Angela Merkel Wants You to Drink More Riesling in New German Wine Push

Germany has fallen behind European competitors in grabbing its share of growing wine exports and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government wants to address that by aggressively marketing top products like Riesling.

In the first revamp of its marketing strategy in a quarter of a century, Germany will roll out a “pyramid” of protection labels that link wines more closely to specific regions, Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner said Wednesday in Berlin. Top wines like Mosel Valley Riesling will sit atop the pyramid, which follows the principle of “the smaller the origin, the higher the quality,” she said.