German Wine Bible in English

Published: 23 July, 2008

Happily we have not had to wait as long for an English translation of the German Wine Bible' as John Wycliffe and his followers had to wait for an English version of the Gospel.

An English edition of the 2005 Gault Millau Guide to German Wines by Armin Diel and Joel Payne has been published by Mitchell Beazley, and was celebrated with a launch at the German Embassy on 1 June.

Although the 2005 guide is the 13th annual edition in German, it is only the second in English, the first having been published more than five years ago. So much has happened in the interim that this new edition, with concise explanations of Classic, Selection and the VDP's Grosses Gewchs, as well as detailed producer and regional profiles, rankings and scores, is specially welcome. Some 5,709 wines from 842 producers were tasted for this 760-page edition (16.99 in paperback).

Armin Gring, director of the German Wine Institute, admitted that his country's wines were not always easy to understand', but said that the English Gault Millau provides the perfect introduction to the excellent wines and winemakers of Germany for wine enthusiasts around the world.'

Payne agreed that German wine labels could be as difficult to read as Chinese or Japanese, one reason why Germany does not have stellar names like Latour or Gaja. But,' he added, slowly these are coming. The producers are of equal stature, and the wines of equal quality'. Among the leading producers present to introduce some of the authors' favourite 2003s were Keller, Mller, Prm, Rebholz and Weil. A few of these were made with indigenous yeasts, a practice that Payne identified as a controversial but positive recent trend.

The wine-friendly German ambassador described wine as an indispensable diplomatic tool', and said he has served only German wine to the 27,000 guests he has hosted in London.

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