Are you serious or just messing with me?

[FuzzyKitten99]

I now work PT at a restaurant called the Chianti Grill. Even if you don't know what Chianti is, or know that we are an authentic Italian restaurant (executive chef is from Sicily!) that offers traditional Italian dishes, mixed with a few that have a Napa Valley flair to them, by looking a the menu, it is obvious we are a fine Italian dining establishment, even if you have never eaten there before.

Our wine list, of course, reflects the Italian/American selections. Some bottles are upwards of $100 or more, depending on the selection.

So why would you sit down, look at the menu, where it even says "dishes are authentic Italian, some with a Napa Valley twist", then look at the wine list and ASK IF WE CARRY GERMAN WINES?



What is really bad is I had two separate people in the same day, ask me this!

[Darkforge]

I think the worst thing is people actually wanting to drink german wines.

I mean there are probably a few nice ones out there, but i've yet to find one...

[FuzzyKitten99]

Apparently what I have been told from a couple different people is the Germans send the bad grapes (meaning the low quality wines) to other countries and keep the better stuff for themselves.

[MergedLoki]

Fun lil thing to remember about wines though.

pricy bottle doesn't mean a good wine.

couple years back they took all these snooty wine critics.

Gave them bargin bin cheapo wines (i'm talking like $7/bottle).

Predicibly EVERY wine taster gave the wines a horrible review.

next little wine tasting the critics got the EXACT SAME wines as before (the ones they hated and despised so much) except this time the wines had been placed in expensive bottles etc.

so while the taste was identical to the eye the tasters THOUGHT they were getting a higher quality wine.

each wine got great reviews etc. and they raved about them and so on.

so yea. just proves that people associate lots of $$$ with high quality no matter what lol.

[raw456]

Some of the best wine I have every drunk were "cheap" bottles or clearskins. Price is not always indicitive of quality. I once tasted Dom Perignon and honestly, I dont know what all the fuss is about. I found it quite average and outrageously overpriced (even if I wasnt paying)

But seriously, who goes into an Itialain restaurant and orders a German wine??

[FuzzyKitten99]

I agree that higher price doesn't necessarily mean better. Though you do have to account for the restaurant mark-up factor. My restaurant carries my and my boyfriend's favorite Cabernet, called Murphy-Goode. We will typically buy it by the case and get it for about $11/bottle since my boyfriend is good friends with the manager of the wine/spirits store we patron. But if you order a bottle at my restaurant, you'll pay $49. Though if we only bought a bottle or two at a time from the store, we would pay about $18-$22/bottle.

I HIGHLY recommend the Murphy-Goode Cab if you like red wines/cabs.m

[KiaKat]

couple years back they took all these snooty wine critics.

Gave them bargin bin cheapo wines (i'm talking like $7/bottle).

Predicibly EVERY wine taster gave the wines a horrible review.

next little wine tasting the critics got the EXACT SAME wines as before (the ones they hated and despised so much) except this time the wines had been placed in expensive bottles etc.

so while the taste was identical to the eye the tasters THOUGHT they were getting a higher quality wine.

each wine got great reviews etc. and they raved about them and so on.

I think, actually, the study you're thinking of was average wine drinkers, performed earlier this year.

Trust me, a trained palate can recognize the difference between $7 plonk and $250 Margaux. And these days, almost all the highest-level wine reviewers have their MS or MW. If they don't, it's because they've been working in the business so long they just haven't bothered to get one.

German wines can be delicious. You just have to get the right kind, from the right winery. And unless you know German, the labels are impossible to decipher without a couple lessons from an expert.

And I will say, most of the restaurants I've been to, even if they're cuisine-specific, tend to have at least a couple wines from other cultures, if just for variety.

Besides, if I'm in a restaurant that has California influence, I don't think it beyond the pale to ask for a non-Italian, but still European wine. Especially if it's a higher-end restaurant with an award-winning list, with bottles in the $100+ range.

Just the opinion of an expert-in-training.

ETA: Also, some restaurants won't put all their wines on their list. If they have a Reserve or an Antique cellar, that might be a separate list, or might be Sommelier-only salable. For a connoisseur, it's reasonable to ask, just in case. Though in that case, they'd usually ask to talk to the Somm, or for any old/antique/reserve wines you may carry.

[Pagan]

I think the worst thing is people actually wanting to drink german wines.

I mean there are probably a few nice ones out there, but i've yet to find one...

German wines can be delicious. You just have to get the right kind, from the right winery. And unless you know German, the labels are impossible to decipher without a couple lessons from an expert.

I've had some very nice rieslings and gewurztraimers. Now, eisweins, not so much. But that has to do with the fact that the wine is too damn sweet for my tastes.

Some of the best wine I have every drunk were "cheap" bottles or clearskins. Price is not always indicitive of quality.

Exactly. We've got a very good, award-winning sparkling wine here, and a lot of other good wineries, too. Yes....good wine....from New Mexico. Fact of the matter is, there have been vineyards here to one extent or another since around 1629. Mainly due to the fact that it was too hard logistically to get the sacramental wine from Spain.

[KiaKat]

Mmmmm....Gruet Blanc de Noirs....

