When we moved to the US from riesling heaven at the Mosel, we were quite worried how to cope. Nina went on a mission to force a minimum of 6 bottles on each person visiting us or friends going to the US. They had to deposit the wine at friends’ and we later collected it. So, we now have a nice stash with some amazing wines at our disposal…
However, it does not solve what I like to call our “bread and butter dilemma”: While amazing wines are…well, amazing, one also needs wines that one can drink at every occasion. You can call them everyday wines, I call the bread and butter wines, because a German dinner usually consists of bread and butter (and sausage and cheese…), so the term refers to wines that I can have with my everyday dinner. Easy, enjoyable, not expensive.
In Germany, one of our go-to rieslings was H Riesling (a photo can be seen on the US importer’s website) by Dr. Hermann winery. While this wine is readily available in the US (although I have not been able to unearth it in Ann Arbor), it is still significantly more expensive here than in Germany (duh, one might say).
However, we have found a wine that is a decent enough substitute (to be clear: it can never be a replacement, it is just a substitute). Nothing fancy, actually, in Germany I probably would brush it off as not even worth trying. But here, and for the moment, it is working. It is a Dr. Beckermann’s (a huge mass-producer) Piesporter Michelsberg (some might recognize the village name of Piesport from the wine I talked about yesterday). Michelsberg is a huge vineyard, covering the area opposite the Goldtroepfchen, not on the steep slopes, but on the flat lands on the other side of the Mosel river. The wine sells at Trader Joe’s for $4.99 or $5.99, and I’d say it is worth its money.
Our friend Alex came to town last night for a weekend from DC, and we opened a bottle, and talked about the great wines we enjoyed while she visited us in Germany…and we also enjoyed what we currently have. Nothing like friends and wine…
This one has hints of what I am looking for in a riesling: it is fruity and fun, not high in alcohol (therefore well suited for an extra glass or two), and the sweetness does not overpower some acidity, which makes it quite refreshing and just right for summer.
Also, check out what this blogger, who seems quite focused on TJ’s wines, had to say about it.
Ann Arborites or fellow US residents: Any other suggestions?
the winegetter 