High honors indeed for Joel B. Payne and Armin Diel. The president of the
VDP-Association, Michael Prince of Salm-Salm, hands the journalist award
“Trophy German Origin” to the authors at the “Ball des Weines” (Wine Ball).

 

Ever since the early Eighties, Armin Diel has
made a name for himself as a culinary and
wine journalist, and to date he remains a
member of many national and international
juries. He has commentated TV series on
culinary topics, has written the accompanying
books for these series, and regularly leads
culinary wine tours

   

Books accompanying the TV-series "Country Inns"
 

Together with famous chef and restaurateur
Johann Lafer in a jury setting out to find the
best sausage purveyour in Germany.

In 1994, the German Pro-Riesling Association awarded Diel its award for publicists, in recognition of his work in advancing the image of German wine. Right from its inception, Diel was one of the regular contributing authors to  the wine magazine „Alles über Wein“, and also published articles regularly in the late Eighties in the business magazine „Capital“. It is during this time that he first started working closely with American-born Joel B. Payne. Together, Diel and Payne right up to the present are responsible for the production and publication of the Gault Millau Wine Guide Germany, and are responsible for the lion‘s share of the wine reviews appearing in „Alles über Wein
 

In 2003, the German VDP-association honored Armin Diel and Joel B. Payne by awarding them the “Trophy German Origin”, for their “outstanding journalistic contribution to German wine”. In his valedictory speech, well-known TV journalist Ulrich Kienzle praised the handwriting of the authors, who together taste more than 5000 wines each year.

 


Citing the motto that
"the prophet is nothing in
his own country", American-born
Joel B. Payne expressed his
amazement that Germans show so
little pride in their own wines.

 
In his address thanking the VDP for
the award, Armin Diel stated that "my
commitment will only be toned down once
top-class German wines again command the
position they held a century ago, when they
were the most expensive wines in the world."

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