Press

Riesling, Germany’s flagship grape, celebrates 590 years of legendary wines—renowned for purity, finesse, and age-worthy brilliance. Discover its story and taste.

If you aren’t entirely certain how to navigate all the terminology on German wine labels, you’re not alone. Like many global regions, German wine classifications are governmentally regulated and geospecific. In Germany, winemakers use words like Prädikatswein, Trocken, Auslese, and more to denote quality as well as characteristics like dryness and ripeness.

As global wine consumption continues to decline, many wonder if the drink’s millennia-long party may be drawing to a close. Well, not if sparkling Riesling has anything to do with it.

Climate change has provided both the means and the impetus for growers to plant the grape. The wines are getting better and better.

The region’s dominance as a source for dealcoholized wines comes down to climate, technology, and a population willing to drink NA.

As sales of alcoholic beverages have slowed in recent years, nonalcoholic beer, wine and spirits have emerged as one of the fastest-growing sectors in the drinks industry. No longer a niche category for the sober or pregnant, NA drinks are attracting a wide audience of health-conscious, sober-curious or just occasionally alcohol-free consumers too.

In the 35 years since German reunification, the wine regions of Saale-Unstrut and Sachsen have occupied little more than a footnote in the story of German viticulture. On a recent trip, Anna Lee Ijima found a young, bold new cadre of winemakers coming in from the cold.