Seasoned Germany travellers?

[cnspriggs]

Hello!

I will be travelling in the Rheingau, and Mosel-Saar-Ruwer and need some help trying to figure out who (and if it's possible) to visit.

As it stands I'm interested in the following but there is more here than I have time for and would love to hear comments.

In the Rheingau:

1) Leitz

2) Peter Jakob Kuhn

3) Weil

In the Mittelmosel (help! there are too many!)

1) Daniel Vollenweider

2) Christoffel

3) Selbach

4) Markus Molitor

5) Joh Jos Prum

6) Loosen

7) Fritz Haag

8) Sankt Urbanshof

In Ruwer (unsure):

1) Reichsgraf v. Kesselstatt??

In Saar:

1) Egon Muller

2) von Volxem

3) von Hovel

Cheers!

[glauer]

Rheingau: definitely Kuehn

Weil only if you are keen on the very sweet wines (and are willing to pay a lot)

have not been in a while at the Mosel, but Grans Fassian in Leiwen was always very nice and Sankt Urbanshof is very close by

Molitor I would love to try myself

the other names are kind of the "usual suspects"

it might be more interesting to go for smaller up and coming producers which are not well known outside of germany, there are quite a few of those

at the Ruwer I would personally prefer Karthaeuserhof, and< if only for the castle, Maximin Gruenhaeuser

the Saar list sounds super, though Herrenberg might be an interesting addition ( www.lochriesling.de)

overall sounds like a great trip, I am envious

[cnspriggs]

Thanks for the response! I know some of the ones listed are likely the "usual suspects" but since I have not visited the area before I'm trying to get a feel for each region. However I am finding it difficult to figure out whether the cellars I'm interested in have tasting rooms/cellar doors etc. I would be interested to hear which of the smaller producers you suggest visiting.

[glauer]

I would recommend to look at http://www.weinguide.de/dw/

that is the gault millau guide for german wine

they offically have also an english version, but it does not work

even though, you should be able to browse regions and see their ratings, and they also tell whether wineries are open for visits and their contact info

for example Egon Mueller does not receive private customers.

the guide at http://www.wein-plus.com/german_guide/ is partially translated

[Brad Ballinger]

Many of the wineries in Germany accept customers. And many accept customers without an appointment. I found this to be a general rule in the Pfalz, Rheinhessen, and Mosel. I did not make it to the Rheingau, Mittelrhein, Saar, or Ruwer. There are going to be exceptions, however, so check out the link provided by glauer to be safe.

Also, don't rule out stopping in on producers you've never heard of. You will discover that there are many, many of them who, while maybe not an international commercial success, are incredibly passionate.

And a visit to the wine tent (don't know the acutal name of it) in Zell is a must for the pure fun of it.