Riesling and terroir, yeast, petrol and Fellows

On Wednesday last week the German Wine Institute and the German Embassy hosted a Fellowship of Riesling evening at Vintners' Hall in London. After a hiatus of several years this was only the third time such an event had taken place, but according to the managing director of the Deutsches Weininstitut, Monica Reule, the intention is to hold it on a regular annual basis from now on.

The first time I heard of the Riesling Fellowship, I suspected it was s sinister brother- (and sister-)hood for the clandestine worship of German Riesling, with initiation ceremonies and long-established rituals similar to...