OI, you lot, listen up! There are some fantastic white wines out there and I bet many of you wouldn't even consider buying them. Why? Because they're German.

It's fair to say that this reluctance to choose German is partly due to memories of mass produced, cheap and sickly sweet liebfraumilch and the like, which used to be stacked high on the supermarket shelves in the UK.

I'm a recent convert to German wine and this week I've tried three whites from the Pfalz region. The first two are new to the shelves, having achieved their listing in December of 2003.

In Tipping's Tipples column number one, also in December of last year, I was mightily impressed by Dr L Riesling. From the same producer is Villa Wolf Pinot Gris 2001. It's creamy and off-dry with a nice hint of smoke to the nose. There's a sweet and sour feeling to this pinot gris, with melon flavours and a twist of lime. It would make a great accompaniment to a fish pie.

Ruppertsberg Riesling Premium 2002 comes in a bottle similarly proportioned to this writer (tall, slender and very attractive). But it's what's inside that counts and, fortunately, that's good too! It's a silky, fruity wine with peach and citrus flavours. Also adding to the complexity of this riesling is a wonderful minerally finish.

The last of the three is cheaper and more widely available. Devil's Rock Riesling 2001 looks and sounds in the first instance as if it comes from Australia. The wine itself has no such pretensions - it's German through and through. OK, it doesn't quite display the qualities of the previous two wines, but it's very drinkable. Grapefruit flavour is dominant and it's got a good dry finish.

I notice that Oddbins, in York, stocks only enough German wines to fill one shelf. This is no criticism of Oddbins, they're governed by market forces. I blame you*.

*Discretion is granted to those good readers who know what everyone else is missing.

Villa Wolf Pinot Gris 2001, £5.99 at Sainsbury's ****

smoke on the water (melon)

Ruppertsberg Riesling Premium 2002, £5.99 at Sainsbury's ****

a really good, affordable white

Devil's Rock Riesling 2001, £4.29 at Safeway, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Somerfield and Co-op ****

grapefruit juice

Updated: 14:06 Tuesday, April 20, 2004