FINE GERMAN WINES DIRECT FROM THE WINEMAKER
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FINE GERMAN WINES DIRECT FROM THE WINEMAKER
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This website exists solely to help you find and buy the fine German wines we both love, direct from the wine-maker. I have been drinking fine German wines for thirty years now, and have found it increasingly difficult to find this kind of wine anywhere in Britain in recent years, let alone in ordinary high-street wine shops. As a direct result I took to visiting Germany several times a year simply in order to buy wine and bring it back to Britain. Eventually I made direct contact with a number of fine wine-makers in Germany, and found that many of them are very willing to send their wines direct to us individual wine-lovers here in Britain, and indeed throughout much of the world. Until recently, we have been able to buy wine direct from German winemakers, and have it sent to us in Britain without paying any British taxes whatsoever - I bought around twenty cases of wine in this way in 2006 alone. In this way it was possible to buy fine German wines at the same price as in Germany, plus a small delivery charge. What this meant was that the quality was generally far higher than in high-street wine-shops and supermarkets, the price was generally lower, and the range on offer almost limitless. Unfortunately, a Nov. 23rd, 2006 ruling of the European Court Of Justice, which reversed a previous judgement, may mean that in future we have to pay additional British taxes even on small amounts, whereas until now only German taxes were payable. I have contacted politicians to clarify exactly how the new judgement will be applied, in particular on small amounts, but have not been able to get a definitive reply. However it seems that the new ruling is not being enforced, at least on small quantities - I have had many deliveries of wine since, all of which came through with no demand for payment of British taxes, the most recent being April 2010. Obviously I cannot guarantee that this will continue, but it is a very good sign. It is also worth bearing in mind, that since you are totally bypassing the British wine trade with it's high profit margins, many wines are available direct from the winemakers at far lower prices than you would expect, making them extremely good value for money. Try buying an Eiswein at all here in London, let alone a very good one for under £15... Most of the wine-makers are very friendly indeed, and many speak good English.
Many German winemakers can also export to other countries, both in Europe and further afield, but obviously I cannot comment on the tax implications for other countries - it's possible that you may have to pay local taxes as well as German.
I also include travel advice for visiting the German wine regions, and a large number of photos of the vineyards, villages, and cities.
I hope you find this website useful. If you do, please let me know by sending me an email to richard@germanwinesdirect.org, or better still by putting a link to this website from your own website, which will help make this site visible to search engines such as Google. This website is entirely free to use, is not subsidised by any commercial sponsorship, and is totally free of commercial influences. All the tasting notes on the following pages are entirely my own, and I assure you that I have no vested interest in promoting the wines of any particular winemaker.
Richard Vernon.