What I’m drinking now: Stuart Pigott

Stuart Pigott, British wine writer based in Berlin since 1993, is well-known to lovers of Riesling around the world for his Stuart Pigott Riesling Global project, his German-language wine books and his entertaining and informative blog (this one in English). He’s also the author of “The Wine Atlas of Germany: And Traveller’s Guide to the Vineyards� (1996) and “Planet Wine: A Grape by Grape Visual Guide to the Contemporary Wine World� (2006).

If you think all German wines are sweet, try his pick for “What are you drinking?�: 2011 Weingut Van Volxem Saar Riesling “Alte Reben� ($26.99 at the Wine House).

“Many people still think that dry German Rieslings all taste tart and lean. Those from the Saar, a tributary of the Mosel, had the reputation of being the tartest and the leanest. However, around the last turn of the century a new style of supple and richly textural Riesling was developed by a group of German winemakers who looked back to the techniques of the previous turn of the century for inspiration.

This excellent example of the new-old style has a fine dried peach aroma, considerable power and a long spicy-minerally finish. Analytically the wine is not quite bone dry, but the taste is dry enough that this is definitely a wine for the dining table. It could be drunk with everything from a roast chicken to a red Thai curry. The wine is close in quality to Van Volxem’s sought-after single vineyard bottlings, but the price considerably more moderate, which means it’s almost a steal. They too are made from “Alte Reben,� old vines. 2011 is the best vintage to date for this wine.

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