage of German 2018s.

In the last 30 years German wines have been getting better all the time and it’s becoming ever harder to criticise the German wine scene. But it’s not yet impossible.

First bone of contention, and this will presumably remain forever: there are too many Grosse Gewächse (Grand Crus). This is for two reasons. Some sites are simply not good enough, and some growers...