What is most surprising about German wines is how little attention they receive in the American wine market. Few know that Germany has experienced an unbroken string of good to excellent vintages since 1988. What's more, according to the German Wine Information Bureau in New York, production of high quality wine is up, vineyard acreage has expanded, and more wines are being produced from riesling, Germany's finest grape. Yet exports to the US dropped by half during the 1980s, and have since shown steady single digit market declines. Some top producers have done better, thanks to importers pushing their highest quality lines, but too many indifferent German wines from the 1970s combined with a worldwide move toward drier styles, has engendered lackadaisical sales overall.

The upshot is that good quality German wines will sometimes be tough to find, however, those who are willing to search them out will be rewarded by some of the best wine values in today's marketplace. Estate bottled German rieslings at the Auslese and Spatlese levels are some of the world's finest white table wines, and they can often be purchased for less than your average start-up boutique winery's new chardonnay; a great value to say the least.