Kerner

Kerner was bred at Weinsberg in 1929 by August Herold, who crossed the red schiava grossa with riesling. It was released in 1969 and named after Justinus Kerner, a physician and poet from Weinsberg who wrote drinking songs. It became one of Germany's most planted white varieties within twenty years, and has been receding since.

The aim was riesling character without riesling's demands. It buds late, which dodges spring frost, ripens earlier than riesling, tolerates cold winters and will produce a good crop on sites where riesling would not ripen at all. It reaches higher sugar than riesling in the same place, and it holds high acidity while doing it.

The wine is aromatic in a riesling-adjacent way, with apple, citrus and a light muscat note, firm acidity and rather more body. It lacks the fine detail and the ageing capacity that make riesling worth waiting for. Its best results are in the Alto Adige, where high-altitude vineyards in the Valle Isarco give it a precision it rarely finds in Germany.