One of my favourite sparklings. I wouldn't call it cheap, though. Mid-range. Plus you have to remember that when you're close to the source, the product will be cheaper.

And yes, I love a good, dry Riesling. Especially if it's aged and has more of the pungent aromatics.

[fma_fanatic]

Germany knows what wine is? Wow.

Okay, I'm being a smart-ass. I grew up on German food. If there was a recipie for it, my mom made it. I can't count the number of times I'd look in the fridge and there'd be some weird thing marinating in a dish. And saurbraten. Lots and lots of saurbraten.

[AccountingDrone]

Germany knows what wine is? Wow.

Okay, I'm being a smart-ass. I grew up on German food. If there was a recipie for it, my mom made it. I can't count the number of times I'd look in the fridge and there'd be some weird thing marinating in a dish. And saurbraten. Lots and lots of saurbraten.

Once I made hassenpffeffer, pickled bunny. It is made by marinating cut up rabbit in a vinegar based marinade, then removed, patted dry, dredged in flour and fried up, then served with a sauce made from the marinade being used to deglaze the pan.

I made it friday evening, put the leftovers in the fridge and left for the weekend. My stupid slitch of a roomie ate it [rendering me without leftovers for lunches during the week] and told me she liked the 'fried chicken' that i had made, and wanted the recipe. Just about the time I mentioned that you marinate the *rabbit* she made a run for the bathroom.

Come on, 3 days later it is no longer in your tummy to hurk up....

though my sauerbraten is to die for ... i need to make some this weekend. Ill start tomorrow.

[dalesys]

Once I made hassenpffeffer, pickled bunny...

Kill da wabbit!

[42_42_42]

Now me, I LOVE Riesling, but I'm fairly certain every bottle I've had has been from somewhere in the US.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Germany knows what wine is? Wow.

Okay, I'm being a smart-ass. I grew up on German food. If there was a recipie for it, my mom made it. I can't count the number of times I'd look in the fridge and there'd be some weird thing marinating in a dish. And saurbraten. Lots and lots of saurbraten.

German food.....blehhhhhhhhhh...

I took six years of German in junior high and high school. Each year in high school we'd take a field trip down to Milwaukee, where we'd visit the German Immersion School, some import shop out in Brookfield, and then have lunch at Mader's, which is an authentic German restaurant in downtown Milwaukee.

We always had the sampler plate, which consisted of of sauerbraten (I just can't get used to the idea of roast beef tasting like a gingerbread cookie), wienerschnitzel (meh), spaetzle (meh), sauerkraut (no. Just...no) and some kind of potato dumpling which I didn't find too tasty either.

I tended to fill up on salad and bread and choke down whatever I could. Sorry, I just never found it very appetizing.

I should've taken Spanish.

[KiaKat]

Now me, I LOVE Riesling, but I'm fairly certain every bottle I've had has been from somewhere in the US.

LECTURE TIME! (yay I get to share info!)

• Riesling is originally a German grape. Grown primarily in the Pfalz, Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Nahe, and Mosel-Saar-Ruwer regions of Germany, as well as the Alsace region of France, it has achieved world renown status as one of the great versatile grapes of the world. The grape itself requires much cooler weather to grow, and the vines require a lower dormancy temperature during the off season in order to renew themselves. Because of this, although you may occasionally find Riesling in other parts of the world, it is rarely as wonderful as in Germany, as the latitude and altitude combination are necessary for a fully ripe grape.
  
  
• There are two locations in the United States that are capable of growing a decent Riesling. Columbia Valley, WA, and Finger Lakes, NY. There is also a strain in Canada, used in making ice wine.
  
  
• There are old plantings in Austria and northern Italy, producing a number of solid, although mostly unremarkable, table wines. Although there are plantings in Australia, NZ, South Africa, Chile, and Argentina, they are few and far between, and with the exception of South Africa, do not often produce export-quality wine.
  
  
• From the Riesling article mentioned above:
  

  Other names for true Riesling - though these are only used in the United States - are Johannisberg Riesling (named after the famed Schloss Johannisberg), White Riesling and Rhine Riesling. In Italy it is sometimes labeled Riesling Renano. Many grapes that incorporate the name Riesling are not true Riesling. For example, Grey Riesling is actually Trousseau Gris, an unrelated grape. Schwarzriesling ("black Riesling") is also known as Pinot Meunier, a grape also used in the production of Champagne. In South Africa, the French grape Crouchen is known as Cape Riesling in contrast to "real Riesling" which is labeled in South Africa as Weisser (or White) Riesling.

• Wines produced in the various German regions will vary widely in flavour and style. There is a vast difference between the more delicate Nahe floral style and the slightly richer Mosel style.
  
  
• Only well-aged German Rieslings will display the petrol note they are distinguished for. Somehow, wineries in other countries have yet to consistently create a Riesling with the aging ability of the German ones.
  
  
• The Qualitätswein mit Prädikat classification is a measurement of ripeness, based on region, and used only in Germany. It is a legal definition of German wines. If you see the terms mentioned in the above article on a label, the wine will be German.

Any questions?

(ETA: Yes, I am a wine geek =) All the above info was pulled from my brain, except for the spelling of QmP and the paragraph about various other names. Those are two things I can never remember.)