I’m Delaney, a 26-year-old living between Los Angeles, California, and Edinburgh, Scotland, working as a freelance publicist for brands in the culinary, drinks and travel space.
My relationship to wine started nearly two years ago when I dove headfirst into this career path, primarily working with wineries and wine regions in Oregon, including the Rogue Valley where I’m originally from.
Wine can still feel intimidating at times, both as a Gen Z consumer and as someone new to the industry. There is so much to discover, explore and taste, and I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface.
Asking the experts
I’m still learning, and the wine industry is built up of so many knowledgeable, passionate people that I tend to turn to the experts when I’m looking to try something new.
This means heading to my local bottle shop in LA – Stanley’s Wet Goods in Culver City – where I gave my pal, Antonio (who is also the winemaker of Flowers & Cheese), a rundown of what I was looking for.
I explained I’d recently been enjoying German and Austrian white varieties, as more and more Oregon wineries are growing those grapes to make fresh summer wines. Next, I requested a bottle less than $30 and easy to serve at an outdoor party (so, no cork if possible).
Antonio recommended several options, but after a taste of the 2024 Glow Glow from Germany’s Nahe region, I was sold. (Glow Glow is a play on the french term glou-glou, for a light, juicy quaffable wine.)
Glow Glow, Weiss, Nahe, Germany 2024
Grapes: Bacchus, Müller-Thurgau, Riesling, Weissburgunder
Alc: 11.5%
Available: $26 Stanley’s Wet Goods; £23.50 Prost Wines
What Delaney says: For me, a compelling story backing a tasty, quality beverage trumps brand name recognition, accolades and other qualifiers that separate one winery or bottle from the next.
I might forget the name of the bottle, but I’ll rarely forget the story of the wine and the people who made it.
Antonio explained that Glow Glow was a small-batch, experimental collection of natural wines by Carl and Pauline Baumberger, a millennial brother-sister duo who are the sixth-generation of the Weingut Baumberger family. They are from the village of Mandel in Germany’s Nahe – a region that, truthfully, I had never heard of.
This Weiss (white) cuvée usually has Scheurebe joining the Bacchus and Müller-Thurgau but it was lost to frost and mildew in 2024, so this vintage has Riesling and Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) instead.
Learning about the brand’s sustainable farming practices (Pauline did a masters in sustainability and wine management while Carl studied viticulture and winemaking) made the selection feel like kismet.
My choice in my words
I selected this bottle to serve as a welcome pour at a summer barbecue I hosted as a going-away party for my boyfriend.
I wanted something chilled and easy-drinking, especially for my beer- and seltzer-loving friends who are still apprehensive about wine. It never gets old watching that ‘a-ha’ moment from friends when they’ve enjoyed a sip of something they wouldn’t typically go for, but end up loving.
The 2024 Glow Glow Weiss is everything I love from a white wine in the warmer months. It’s crisp, juicy and ripe – but not sweet – and smells more like fruit than florals.
When served chilled, the first sip was as refreshing as drinking an ice-cold glass of water on a hot day: you tilt your head back and say ‘ahhhh’!
Are you a Zoomer working in the wine industry? If you want to share your experience of a bottle you love, then our Under 30s Wine Trade Sips column is waiting for your voice. Email us at editor@decanter.com to tell us why we should pick you.
And if you are aged between 18 and 29 but don’t have a connection with the wine industry, then there’s a column for you too: our Gen Z Wine Challenge. Don’t be shy – drop us a line today on the email address above to introduce yourself.
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