To German wine's great and good

Last September I was invited to the centenary celebrations of the VDP, the German top growers' association, in Berlin, I was asked to give a short address at their formal evening in the Domkirche, or cathedral, pictured here as the massed ranks of German wine's in crowd gathered before the official programme. See Happy Brithday, VDP.

I was recently sent a transcription of what I said by poor Kerry Brady, who has the unenviable job of translating it into German. Below is a substantially tidied up version, with the 'ums' and 'very, very's taken out. Please note, however, that the...