Welcome to our newest series, The Somm Set. Each month we’ll be sitting down with a guest sommelier and uncovering their guilty pleasures, cellar staples, and everything in between! Follow as they hand-select their favorites from our warehouse, giving you the inside scoop on cellar must-haves!

This month on The Somm Set, we’re excited to feature Paul Grieco, Sommelier. Join us as we explore everything from his passion for wine, favorite wine and food pairing, and his newest endeavors.

Sangiovese The Vinous Lord
Exploring Interesting White Wine
The World Of Interesting Red Wine
Read Our Interview With Paul Grieco
The Somm Set Home
 

This week from Paul Grieco:

People of America.

I salute all of you with a mighty glass of German Riesling.

However, I must question my personal obsession with this varietal and its myriad expressions from its German homeland…

- Why do I gravitate to the illustrious balance of these German Rieslings when the rest of my life is completely unbalanced?

- Why do I revel in the multiplicity of styles of German Riesling when all I demand in the rest of my life is simplicity?

- Why am I entranced by the German ideals of precision in everything they do when I can barely balance my checkbook?

- Why am I enthralled by the cascading and varied degrees of yumminess in these German Rieslings when all I do at my own dinner table is drown every dish with a bucket of homemade Sriracha?

- Why do I drift off into a time-machine of ecstasy when I encounter older bottles of German Riesling when all I demand of other wines are new, new, new?

Uhmmmmmmmmmmm, I will have another sip of German Riesling and re-set the brain / the soul / the belly. Yes, I do obsess over German Riesling because…

- It is eminently balanced

- It can be expressed in a multitude of styles

- It gives a precise and absolute view into the terroir in which it is raised

- It is as yummy as a kiss from the old gods and the new gods

- It can live forever

So, People of America and friends of Benchmark Wine Group, walk not to your keypads but beat an incisive path and order these wines immediately… because I am thirsty, and there is only one wine to satiate that thirst: GERMAN RIESLING.

Big cheers.

Check out all the wines mentioned below!