In the summer I visited Germany and travelled widely. I tried a number of excellent sweet wines and am saddened to learn that Germany’s harvest of Eiswein – produced from grapes that have frozen whilst still on the vine – has failed this year because the winter has been so warm.

None of Germany’s 13 wine-growing regions had the necessary temperatures (-7C) to produce the Eiswein (or Ice Wine if you prefer) in 2019 – the second-warmest year on record globally. The amount of ice wine produced has been declining in recent years.

Ernst Buscher of the German Wine Institute (DWI) said in a statement, that”The 2019 vintage will go down in history here in Germany as the first year in which the ice harvest has failed nationwide, if the warm winters continue in the next few years, ice wines from German wine regions will soon become even more of a rarity than they already are.”

Perhaps there’s a solution however – by freezing the grapes in liquid nitrogen, as the Spanish producer Gramona does in their Vi de Glass Vino de Frio Riesling which I reviewed here… Just a thought!

In August 2019 I visited Germany and tasted some good wine – nothing outstanding, apart from a delicious sweet wine; a Reisling Spatlese. Spatlese means ‘late harvest’.

Tasting notes: Pale lemon colour. Pronounced, intense,complex nose with primary aromas of loral notes and mango, secondary mineral notes and tertiary notes of petrol and honeysuckle. Medium sweet on the palate with high acidity and a medium length finish. Balanced. The abv of this wine is only 8% .

Wine Colour – White
Price – £19 The Wine Society
Current Vintage – 2018
Producer – Schloss Lieser
Grape – Riesling
Region/Country – Germany/Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Verdict – Very Good

Food pairing – This would work with spicy food, bbq pork or a plate of charcuterie.