So, while many great rieslings are made, almost all of the best are produced in minute quantities, making them difficult to widely share. With this in mind, I suggested three entry-level dry rieslings from superb producers. Even if they offered just a suggestion of the heights that the wines can achieve, I hoped that they would be more easily obtainable than superior wines made in smaller quantities. The three, all from the 2012 vintage, were: Dönnhoff Nahe Riesling Trocken, Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Pfalz Bürklin Estate Dry Riesling and Leitz Rheingau Riesling Trocken Eins Zwei Dry.

Despite my hopes, many people could not find any of these bottles. Some were able to find excellent alternatives and, in many cases, even better wines. But not everybody. One reader complained that he could find absolutely no dry German rieslings on the Emerald Coast of Florida, on the western end of the panhandle. I didn’t feel too sorry for him, though. With a long and wonderful dinner he substituted a few sweet rieslings from excellent producers, culminating with a 1976 trockenbeerenauslese, a wine saddled with a fearsome name but blessed with an unctuous, succulent, nectarlike deliciousness.

Even in our three dry wines, you could sense a suggestion of the juicy sweetness that can imbue German riesling. This was especially true of the Dönnhoff Nahe riesling, which smelled and tasted like ripe peaches and grapefruit, flavors that lingered on the palate. Surprisingly, I did not taste much of a mineral element to it, as I often have. Rather than stony, it seemed primarily fruity, and very pleasant.

The Leitz riesling from the Rheingau, with the catchy brand name Eins Zwei Dry, offered lightly floral and peachy aromas and flavors, as well as a mild earthiness, along with a tender, rounded texture. What a lovely, easygoing wine, perfect for an outdoor party.

The Bürklin-Wolf Pfalz riesling, by contrast, was dominated by enthralling earthy, mineral flavors. It was something you could feel as well as taste, a sort of rough rasp along the tongue, with an aroma like that of wet rocks. It’s the kind of sensation that I crave in a dry riesling.

All of these wines had a combination of strength and delicacy, finesse and elegance, which sets dry rieslings from Germany apart from those of other countries. Not to say they are better. Greatness comes in many styles, as does riesling, whether from Germany, a dancing yet structured Keller Abtserde from the Rheinhessen; from Alsace, a steely, nuanced Trimbach Clos Ste.-Hune; or from Austria, a spicy, rich Prager Smaragd Steinriegl from the Wachau.