Thriving! Gourmet Cuisine in GermanyNine Three-star Restaurants in Germany / German Wines are Perfect Partners with Menus December 2007 The high calibre of cooking in Germany has never been greater than today. The newly released 2008 edition of the renowned restaurant guide “Guide Michelin” confirms the trend – no fewer than nine German restaurants now merit the coveted, top, “three-star” rating – three more than last year. As such, Germany now ranks second in Europe, behind France (26 three-star establishments), and ahead of Spain/Portugal (six) or Italy (five). In all, Germany boasts 15 restaurants with two Michelin stars and 184 with one star – which further corroborates Germany’s current joie de vivre. Monika Reule, managing director of the German Wine Institute/Mainz, sees parallels between this culinary barometer and the improved image of German wines in recent years. “There is undeniably a correlation between first-class cooking in Germany and the renaissance of German wine. Restaurateurs’ continually increasing needs for higher-quality wines has motivated winemakers to produce top-notch wines that function as perfect partners with menus – not least to convince the most discerning tastes.” Today, recommending a German wine to accompany a meal in a gourmet restaurant is taken for granted – that was not always the case. The reason is simple: the individual character of today’s German wines enables them to pair remarkably well with contemporary, aromatic and often, Asian-influenced, cuisines. Given the ongoing increase in the number of dry and off-dry wines that have been produced in Germany during the last two decades, today’s sommeliers also have a greater selection of food-friendly German wines to recommend. Deutsches Weininstitut, |
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