Germany is known nationally and internationally as Rieslingland, and Riesling has been a success with the critics. But if you had to place a bet on the most popular variety among wine drinkers in your own country, you would probably do well to put your money on Pinot Gris. If you ask the winegrowers which wines are sold out first, in most cases it is the Burgundy varieties, i.e. besides Pinot Gris, above all Pinot Blanc and Chardonnay (Auxerrois plays only a small but sometimes fine outsider role in terms of volume).
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The figures of the cultivation statistics are corresponding: Pinot Gris and Pinot Blanc have more than doubled their cultivation area in the last 20 years, Chardonnay - coming from a low level - has increased about fifteenfold. While the area under Riesling has remained at a good 23,000 hectares and the areas under almost all other white wine varieties have declined, in some cases massively, the Burgundy vineyards have grown to a total of almost 14,000 hectares - and the trend is still rising strongly.
