Customer Reviews

Rheingold - The German Wine Renaissance

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Any interested in the German wine industry's history and ups and downs must have RHEINGOLD; THE GERMAN WINE RENAISSANCE. Unlike most wine surveys of Germany, RHEINGOLD provides a strong historical focus with an in-depth analysis of German wine laws, labeling, competition, and changing image. From the wide-ranging influences of Asian cuisine and its influence on German wine production to the VDP's grouping of regional associations, RHEINGOLD is not your usual light review of grapes and wineries, but an in-depth, comprehensive survey of industry trends and influences any serious wine drinker must have.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

I enjoyed certain elements of this book. I don't think I would recommend it to someone just beginning to learn about wine, the wine trade and its history.

There is a lot of information but I don't feel it was presented in the best fashion. I have to agree with one of my fellow reviewers, there is rambling here and to some extent, a lack of professionalism. Bird knows his stuff but he comes off as a bit adolescent in the execution, using Aussie expressions, being pejorative where it's not necessary.

If you have a background in wine studies, then you'll have a context, an anchoring point through which you might be able to interpret all the information because Bird really doesn't make anything simple here. He seems to complicate the explanation of an already complicated subject. Now that's I've read it, if I had a chance, I would only buy it for the Appendix, featuring the key-vineyard sites of the thirteen German wine regions.

It's not a bad book. There is some historical info here which sheds light on the wine trade in Deutschland. The remaining sections don't really enlighten the reader too much - I had to reread quite a bit...I'm still a little confused. Like the German wine industry, the book is a bit of a mess.

This is, as far as I can tell, the only English-language book currently available that deals exclusively with German wines (not counting the translated version of the Gault-Millau, which has little more than number ratings). Sadly, it's a pretty mediocre effort. Owen Bird is reasonably knowledgeable about German wine, but this book could have used a lot more editing. The writing is frequently rambling, jumping from one point to another, giving a seemingly random example, before returning to a point addressed earlier. There are frequent errors in German spelling and obvious oversights in the English editing. Also, the book lacks an index. Clearly an amateur effort.

As for the substance of the book, Bird deals primarily with how to revive German wine from an international marketing point of view. An important topic, but not necessarily the most relevant one for German wine. How about reviving QUALITY in, say, the Rheingau? Reading this book, I got the sense, again and again, that Owen misses the point or has none at all.

It's worth trying to find a used copy of Stephen Brook's Wines of Germany, which is far better written and much more comprehensive.

Because the casual wine drinker so often bypasses German wines due to lack of knowledge, this book is an important effort in adding to the body of literature about these wines. The incredible experience of drinking a fine German wine is sadly missed out on by many Americans not only because of this lack of knowledge, but also because of the existence of inferior low priced German wines on supermarket shelves. Owen Bird's Rheingold speaks to this and also contains helpful information regarding history, labeling, and image challenges of German wines. I would recommend however, the chapters on German wines in both The New Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia and the Eyewitness Companions Wines of the World for additional information. Rheingold is a great companion book to the 1982 Frank Schoonmaker's The Wines of Germany and gives much needed current information. Note: Rheingold should be read while enjoying one of the outstanding dry style trocken) wines from Bürklin Wolf or a fruiter style Kabinett from a top producer such as J.J. Prum. Prost!