No fewer than 606 times were German wines of the 2008 vintage awarded 90+ points in Robert Parker?s current vintage appraisal in his newsletter Wine Advocate. A 2008 Scharzhofberger Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel from Weingut Egon Müller-Scharzhof (Saar Valley of the Mosel region) even fetched 98 of a possible 100 points, possibly elevating it to cult status.
 Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate has been one of the world’s most influential wine publications for years. Parker himself has frequently been proclaimed a “wine pope” and the most influential person within the international wine scene, since the wines he rates highly fetch high prices worldwide and are top bets on the shelves of wine merchants and wine lists of restaurateurs.
96 out of 100 points
The German wine expert in his team, David Schildknecht, visited some 101 German wine estates last year and tasted several thousand wines. His enthusiasm for vintage 2008 is reflected in the truly extraordinary number of high ratings he awarded the wines. Some 41 received 95 or more points, 20 of which were from the Mosel region alone. In the past, the Wine Advocate’s high marks for German wines went primarily to sweeter and lusciously sweet wines. This year’s results are all the more encouraging because for the first time, 96 points were awarded to a dry German white wine: 2008 Riesling trocken G-Max from Weingut Keller of Flörsheim-Dalsheim/Rheinhessen. With 92 points each, sparkling wines from the Diel/Nahe and Rebholz/Pfalz estates also fared well, as did the highest rated German red wine, a Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) from Weingut Dr. Deinhard in the Pfalz (91-92+ points).
Germany’s premiere varietal, Riesling, dominates the list of the highly rated white wines, yet others also scored well: Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris), Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), Silvaner, Sauvignon Blanc, Scheurebe, and Rieslaner.
Monika Reule, managing director of the German Wine Institute/Mainz, feels the ratings confirm the high esteem German wines have enjoyed worldwide, and particularly in the USA, since Riesling renaissance. “At this year’s Vinexpo Asia-Pacific in Hong Kong, we could once again see that the Wine Advocate’s appraisals are an important factor for success in Asia. In recent years, German Spätburgunder wines have increasingly won recognition in the international wine scene. As such, I personally hope that the Wine Advocate would find them worthy of more attention in the future.”
read also:
IWSC: "Goldrush" for Germany's white wines
San Francisco and New York: Happy faces at Riesling & Co 2010 U.S. Tour
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