Going Deutsch

A German wine blog by Christian Adams, a.k.a. The German German Wine Guy.

Thank you for randomly stumbling upon my blog! I hope that in the future you will enjoy the experiences I have in both wine and food.

I work for the top fine German-wine import company in the U.S., Rudi Wiest Selections.

From my home base in Las Vegas, I have access to a playground of wine and dining experiences. As a German who grew up in California, I represent some of the finest German wines available in the nation. As I experience these wines along with the top West Coast sommeliers and wine buyers, so will you.

Prior to my position with Rudi Wiest, I conducted in-depth research and tastings of German wineries. My family hails from Aschaffenburg in Bayern (Bavaria) and in the northwestern-most portion of the Franken (Franconian) wine region. This is home to the driest of dry wines. Grape varietals such as silvaner, Müller-Thurgau, pinot noir and riesling are crafted wonderfully here. At age 19, I enjoyed my first fruit-forward wine, but for the three years prior (remember, Germans can imbibe legally at age 16…) I was drinking much drier wines. Though I do enjoy the sweeter kabinett, spätlese and auslese styles, I can never ignore the food-friendly and downright wonderful dry wines of Germany.

For the past two years I lived in Germany, working in restaurants and then managing the restaurant and banquets department of Schlossweinstuben, the dining establishment inside the castle Schloss Johannisburg (not to be confused with the Rheingau Johannisberg) in the town of Aschaffenburg. Located directly on the river Main, Schloss Johannisburg offered the most scenic and beautiful terraces in all of Aschaffenburg.

Schloss Johannisburg Aschaffenburg

(Interestingly enough, this was the castle in which my parents were married.)

Wilfried and Margaret Adams Wedding

While working at Schlossweinstuben, I often used my one day off each week to travel throughout Franken’s sub-regions, including Klingenberg, Bürgstadt, Ipöfen, Volkach and Escherndorf to visit with winemakers whom some of their products are not imported in the U.S. (Unfortunately, Franken has not received the recognition for its wines that it deserves. The U.S.’s taste in German wines for the past 50 years has been primarily for the sweeter wines.). Wineries such as Hans Wirsching, Fürst, Fürst von Löwenstein, Horst Sauer, Brennfleck, Max Müller I, Staatliche Hofkeller Würzburg, Zenthof-Luckert, Weingut Stich „im Löwen“, Weinbau Hofmann-Herkert and many many more.


  I also spent a lot of time in the Rheingau, Pfalz, Rheinhessen and the Mosel. To know these regions is to experience their surroundings and history, and to see what they use to create pieces of drinkable art.


I participated in the late-season harvest of the Satzenberg Vineyard in Taubertal, which used to be known as Tauber-Franken, but is officially Baden. The owner and winemaker, Norbert Spielmann of Weingut Alter Grafschaft, purchased the vineyard from Fürst von Löwenstein, a very prominent winery in Franken. On a foggy morning in October we harvested weissburgunder (pinot blanc) and riesling. With its red sandstone terraces and steep hills, it was quite challenging but very fun.

Norbert Spielmann on his Satzenberg Vineyard in Taubertal

My German experiences aside, my passion and love for wine started in California. I grew up mostly on the Monterey Peninsula. I went the route of Hotel Management, whilst some of my best friends went into wine making, Wine Sales and to be Sommeliers. For us, house parties at age 21 involved tones of wine, blind tastings and food. Seems fun enough. I had always enjoyed wine, but never became a complete nut until this time in my life. Something about learning how the wine was made. The feel that it took the right climate, soil, heart and skill to make this wine. When opening an aged wine you are releasing molecules from that vintage. You are experiencing time travel in a sense.


In the future, I will post my tasting experiences and pictures of German wineries. Along with this, I will post many interesting dining experiences encountered in Las Vegas and through my travels. Although my focus will be German wines, I am still just a wine nut at heart, and will report on all.


I look forward to being your German German Wine Guy! Have fun—I know I will!—and I look forward to showing you more about where I come from and what we all love to drink.