Franken Silvaner and Ahr Spätburgunder

Marienthal vineyards in late October in the Ahr valley, Germany

This may be Michael's last collection of tasting notes on 2020's GG releases, this time great German wines that aren't Riesling. The scores are some of our highest ever. Above is the Marienthal vineyard of Spätburgunder vines in the Ahr Valley.

As you can see from our guide to coverage of German wines released in 2020, we have already published four reports on the Grosse Gewächse released since September 2020, all dedicated to Riesling. There are plenty of reasons for that preferential treatment: its status as the country’s signature variety, and the fact that it accounts for a substantial...