Yes, beyond cars, engineering, and football, Germany has wine too, and it hopes Kenyan consumers will make room for it.
That was the message at the first-ever German wine tasting event, hosted by the German Embassy in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture, Environment, and Forestry of Rhineland-Palatinate in Westlands, Nairobi.
The event brought together key players in the wine industry, including importers, sommeliers and distributors, alongside wine producers and representatives from Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz), one of Germany’s major wine-producing regions.
According to Joachim Binz, Managing Director and founder of Wineconsale, an export house for German wines, the timing is right.
‘German wines were extremely expensive and sought after about 100 years ago. We have menus from top restaurants at the time where a bottle of German Riesling was double or triple the price of a bottle of Ch Steau Latour, Ch Steau Lafite, or Ch Steau Mouton Rothschild,’ he says.
German wine production later went through a difficult period, particularly between the 1950s and 1980s, when producers leaned heavily into sweeter styles. As demand for sweeter wines grew, some producers used added sugar to achieve the desired sweetness. Then, in late 1980s, consumer tastes shifted toward drier wines, forcing producers to adapt again.
Now, Joachim believes, the younger generation of German winemakers is opening a new chapter.
‘They have been learning a lot about international markets and wine styles and are now introducing German wines in newer styles and with more focus on quality,’ he says. ‘Now is the right time because it is always easier to showcase something great rather than something that’s just nice.’
And if Germany is making a case for its wines, it might as well start with Riesling. Arguably the country’s best-known wine export, the grape produces everything from bone-dry to sweet wines, known for their bright acidity, aromatic fruit flavours, and ageing potential.
‘I would say Riesling is the business card for German wines,’ says Joachim, adding that Germany is the world’s largest producer of the grape. ‘It is a very old grape variety, with more than 400 synonyms, and the more names a grape variety has, the older it is. We actually celebrate its birthday in March every year.’
According to Victoria Mulu-Munywoki, a wine consultant, the combination of Riesling’s pronounced fruit flavours and residual sweetness could appeal to Kenyan wine drinkers, who may appreciate some sweetness but tend to pay more attention to a wine’s fruitiness than its sugar levels.
Its high acidity could also make some styles a good match for Kenyan food, particularly dishes that are fried, fatty, or carry a little heat.
‘We in Kenya love a little bit of heat in our food. Pili pili kidogo, some oil, and everything in between,’ she says.
‘So you need acidity to cut through the fattiness in deep-fried and fatty food, but at the same time, that fruit quality tempers down the heat.’
But Riesling is not the only grape putting German wine on the map. ‘Germany is also Pinot paradise,’ says Joachim.
Germany, he adds, is the world’s largest producer of Pinot Blanc, locally known as Weißburgunder, the second-largest producer of Pinot Gris, also known as Grauburgunder, and the third-largest producer of Pinot Noir, which goes by the name Spätburgunder in Germany.
And there is plenty more beyond the Pinot family. Germany grows more than 100 grape varieties, including Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, which were among those featured at the Nairobi tasting.
Those varieties are grown across roughly 100,000 hectares of vineyards, spread across the country’s wine-growing regions. And one of the most important is Rhineland-Palatinate, where the wines presented at the event come from.
‘It is one of the warmest areas in Germany,’ says Stefan Sander, from Sander Winery. ‘Its climate is almost Mediterranean-like.’
The combination of warm days and cool nights works particularly well for grape growing, including Riesling.
‘The grapes ripen in the sun during the day, developing those delicious flavours, and then the cool night breeze helps preserve their acidity,’ says Victoria. ‘And acidity gives the wine structure, helps it age and gives it that refreshing quality that makes it so good for pairing with food.’
But producing the wine is only part of the equation. For the German producers hoping to enter Kenya, the next challenge is finding the right local partners to get the bottles into the market.
‘We are looking for people who are legally able to import and have introductions to the market for the long term,’ says Joachim.
For now, he sees the wines finding their way into bars, good restaurants and hotels rather than supermarket shelves.
‘No one knows German wine here so far,’ he says. ‘It needs to go through the gastronomic route first, where people can find it on the menu or get a recommendation from the waiter or sommelier. And maybe then, in a few years, we can find our way onto the shelves.’
And the producers aren’t only looking at consumers who want traditional wine. Dealcoholised (non-alcoholic) options are also part of the German offering, allowing people who choose not to drink alcohol to still enjoy something of the wine experience.
And while the exact price point is still difficult to pin down, Stefan says they will not be among the cheapest wines on the market.
With the Germans ready to make their case, the bigger question is whether Kenya is ready to listen.
According to Wanjiru Mureithi, President of the Sommeliers of Kenya Association and founder of Winenjiru, German wine is not entirely new to Kenya. However, its presence so far has been relatively small.
‘There are some Kenyan importers who have German wines, but the exposure has been very limited,’ she says.
But Wanjiru is optimistic that consumption will grow as awareness increases.