German Wines!

[wondersofwine]

Welcome to the board, Abhi. Germany has many good white wines--not so many good red wines.
Two white wine grape varietials that do especially well in Germany are Riesling and Scheurebe (they also have Sylvaner, Gewurztraminer, Muller-Thurgau, etc.). Riesling wines can be vinified to be dry wines (almost no residual sugar) or to have various percentage of residual sugar. A Kabinett wine is usually not sweet and can be good with a meal of chicken, fish, veal, etc. Spatlese indicates "late picking" and may have some residual sugar. Auslese indicates "specially selected picking" in which the grapes were riper and at higher Brix than spatlese level. And it goes on to Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese as well as Eisweins (the latter three categories all very expensive). My favorite German wine region is the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer or MSR but the Rheingau, Rheinpfalz, Nahe and Rheinhessen also produce some nice wines.
Baden is one of the districts for red wine such as Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir grape). I think some are quite attractive but they may seem delicate or light bodied if you are used to heartier reds. Recently I tried two other red wines from Germany--one from the Blauer Portuguieser grape (I liked it) and a blend that I didn't like as well.
Ask the waitperson in the restaurant for a recommendation of wine. Let them know if you are looking for a dry or sweet wine and ask what might go with the main dish you are ordering. I'm sure they can help you. If you like a wine at dinner (say a Mosel spatlese), then you might look for a similar bottle to purchase.

[This message has been edited by wondersofwine (edited 07-26-2004).]