Wine Knowledge
Our virtual Hall of Fame is a hero's podium & trophy showcase substitute. Because the Riesling awards that we have received in recent years are impressive (even if we say so ourselves). To be completely honest: We didn't expect that when we changed our focus a good 10 years ago!
Olympic champions win gold medals, football teams win huge trophies and winemakers receive… certificates. Something's wrong! It would be a Riesling cup made of pure gold, we can already see it in front of us: half a meter high, decorated with vine tendrils and delicate bunches of grapes, ice-cold, filled with a wonderful Graf Granit single-vineyard Riesling ... Oh yes.
The Riesling claims about 59,805 hectares of vineyards worldwide. Of this, a good 24,812 hectares (approx. 40%) are cultivated in Germany, and here in turn is the largest area in the Palatinate with around 6,000 hectares - and the trend is rising. Because the demand for German Riesling is increasing.
The Riesling vine has an extremely sensitive reaction to its surroundings - and by that we actually mean the rock on which the vineyard rests! Because even if all other parameters (grape variety, expansion, alcohol content, etc.) are identical, the wines taste completely different, depending on the soil or rock on which they were allowed to grow.
The name Riesling was first mentioned in a document on March 13, 1435, and it was... a bill! Klaus Klein Fisch (nice name) billed Count Johann IV of Katzenelnbogen (even nicer!) for various Riesling vines that were planned for his newly built castle in Rüsselsheim am Main. So you can mark March 13 in your calendars as #rieslingbirthday !
Riesling grapes are comparatively small, and their frost resistance and long ripening period also indicate a relationship with wild grapes . This robustness and adaptability to the northern (continental) climate, along with its taste, were certainly the decisive reasons why the rulers of the 17th and 18th centuries recommended Riesling at the highest level. These included, among others, the Electors of the Palatinate (wise men).
