Gerhard Eichelmann (born in 1962) is a leading

German wine German wine is primarily produced in the west of Germany, along the river Rhine and its tributaries, with the oldest plantations going back to the Ancient Rome, Roman era. Approximately 60 percent of German wine is produced in the state of Rhine ...

critic with an international influence on German wine.

Biography

Eichelmann was born to a family of part-time wine growers in the German wine region of

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian languages, Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three Regierungsbezirk, administrative ...

. He was educated at the universities of

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

, Paris and

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

and trained in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

. Subsequently he worked for twelve years as

management consultant Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultants ...

, but changed career, in 1997, at the age of thirty-five, and founded a publishing house in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, specialized in literature on wine. He resigned to devote his full attention to writing about wine, which led him to taste a great number of wines in Germany. In 1997, Eichelmann began writing a wine

periodical A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also example ...

paperback A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, ...

format called ''Mondo'', which was published every second month, later

quarterly A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combination ...

. The wine guides, which are

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

-free and available by subscription only, had reached their 62nd issue at the end of 2011 with a special issue on ''Champagner, Sekt, Cava, Franciacorta, Crémant & Co'' (Champagne, sparkling wine, Cava, Franciacorta, Crémant) . In the year 2000 the first issue of the book ''Eichelmann Deutschlands Weine'' (Eichelmann Germany's wines) was published, it describes itself as an independent

reference work A reference work is a work, such as a paper, book or periodical (or their electronic equivalents), to which one can refer for information. The information is intended to be found quickly when needed. Such works are usually ''referred'' to ...

and is issued annually in an updated edition. The first five editions were published by “Gräfe und Unzer” Publishing. “The Eichelmann” as it is referred to briefly in professional circles, had its publication taken over by Mondo-Verlag, Heidelberg, starting in 2005. In this wine guide Eichelmann describes 935 German

wineries A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, b ...

, in detail according to their relevance, and evaluates the overall performance of the particular winery during the last three years. He employs a system that awards a winery up to five stars, where 5 stars indicate “world class, top international producers”. For the 9772 individual evaluations of the wines (as of the 2012 edition), Eichelmann tastes thousands of new wines every year. The wines are assessed using a 50-100 point scale rating system. In each issue a “rising star of the year” is named. Additionally the best collections of red wines, white wines and edelsüß (sweet) wines are highlighted. Mondo claims that 30,000 copies “Eichelmann 2020 Deutschlands Weine” had been printed. Since 2003, Eichelmann Mondo Publishing released the ''Mondo Weinbibliothek'' (wine library), and since 2005, the paperback series ''Mondo Kompakt'' that turns to selected wine topics. Eichelmann has been a contributing editor for popular newspapers e.g.

Welt am Sonntag Welt, welts or variants may refer to: Media * ''Die Welt'' (''The World''), a German national newspaper ** '' Welt am Sonntag'' (''World on Sunday''), the Sunday edition of ''Die Welt'' * ''Die Welt'', former weekly newspaper in Vienna, Austria ...

and Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung (Heidelberg).

Biography

Bibliography

See also

References

External links