Top League of German Wine Makers - Awards for the German Wine Elite

MAINZ. With bated breath German winemakers and German wine enthusiasts await the annual publication – traditionally, in November – of the well-known German wine guides “Gault Millau WeinGuide” and “Eichelmann Deutschlands Weine.”

This year marks the 14th edition of Gault Millau and the 8th for Eichelmann. Both guides offer a wealth of information about German wine estates and individual wines, and every year the quite subjective evaluations of the authors are the subject of much discussion. Together, the guides comprise some 1,600 pages of reviews by Armin Diel & Joel Payne and Gerhard Eichelmann, who sample thousands of wines during the year preceding publication.

Gault Millau WeinGuide 2007 pays tribute to more than 800 German winemakers, whose achievements are rated with grape clusters (one to five). An additional 260 estates are listed as “recommended” – candidates for “grape cluster status” in coming years. Wines are awarded up to 100 points. There is many a discovery to be made among the some 7,100 wines rated in the new edition, not least among the 150 top-quality wines listed as “bargains.” Fewer than a dozen estates qualified for the top ranking (five grape clusters): 

Weingut Fritz Haag, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Weingut Reinhold Haart, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Weingut Dr. Loosen, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Weingut Egon Müller – Scharzhof, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer
Weingut Hermann Dönnhoff, Nahe
'Weingut Emrich-Schönleber, Nahe
Weingut Ökonomierat Rebholz, Pfalz
Weingut Robert Weil, Rheingau
Weingut Keller, Rheinhessen.

Theo Haart of Weingut Reinhold Haart in Piesport on the Mosel is the tasting panel’s “winemaker of the year.” According to the editors: “His grandiose Rieslings can blossom into true works of art. With great perseverance he has secured a place among the world’s best winemakers.”