Christian Adams from The German Wine Collection is our guest on California Wine Country with Steve Jaxon and Dan Berger.

Christian has brought three different German wines, each from a different producer. The 2021 Pinot Blanc is the first wine tasted. Its name Weissburgunder is German for Pinot Blanc, literally it means ‘White Burgundian.’

You don’t see much Pinot Blanc here in California but there is some in Menocino County and even in Idaho which Dan says is excellent. Also, Germany is producing “an unbelievable array” of delicious wines from new and different varieties. Christian likes the German Pinot Blancs that have “the tri-fecta” of good acidity, fruit and minerality all together.

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The next wine tasting is the estate Chardonnay from Friedrich Becker. It was fermented in German oak barrels, and spends about 5 months in the fine lees. It has undergone malolactic fermentation but not so much to overpower the minerality. Dan says he prefers this style even if there is really only a trace of oak.

The German Wine Collection began from a portfolio put together by Rudy Wiest Selections. Dan laments that at the time, there were too many sommeliers who did not know the German wines, to everyone’s detriment.

The last tasting is a Pinot Noir. The entry-level estate Pinot Noir gets a “wow” from Steve. It is not Burgundian nor is it New World, says Dan. But it has a combination of delicacy and richness. Dan gets flavors of fresh beets, blueberry jam and the acidity in the aftertaste that you get from German wines. Christian makes bratwurst and found some old recipes that were handwritten. He has been able to make and recreate these flavors and styles that you can’t get any other way.