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2025 Rheingau & Pfalz: Energy, Ripeness, Brilliance and Speed
featured, Germany
, Aug 2026
With its combination of warmth and sufficient moisture, the 2025 growing season yielded brilliant and juicy Rieslings full of energy and ripeness. Yields were low across the board, prompting fast-advancing ripening and turbo harvests. The Pfalz almost universally delivered juicy, brilliant wines. The Rheingau is a little patchier but holds many sweet (and dry) surprises. The 2024 Pinot Noirs are pictures of elegance.
2025 Rheinhessen-Nahe and Mittelrhein: Opulence, Clarity and Sweet Marvels
featured, Germany
, Aug 2026
The 2025 growing season was marked by evenness: no frost, hail only in tiny pockets, warmth without heat spikes and sufficient rain. This spelled fast-advancing ripeness and an early harvest, which was punctuated by rain for some. The resulting wines are fruit-laden and opulent, but beautifully contoured because acids remained stable. Lovers of sweet wines will find alluring higher Riesling Prädikate in 2025, while the 2024 Pinot Noirs drive home that Germany can and does excel with Spätburgunder.
Lower Austria 2025: Back to the Future
featured, Austria
, Jul 2026
The 2025 vintage in Lower Austria is like a souvenir from the past: Grüner Veltliners are textbook examples of peppery verve, while Rieslings come with wonderful cut, afforded by the acidity of a year that had sufficient rain and no real heat spikes. These squeaky-clean wines are super-classic expressions that recall another age.
Alsace 2024: A Rainy Year of Svelte Beauties
featured, France: Alsace
, Mar 2026
Like elsewhere in France, excessive rain was a key feature of the 2024 vintage in Alsace, spelling disease pressure and lower yields. But winemakers who stayed on top of their vineyard work delivered remarkable collections. The 2024 Rieslings are strikingly svelte, crystalline and whip-smart. Pinot Gris comes with much clarity, while Gewurztraminer is on a more slender footing. The 2023 Pinot Noirs are simply exquisite. Apart from renowned specialists, few made late-harvest or nobly sweet wines.
2024 Burgenland and Austria's East: Heavenly Reds and Crisp Whites
featured, Austria
, Feb 2026
The central and Eastern Austrian regions of Carnuntum, Thermenregion and Burgenland delivered beautifully crisp whites and evocative, precise reds in 2024. Neither spring frosts nor September rains were as severe as in Lower Austria along the Danube. Despite record heat, which spelled an unprecedentedly early harvest for some, there is no lack of freshness in the whites, while most reds took the heat in stride. Near Lake Neusiedl, clean and early botrytis arrived in late October, ensuring concentrated Ausbruch and TBAs.
Remembering Pierre Trimbach
featured, Vinous Remembers, France: Alsace
, Feb 2026
It was with sadness and disbelief that I learned of Pierre Trimbach’s death on January 31, 2026, at the age of 69. His legacy will endure in his long-lived, pure and brilliant wines.
English Sparkling & Still: Forging Ahead
featured, United Kingdom
, Jan 2026
England delivered a slew of delicious wines—both sparkling and still—for this report. Lovers of Blanc de Blanc styles should definitely pay attention. The best English sparkling wines are beautifully coming into their own, claiming their place amongst the global ranks. Over in the still wine camp, England’s performance is equally impressive, especially when it comes to Chardonnay.
Sekt: Effervescent Germany and Austria
featured, Austria, Germany
, Dec 2025
This report brings together the effervescent efforts of Austria and Germany across an impressively broad geographic span. From electric Rieslingsekts to meticulously crafted traditional styles, the top Sekts from these two countries confidently rival the world’s finest sparkling wines.
2024 Mosel, Saar and Ruwer: Tales of Woe and Wow
germany: Mosel, featured, Germany: Saar, Germany: Ruwer
, Oct 2025
Frost, hail, a wet spring and a dry summer made 2024 a challenging year for growers in Mosel, Saar and Ruwer. However, the results are sprightly, sleek, concentrated Rieslings with exquisite verve.
2025 Germany Pre-Auctions Report: Trier & Bad Kreuznach - Sleek, Svelte and Sensational
germany: Mosel, featured, Germany: Saar, Germany: Ruwer, Germany
, Sep 2025
The two main German auctions in Trier and Bad Kreuznach will take place on November 7 and 8, respectively. In Trier, Riesling lovers can look forward to Kabinetts, Spätlesen and a handful of Auslesen and dry wines from Mosel, Saar and Ruwer, many of them in double magnums and even Methuselahs. Bad Kreuznach offers thrilling dry Rieslings, Kabinetts, one Sekt and one stellar Eiswein from Nahe, Rheinhessen and Pfalz, supplemented by Pinot Noirs from Nahe and Ahr.