Making Customs Cry:What German Alcohol to Bring to the States

[Urist]

Hallo all,

I'm currently in Germany, staying with family in Ladenburg, near Heidelberg, and am looking for suggestions on German wines and other alcohol that's not available or hard to find in the States to bring back. Specifically looking for a bottle of red as a gift, but I know NOTHING about red wines, let alone German ones, so I was hoping you guys might have some suggestions.

[Amiria]

Hmm, how about a Spätburgunder (pinot noir) Spätlese (late vintage) ?

I'm from Germany, but I more into foreign red types of grapes like Shiraz, Zinfandel and most things from Spain.

But a Spätburgunder is also very palatable.

[Urist]

Hmmm. Any recommendations on vineyards or particularly good bottles of Spätburgunder? I am not exaggerating when I say I know nothing about it, so selecting a reasonable bottle is rather difficult. Looking in the 30-40 Euro price range, but if something is really lovely, willing to go higher, I owe my adviser big time.

[Amiria]

Sorry, but I'm not really an expert for that. Your best bet is to visit a wine shop, tell them your price range and listen to and trust the advice of the vendors.

And of course, Heidelberg is in a wine-producing region, so the family where you are staying are very likely to be able to give better advice than me.

[Urist]

Probably, probably, although they are much more interested in beer and schnapps than wine, so I'm rather out of luck... Thank you though!

[Aedilred]

In my (albeit limited) experience, while Germany produces some perfectly good red wine, it doesn't have much of an international reputation for it. It does, however, produce some excellent white wines, especially rieslings. On the other hand, it also produces some godawful plonk, so if you can, try before buying, or at least, act on a trusted recommendation. Try looking for wine from the Palatinate or Baden regions to start with.

Depending on what your family and friends are into, beer and schnapps might actually be a safer bet, and it shouldn't be difficult to find a really good German beer that isn't readily available in the US.

[Eldan]

Try to get your Hand on some Ice Wine? As far as I know, pretty much all of the famous produces are German, and it's quite unlike other wine I've tried.

[Mando Knight]

Probably, probably, although they are much more interested in beer and schnapps than wine, so I'm rather out of luck... Thank you though!

You go to Germany and want to bring back some regional alcohol for your beer-and-schnapps-loving friends, and think of getting wine? Please think this through again.

[tyckspoon]

You go to Germany and want to bring back some regional alcohol for your beer-and-schnapps-loving friends, and think of getting wine? Please think this through again.

I understood that as his host family is more into beer and schnapps, and so probably won't have too many suggestions about what kinds of wines would be good souvenir gifts.

[snoopy13a]

The best Rieslings in the world are from Germany, but Riesling is a white wine that has mixed appeal among wine drinkers: some love it while others hate it. Rieslings tend to be acidic so most producers balance the acidity with sweetness--Rieslings are the rare quality wines that are sweet. The Germans have categories that designate how sweet a Riesling is.

A dry Riesling tends to be very acidic and not approachable for some people.

Ice wine is a little on the pricey side.

[Urist]

Hmmm. Good advice on all fronts. I was rather looking for a red wine, for a red wine drinker, but what I've been reading online rather confirms the advice to stay away from German red wines and roset, but that their white wines are quite good.

A Riesling might work for a good gift, although you can get fairly decent Riesling in the states. Ice wine would also be good; it does fill a rather different niche than most wines, given how sweet it is, making it more of a dessert wine. Is it possible to pick up a bottle for a reasonable price? (25-30 Euro, maybe 40 if its quite good?)

I've have been given two lovely gifts by family already, which is cool: a 1-liter bottle of Asbach-Uralt, and a bottle of homemade plum Schnapps(quite tasty, already had a shot or two). So yay!

@MandoKnight: Sorry for being unclear, it's my HOST family that doesn't drink much wine; sorry about that. If I could bring beer back, though, that travelled well, I would.

[GolemsVoice]

Hm, I can offer some wine from the region I'm from, Franconia. It's mostly white, though.

Franconia is famous for it's Riesling, and for the special bottles the wine is sometimes filled into, called Bocksbeutel. Sadly, I'm not at all an expert on alcohol, so maybe this wikipedia link helps?