Young German winemakers expand beyond Riesling, Jefford reports

A visit to six wineries associated with Germany’s Generation Riesling found producers working across a wide range of grapes and styles, Decanter columnist Andrew Jefford reports. The group, founded in 2006 to challenge perceptions of German wine in the UK, is made up of young growers; Jefford notes that succession is not new for many participating estates, which have deep family histories.

The wineries he visited offered sparkling, white, red and rosé wines. Several also made natural, orange and non-alcoholic products, and used disease-resistant grape varieties. Jefford reports that estates in the Rheinhessen and Nahe grew between 15 and 18 varieties, alongside Riesling. Examples of non-alcoholic alternatives included grape-based kombucha and blends of grape juice, verjus, tea and fermented fruit.

The account puts that experimentation against a difficult market backdrop. Germany lost 1,300 hectares of vines in 2025, according to the article, and supermarket wine sales fell 7% over the same period. Pauline Baumberger of the Nahe estate bearing her family name told Jefford that bulk Rheinhessen Riesling was selling for 80 cents per litre, below production cost. The article also describes vine losses in the Baumbergers’ village of Mandel.

Jefford contrasts the flexibility he observed in Germany with French appellation rules, arguing that producers there may lose appellation status when they work outside prescribed varieties or styles. His visits are a selective look at younger, self-chosen members of Generation Riesling, rather than a survey of German wine production as a whole. The column presents their experimentation as one response to a challenging market and changing consumer demand.