schiller-wine: Cellar Visit and Tasting at Weingut Groebe in Westhofen, Rheinhessen, with Fritz Groebe - Germany-South and Alsace 2017 Tour by ombiasy WineTours

Picture: Cellar Visit and Tasting at Weingut Groebe in Westhofen, Rheinhessen, with Fritz Groebe

We started the day with a tasting at Germany's #1 sparkling wine producer, Sekthaus Raumland, in Flörsheim-Dalsheim/ Rheinhessen, followed by a visit of Weingut Wittmann in Westhofen/ Rheinhessen. We had lunch at Metzger und Gasthaus Deutsches Haus in Westhofen. After lunch we went to Weingut Groebe, just opposite to Weingut Wittmann. We stayed overnight at the Hilton in Mainz.

We had a light dinner and more wine at Ladendorfs Weinhaus in Mainz. Roland Ladendorf's wine tavern has by far the best selection of German premium and ultra-premium wines among the many wine taverns in Mainz. Roland is a wine expert.

Picture: Christian Schiller and Fritz Groebe at Kloster Eberbach (2012)

At Weingut Groebe, Fritz Groebe showed us the winemaking facilities before sitting down in the stylish family room for a tasting of Weingut Groebe wines, accompagnied by delicious home-made food, including Spundekäs.

Picture: Weingut Groebe

Weingut Groebe

Weingut Groebe has as a long tradition. it was founded in the early 1600s. Weingut Groebe ist in Westhofen/ Rheinhessen, opposite to Weingut Wittmann. The estate used to be split between Biebesheim (headquarter, bottling line, warehouse) and Westhofen (vineyards and fermentation cellar). Friedrich Groebe built a new production hall in 2012 and moved everything next to his vineyard.

Pictures: Arriving

Today, the vineyard area totals 8 hectares, including holdings in the famous Aulerde, Kirchspiel, Morstein and Steingrube. Two-thirds of the area is planted with Riesling, the remainder with Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Silvaner, Scheurebe and Portugieser.

Fritz Groebe believes that good wine needs philosophy and craftsmanship, but not technology.

Along these lines, organic vineyard practices are followed, including the use of cover crops. No herbicides, insecticides or chemical fertilizers are used. Due to strong pruning of the vines in spring, the renunciation of mineral fertilization and the similar natural greening of the rows of vines, a competition arises in the vineyard. The vine suffers and searches for its food in the deeper layers of the soil.

Musts undergo spontaneous fermentation, with slow, cool fermentation being a hallmark. The wines are matured along traditional lines, exclusively in large oak vats (Stückfässer.

The wines are marketed in three ranges: Grosse Lage wines (Grosses Gewächs and sweet predicate wines from Spätlese level upwards), village wines (from Westhofen) and estate wines (Groebe á la Carte).

Weingut Groebe is a member of the VDP (Verband deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter), the association of about 200 German elite producers.

Pictures: Cellar Tour at Weingut Groebe

VDP: Weingut K.F. Groebe

Weingut K.F. Groebe has been in the family's hands for more than 250 years. Friedrich and Manuela Groebe cultivate nearly nine hectares of vines in Westhofen, concentrated in renowned sites such as AULERDE, KIRCHSPIEL and MORSTEIN. 2012 saw WEINGUT K.F. GROEBE return to its traditional home of Westhofen. Friedrich Groebe’s signature wine style reflects his own distinctive mix of organic cultivation, spontaneous fermentation and barrel aging. The winemaker's pride and joy: long-lived, nobly sweet Rieslings of international repute. His wines undergo an extended maturation on the lees before being bottled. Patience, intuition and attention are the keys to managing maturation, not unnecessary interventions or high tech solutions. This approach gives Groebe the flexibility for targeted stylistic exploration, with an eye toward better expression of the individual vintage and the larger German Riesling tradition. It requires an unflagging pioneer spirit, yet opens up the freedom to create wines entirely in line with his own confident vision.

Weingut Groebe at a Glance

Owner: Friedrich Groebe

Winemaker: Friedrich Groebe

Outside Manager: Friedrich Groebe

VDP member since 2000

Bottle production: 55 000

Grape varieties: 70% Riesling, 10% Silvaner, 10% Grauburgunder, 8% Spätburgunder and others
Soil: Lössboden mit Gehängelehm & tonigen, kiesigen Sanden im Untergrund (Aulerde), Kalksteinverwitterungsboden & Tonmergel (Kirchspiel, Morstein)

Vineyards: AULERDE, Westhofen. VDP.GROSSE LAGE, MORSTEIN, Westhofen, VDP.GROSSE LAGE, KIRCHSPIEL, Westhofen, VDP.GROSSE LAGE

Tasting

After the winery tour, we sat down in the stylish family room for a tasting of Weingut Groebe wines, accompagnied by delicious home-made food, including Spundekäs.

Pictures: Tasting with Fritz Groebe

The Wines we Tasted

2016 Weingut Groebe Riesling 1763

2016 Weingut Groebe Westhofener Riesling trocken

2016 Weingut Groebe Westhofener Riesling Alte Reben

2015 Weingut Groebe Aulerde Riesling VDP.Grosses Gewächs

2012 Weingut Groebe Kirchspiel Riesling VDP.Grosses Gewächs

2003 Weingut Groebe Kirchspiel Riesling Spätlese VDP.Grosse Lage

2004 Weingut Groebe Kirchspiel Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese

Bye-bye

Thanks Fritz for a wonderful afternoon with you and your wines.

Picture: Bye-bye

Evening: Mainz

After the visit of Weingut Groebe, we drove to Mainz and checked in at the Hilton for the night. We went to Ladendorfs Weinhaus, Roland Ladendorf's wine tavern has by far the best selection of German premium and ultra-premium wines among the many wine taverns in Mainz. Roland is a wine expert. We had another Kirchspiel Riesling GG - this time from Weingut KP Keller.