I’m a little nervous about writing this article and how you will receive it. But I owe it to you to try to convert you to the beauties of the Riesling grape and the wines it produces, especially in Germany.

I owe it to you because these wines are so delightful and adding them to your list of favorites will exponentially expand your world of tastes and pleasures.

First, a bit of history. At the turn of the 19th century, restaurants in New York City charged up to three times more for a bottle of German Riesling than for a bottle of Chateau Lafite Rothschild and the other first-growth Bordeaux reds.

Of course, the fashion in those Victorian times was for richer, sweeter things. But fashion has changed—or has it?

The average American drinks 53 gallons of sweet soda drinks per year. That’s a little over 565 twelve-once cans of soda. Coca-Cola is definitely sweet with 116 grams of sugar per liter, which is about the same as a German Beerenauslese wine. So we’re out there drinking liquid sugar with our burgers, fries and salads, but a nice dry German Riesling is considered too “sweet”? Don’t even get me started on orange juice.

The truth is that Americans do love sweet things, just not in our wines (or so we pretend). Part of this goes back to the ’70s, when “dry white wine” became the fashionable alternative to a cocktail. Part of the reasoning was that there were fewer calories in wine with no added sugar in them. The truth is that most of the calories in a glass of wine come from the alcohol, and slightly sweet wines usually have lower alcohol content.

Jess Jackson became a very wealthy man by betting that Americans liked a little residual sugar in their Chardonnay. Kendall-Jackson is so popular precisely because it’s a little sweet, and not just the “sweetness” of French oak.

As for German wines, most of us first learn about them by tasting cheap wines such Liebfraumilch and Piesporter Michelsberg. They’re pretty ordinary and dull and not even made from Germany’s great grape, the Riesling. So we dismiss German wines altogether.

But Liebraumilch is meant for export to the United States and the United Kingdom. The Germans themselves hardly know that it exists. Instead, they focus on Rieslings—wines with clean, fresh fruit flavors, untouched by oak, and bright, mouth-watering acidity that masks most of the sugar. They use them as wonderful aperitifs with fish and seafood, or to balance out the richness of sausages.

It’s a world you should explore, and here are few for you to start with:

2008 Leitz Einz Zwei Dry “3” Riesling (Rheingau, Germany): Try this wonderful, elegant, lovely wine from an outstanding producer. 2008 is a fine vintage and this is a great introduction to modern German wines.

2007 J.J. Christoffel Urziger Wurzgarten Riesling Kabinett (Mosel, Germany): Coming across with slightly more sweetness, but with perfectly balancing acidity, this wine grows in south-facing, slate-laden soils and is barrel-fermented for rich, spicy and lightly floral notes. J.J. Christoffel has been a top producer for generations, Urzig is one of the famous towns on the Mosel river, and the Wurzgarten is its best vineyard.

2007 Donnhoff Kreuznacher Kroptenpful Riesling Kabinett (Nahe, Germany): The Nahe region is an intriguing blend of the styles of the Mosel and the Rheingau—a bit racy, a bit rich—and Donnhoff is arguably the best producer there. The wine is vibrant, complex and long.

So lose your prejudices and go for the German Reisling. Prost!

Thomas Cottrell is the Director of Wine at Grand Cru Wine Shop and Bar.