The first stop of the 2018 Germany-South/ Alsace wine tour of ombiasy WineTours was in Bensheim, about an hour south of Frankfurt by car, at an up-and-coming Sekt producer, Griesel&Compagnie, Sekthaus Streit.
Not well known outside of its borders, Germany is a sparkling wine country. The Germans love the bubbly stuff. The German market for sparkling wine is the largest in the world, with 1 out of 4 bottles of sparkling wine produced in the world consumed in Germany. Rotkäppchen-Mumm in Freyburg in the Saale-Unstrut region is the world’s second largest sparkling wine producer after Freixenet? Many Champagne Houses in France were founded by Germans, such as Krug, Bollinger, Heidsick, Deutz, Mumm, to name a few. See: French Champagne Houses and German Roots
Sekt ranges from inexpensive entry-level sparkling wine to ultra-premium sparklers made in the
méthode traditionnelle, like Champagne. We visited a producer of ultra-premium sparklers, Griesel&Compagnie, Sekthaus Streit. Charming Assistant Winemaker Rachele Crosara was our host. We toured the cellar and had a tasting of the Griesel Sekt Portfolio.
Sekt in Germany
Germany is one of the largest sparkling wine markets in the world, which is not well know around the world. Germans drink lot of sparkling wines, although in general less quality-conscious than the French. One out of four bottles of sparkling wine is consumed in Germany, roughly 500 million bottles. Sekt is made in all German wine regions, both in the méthode traditionnelle and charmat method. There are three groups of Sekt makers: (i) large and (ii) smaller Sekt houses, who only make Sekt and (iii) winemakers, who make predominantly wine, but complement their wine selection by a few Sekts. The Sekts produced by large Sekt estates tend to be in the demy-sweet and sweet range, while the Sekts of smaller estates and the wine makers are mostly in the brut and extra brut range.
There is a dozen or so large Sekt houses. Most of these large Sekt houses were established in the 1800s. At that time, there was only one method known to produce Sekt, the méthode traditionnelle. But in contrast to the champagne houses, the large Sekt houses have all moved to the charmat method as main method of the second fermentation after World War II. Like the champagne houses, Sekt houses do not own vineyards, but purchase the base wine from winemakers.
The smaller Sekt houses, like the large Sekt houses, do not own vineyards, but also buy the base wine from winemakers. They also tend to have a long history and often links to the champagne region, beautiful facilities and old cellars for the second fermentation and storage. The big difference is that they typically have not gone the route of tank fermentation but continue to ferment in the méthode traditionnelle.
Increasingly, there is a number of top quality winemakers, who, in addition, to their still wines, have started to include Sekts in their portfolio. These Sekts are typically vintage Sekts, from a specified vineyard, made of specific grapes, often Riesling, in the méthode champenoise and with little or not dosage (brut or extra but). While the first fermentation typically takes place at the winery, the second fermentation is often not in the cellar of the winemaker but in the cellar of a Sekt house that bottle-ferments for other wineries.
Griesel&Compagnie, Sekthaus Streit
Griesel&Compagnie, Sekthaus Streit came into existence just a few years ago and already enjoys the highest accolades. In 2013 the Eberbach Abbey winery in Bensheim moved the production to headquartes in the Rheingau and the wonderful old, vaulted cellers under the Griesel mountain became available. Sekthaus Griesel came into existence. Vintner Niko Brandner started from scratch and could configure the Sekthaus exactly according to his knowledge and ideas.
The April 2018 edition of the Decanter writes about the 2014 Griesel, Blanc de Noirs Brut: “This new discovery is seriously impressive, all the more so given that it’s only this talented producer’s second vintage. Made from Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, it has spent 24 months on lees before being disgorged……”
The Sekts Rachele Crosara Poured
Bye-bye
Thanks Rachele for a wonderful visit and tasting.
schiller-wine: Germany-South and Alsace 2018 Tour by ombiasy WineTours: Baden, Alsace, Pfalz and Rheinhessen - All Postings (Published and Forthcoming)
The Sun-Kissed South: Germany’s Pinot Noir, the Other Whites, the Culinary Regions - Germany-South and Alsace 2018 Tour by ombiasy WineTours: Baden, Alsace, Pfalz and Rheinhessen
Sekt: Cellar Tour and Tasting at Griesel in Bensheim, Hessische Bergstrasse
Lunch at 1 Michelin Star Restaurant Landhaus Feckl in Ehningen
The Evolving Structure of the Wine Industry in Germany – The Case of the Lake Constance Region
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Cellar Tour and Massive Tasting at Weingut Ziereisen in Efringen, Markgräfler Land, Baden, with Hanspeter and Edeltraud Ziereisen
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Martin Waßmer in Bad Krozingen, Markgräfler Land, Baden
Dinner at Restaurant Schwarzer Adler, 1 Star Michelin, Oberbergen, Kaiserstuhl, Baden - Germany-South and Alsace 2017 Tour by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Hunn in Gottenheim, Tuniberg, Baden, with Kilian and Martina Hunn
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Tour and Tasting at Domaines Schlumberger in Guebwiller, Alsace - Germany-South and Alsace 2017 Tour by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine Rieflé in Pfaffenheim, Alsace, with Paul Rieflé
Cellar Tour and Massive Tasting at Domaine Rolly-Gassmann in Rorschwihr, Alsace, with Pierre Gassmann
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Domaine Pfister in Dahlenheim, Alsace, with Melanie Pfister
Dinner at 2 Michelin Star Restaurant Auberge du Cheval Blanc, Alsace
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Vineyard Tour and Massive Tasting at Weingut Siener in Birkweiler, Pfalz, with Owner/ Winemaker Peter Siener
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Dinner Tasting at the Vinothek/ Wine Tavern of Weingut Bürklin-Wolf, with the Managing Director of Weingut Bürklin-Wolf, Steffen Brahner
Extensive Vineyard Tour and Tasting at Weingut Reichsrat von Buhl in Deidesheim, Pfalz, with
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Tasting and Cellar Tour at Weingut Battenfeld-Spanier/ Kühling-Gillot in Hohen-Sülzen, Rheinhessen, with Carolin Spanier
Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Wagner-Stempel in Siefersheim, Rheinhessen, with Oliver Müller and Cathrin Wagner
Cellar Tour, Tasting and Lunch at Weingut Schloss Westerhaus in Ingelheim, Rheinhessen, with the Owners Countess and Count von Schönburg-Glauchau and Technical Director Toni Frank
Tasting at Weingut Knewitz in Appenheim, Rheinhessen
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