About

I admit it. I like residual sugar. A Riesling can be dry, but it doesn't have to be. I even dare to say: sometimes a wine must not be dry.

My given name (Uwe) looks and sounds similar to the word "uva", which means grape in Italian. But this is already where it ends. My family did not own a vineyard and as a little boy I never roamed happily between vines. I grew up in Germany - and yet, for a regrettably large part of my life, I lived in complete ignorance of German wine and therefore of Riesling.

This changed fundamentally during a trip to the Finger Lakes region of New York. Surrounded by rolling hills and peaceful lakes I tasted the Rieslings of Dr. Konstantin Frank and Hermann Wiemer, amongst others. Being able to compare different Rieslings next to each other was eye-opening: it was fascinating to see how the same grape managed to produce such different wines. The trunk of the car full with Finger Lakes Riesling I returned to New York City and decided to take fermentation more seriously.

I started taking wine classes at the International Wine Center in Manhattan, worked in the wine department of Balthazar (known for its exquisite French wine list), gained wine retail experience at Appellation Wines & Spirits, a wine store dedicated to organic and biodynamic wines and finally graduated with the Diploma of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET).

Riesling is a sadly misunderstood wine, not only, but particularly, in the United States. Der Kellermeister is simply a way of sharing what I am learning about Riesling with every sip. Together with Riesling I share an inborn aversion to excessive oak.

My tasting notes

I do not use a point scale to rate wines because wine is too elusive to be reduced to a number. Being asked what I think about a wine I tend to use adjectives such as good, excellent, average etc so that's what I decided to use for my tasting notes. I am trying to first give an objective view of the wine's characteristics (aromas, sweetness, acidity etc.), followed by an admittedly less objective conclusion of it. Unless stated otherwise the wines have been enjoyed at home, both with and without food.

You can contact me here.

Uwe Kristen, aka Der Kellermeister