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U.S. wine imports from which of these countries increased almost 30 percent by volume last year?

a) France; b) Germany; c) Australia; or d) Italy.

The answer is b) Germany. France rose a bit, after two years of declines, according to figures from the U.S. Depart-ment of Agriculture. Australia was up more than 10 percent, but it still didn't outstrip No. 1 Italy, whose imports rose almost 9 percent.

The jump in German wine imports has been a long time coming. Imports dropped by half between 1989 and 1994 and then flatlined until 2000, when they began to creep up. Given the history, last year's boost was extraordinary, though the total amount of German wine imported into the United States is still relatively small: around 2.7 million cases, about a tenth of Italy's.

Americans have been lukewarm toward German wines for years because they associate them — and Germany's great grape, riesling — with the sweet, simple wines of their youth (the wines that probably accounted for a great deal of the imports back then). But there has always been a gulf between regular wine drinkers, who shun German wines, and wine merchants and wine writers, like us, who never tire of beating the drum for these wines, which we find highly drinkable, beautifully made and great with all kinds of food.

Finally, it seems like someone is listening. Asked if he has been selling more German wine in the past year, Bob Gorman, partner at the Wine Warehouse in Tallahassee, Fla., answered with two words: "Big time." He added: "Initially, this took a patient hand-sell to bring the person over and say, 'You want this bottle.' " Now, it's easier. "You know how the pendulum is and how trendy we are," he told us. "We are always looking to be on the cutting edge. People are looking for new things."

Paul Provost, general manager of Table & Vine in Northampton, Mass., says interest in German wines is rising for a simple reason: price. "In part, the price point of German riesling has remained pretty constant while the rest of the world has been going up," he told us. "So it looks more and more like the value it has been for three decades."

German vintners also are finally making simpler, more attractive labels, and some are using informal screwcaps. And Sherwood Deutsch, owner of Century Liquors in Rochester, N.Y., offers another explanation: The wines are better. He says a new generation of German winemakers has raised the bar, which has also helped to wake up some longtime winemakers who had gotten complacent. "Wine techniques got better elsewhere, and the Germans fell behind," he says. "They're coming back now."

So what did this mean for us? A large tasting, of course. We bought the first 50 Riesling Kabinett wines we saw from recent vintages, mostly 2004. Germany's better wines are rated on a scale of ripeness that starts with Kabinett and goes up to Spatlese, Auslese and beyond. Kabinett is usually the driest, though "trocken" (dry) is always a good word to look for. As we've written, Spatlese trocken wines — very ripe but dry wines — are a wonder, but they are hard to find in the United States

How to read a German wine label: Visit online at germanwineusa.org and go to "how to read a wine label." Otherwise, in general, the advice we give to people who are eager to try German wines is to look for riesling and Kabinett on the label of a young wine.

In a tasting of German Kabinett Rieslings from recent vintages, generally 2004, these were our favorites. They are generally light and dry and are good with a wide variety of food, from Wiener schnitzel to onion tarts. They are often low in alcohol, around 8 percent.

Rating: Very Good. Best of tasting. Bright, with bracing fruit and spiky lemon flavors. Fresh and vibrant, with a long, orange-blossom finish. Interesting sweet-tart tastes. Nicely focused and light as a whisper. (We also liked Loosen's Urziger Wurzgarten 2004.)

Rating: Good/Very Good. Best value. Refreshing, with laid-back tastes of citrus and earth and very nice acids. Good with light foods.

● Juliusspital "Trocken" 2003 (Wurzburg; Franken), $11.99

Rating: Good/Very Good. Franken Riesling, often in a traditional flask, is rare but worth buying if you see it. This is more full-bodied, earthier and notably drier than others, with flavors that demand somewhat heavy food.