German Riesling | Fine Wine, Champagne, Vintage Port and Spirits | 25 August 2026

What is the greatest most individual wine growing country in the world? There is only one answer... Germany!

When I was starting my career at Justerini & Brooks, I was weaned on German wines, as unlike other merchants, it was considered part of your education. There the names of Prum, Haag, Donhoff were as important as any Bordeaux First Growth or smart Burgundian. I still look upon them with the same reverence, and we should! A bottle of JJ Prum sat next to a bottle of Chateau Lafite in a wine rack may not have the same value, but they are still the best of what they are, and German wines are the finest Riesling in the world. They also give you multiple interpretations, from dry to sweet, and often picked in extreme conditions. There are no other wines growers that understand what a simple grape can achieve. The wines last, and last like no another.

In my notes, I recall drinking a 1949 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese JJ Prum in 2010. The complexity, freshness and youthfulness, were unlike anything I had ever tasted. Therefore, I say throw off your white Burgundy shackles, and embracing your inner Victorian, serve some chilled German Reisling. I would start with a light dry wine, followed by a beautiful semi-sweet Spätlese, and finish with an intense Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA). The Best Weinguts of Germany offer wines like no other, and have done so for generations!

After all this time, I don't think Dreweatts will change your drinking habits, but if we can offer some advice, take this as an opportunity to drink something truly incredible!