Indeed, parts of the Rheingau had recently seen serious flooding. But nevertheless, the growers we visited, the elite by anybody's books, were cheeringly upbeat. As Carl von Schubert put, 'Riesling is the most innovative weed there is, capable of coping with even the most inauspicious of seasons'. The universal sentiment was that 'The vines maybe two weeks behind but they'll catch up. Nothing to worry about'. Plus ça change from the slightly more pessimistic 2013 outlook in other parts of Europe. By the time we left, temperatures well into the 30s seemed to confirm their optimism.