Teachers pet?

German importers are making the most of the upsurge in press coverage for German wines, but they still recognise the challenge ahead: education, education, education…

Nigel C F de M Blundell Managing director, Siegel Wine Agencies Ltd

I make no apology that I am a confirmed optimist and, possibly, when one has been selling German wines, one needs to be. 

Not only are we selling far more quality German Rieslings than ever before, but in order to help our growers produce more wine I am even planning to buy vineyards in the Mosel, the Nahe and possibly the Rheingau this autumn.  They probably won’t cost very much either.

What do I put this growth down to? We have four of Germany’s greatest producers in our portfolio, there hasn’t been one bad vintage since 1987 and there has been extremely supportive press commentary from top journalists.

There is also now more widespread riesling distribution and younger drinkers who perhaps were not brought up on Liebfraumilch, but Jacobs Creek – and who want to try other grape varieties. The future looks very positive.

Sarah Turner Wine buyer, Tesco

Currently sales of Germany are fairly static versus last year with some growth coming from the more modern style rieslings at the £3.99+ sector.

There is still a very loyal customer base for the generics such as Liebfraumilch and Hock but in order to grow Germany we need to continue to encourage customers to buy at more premium pricepoints.

The increased awareness of Riesling as a grape variety by customers has helped and we will continue to raise interest in this grape with the launch of a Riesling as part of our Tesco Finest range from Germany in the early part of next year.

Sebastian Thomas Wine buyer, Howard Ripley Wines

The great vintages of 2001 and 2002 have done much to improve the sorry image of German wine in this country.  Much more could be done.

German growers and marketing organisations should focus on Germany’s unrivalled ability to produce the finest white wines in the world. We should help the consumer to understand firstly that these can be unique wines, and secondly that they represent excellent value.

We would all benefit if the German wine industry were to sort out its wine laws and classifications, which seem to be understood only by its members. At present, labels confuse the consumer.

Merchants could be more proactive: "Difficult to sell" is too easy an excuse.  At Howard Ripley, we have found that there is no shortage of interested consumers who can be converted to the glories of German wine – if we make an effort to persuade them.

James Craig-Wood German Wine Information Service (GWIS)

Eighty per cent of the UK’s wine is purchased through the supermarkets and in the last 12 months German wine has enjoyed new listings in Marks & Spencer (eight new wines in the £4-£8 category), Somerfield, Safeway, Sainsbury’s and Tesco has just added a new Riesling range.

German wine is more popular in the supermarkets than it has been for a long time and the buyers are playing a major part in the German wine revolution.

The supermarkets are certainly the most important route to consumers in terms of volume, but sales at the value end of the market must also be maintained and increased.

Iris Ellmann The Wine Barn

The German wine demand has increased immensely over the past year and signs are looking even more positive for 2004.   We deal with the top end wines and the top end on-trade and we’re finding that sommeliers are certainly more open-minded and are keen to learn more about modern German wine than they used to be, as their knowledge is somewhat limited in that sector.