The Summer of Riesling begins now! (Part 1)

“Summer of Riesling” begins today, June 20th, in the USA & Germany!

“Sommer of Riesling” fängt heute am 20. Juni in den USA & Deutschland an!

I hereby declare the Summer of Riesling Germany open simultaneously with Paul Grieco’s declaration of the opening of the Summer of Riesling USA in New York City (see www.summerofriesling.com)! Grieco is the Canadian co-owner and manager of Restaurant Hearth and the four Terroir wine bars in Manhattan, and self-styled “Overlord” of the Riesling movement in North America. This year he won the James Beard Award for the Outstanding Wine & Spirits Professional. The James Beard Awards are the equivalent of the Oscars for American gastronomy.

Hiermit eröffne ich den “Summer of Riesling” erstmals in Deutschland zeitgleich mit Paul Grieco in den USA. Grieco ist der Besitzer von Restaurant Hearth und den Terroir Weinbars in Manhattan/New York. Grieco steht an der Spitze der Riesling-Bewegung in den USA und wurde dieses Jahr mit dem James-Beard-Award als herausragender Fachmann im Bereich Wein und Spirituosen ausgezeichnet (für die amerikanische Gastronomie das Pendant zum Oscar der Filmwelt). 2008 rief er den ersten “Summer of Riesling” in seiner Wein-Bar “Terroir” ins Leben. Dieses Jahr nehmen hunderte von Restaurants und Weinhändler in den ganzen USA an dem Sommer-Riesling-Festival teil, und erstmalig sind auch deutsche weinaffine Lokale wie Hammers Weinkostbar in Berlin-Kreuzberg dabei.

[Paul Gieco with Austrian Wine Queen Elisabeth Hirschbuchler/ Paul Grieco mit österreichische Weinkönigin Patricia Steiner]

Some people think that Riesling is “only” the 20^th most widely planted grape variety in the world, and therefore a minor niche product, except in Germany where it is the most widely-planted grape variety (with 22,580 hectares, or 21.9% of the total vineyard area). However, something big has been happening to and with Riesling during the last few years. Suddenly this white wine grape whose history goes back to early 15^th century Germany is generating a global buzz .

Having been following the Riesling grape and it’s wines for 30 years I should have seen all this coming, but it wasn’t until I circumnavigated Planet Wine at the beginning of this year that I suddenly realized how seriously I had under-estimated the scale of the Riesling phenomenon. In Sydney I found that the second Australian Summer of Riesling was already underway and in New Zealand I bumped into the first Summer of Riesling everywhere I went. Just 6 weeks after my return home to Berlin I began radically remodeling this website to reflect these developments, renaming it STUART PIGOTT RIESLING GLOBAL.

The Summer of Riesling began in 2008 in Paul Grieco’s recently opened ‘Terroir’ wine bar on East 12^th Street/Manhattan during which Rieslings by the glass were the only white wines on offer! Many of hiss colleagues laughed or shook their heads in disbelief, but it worked and he repeated it in ’09 and ’10. Last year the Summer of Riesling USA went Coast to Coast for the first time with the backing of the International Riesling Foundation (IRF – see www.drinkriesling.com). 222 restaurants and wine bars participated.

This year the Summer of Riesling USA will have around many more participants, ranging from Charles Phan’s the Slanted Door in San Francisco (see www.slanteddoor.com) the most successful restaurant in California to ambitious establishments in unlikely locations like Inez Ribustello’s On the Square in Tarboro/North Carolina (see www.onthesquarenc.com) and Amanda Danielson’s Trattoria Stella in Traverse City/Michigan (see www.stellatc.com). Another innovation this year is the first German participants, which include Hammers Weinkostbar in Berlin-Kreuzberg (see www.hammers-wein.de).

This year Paul Grieco and “Stickermeister” Steven Solomon, the designer of the Summer of Riesling USA had stands at both the ProWein trade fair in Düsseldorf/Germany in March and the VieVinum trade fair in Vienna/Austria to spread the gospel in Rieslings homelands. As Grieco observed at the latter event, „just imagine, all of this started in one 24 seat restaurant!“

Do I want a SUMMER OF RIESLING ? There’s no need to ask – YES!

Does the world need a SUMMER OF RIESLING ? It’s kind of you to ask – YES!

And now a final question to Paul Grieco: what comes after the summer of Riesling?

“The fall of Chardonnay!”