German Riesling welcomes new fellows

Wines of Germany has appointed three new “Riesling Fellows” from the UK trade in recognition of their “dedication and passion” for German Riesling.

Newly appointed Riesling fellows Sebastian Thomas, Hew Blair and Stuart Pigott

Hew Blair, chairman of Justerini & Brooks; Sebastian Thomas, managing director of Howard Ripley; and wine writer Stuart Pigott were all welcomed into the Riesling Fellowship during a dinner last week at Vintners’ Hall in London.

The evening started with a tasting on the theme of “Tradition and Innovation” before Piggott joined existing Riesling Fellows Jancis Robinson MW, David Motion and Hugh Johnson for a seminar titled “My Life with Riesling”, which saw the presenters show their favourite example of the grape.

Monika Reule, CEO of the German Wine Institute, commented: “The Riesling Fellowship was developed in order to honour and thank those members of the trade who have over the years dedicated so much energy and passion to inspiring the nation on German Riesling.

“Last year we appointed six fellows and we are delighted to add a further three members to the fold this year, a huge congratulations to the fellows of 2014.”