schiller-wine: Tour and Tasting at Weingut Dr. Crusius, Traisen, Nahe, with Dr. Peter Crusius and his Daughter Judith Crusius - Germany-North Tour 2019 by ombiasy WineTours: Quintessential Riesling

Pictures: Tour and Tasting at Weingut Dr. Crusius, Traisen, Nahe, with Dr. Peter Crusius and his Daughter Judith Crusius - Germany-North Tour 2019 by ombiasy WineTours: Quintessential Riesling

“I want our wines to reflect their origins and delight the senses” - Dr. Peter Crusius, Weingut Dr. Crusius.

Dr. Peter Crusius and his daughter Judith were our hosts. Dr. Peter Crusius gave us a cellar tour and Judith Crusius led the tasting.

Pictures: Arriving at Weingut Dr. Crusius

Weingut Dr. Crusius

Dr. Peter Crusius: Our family first settled in Traisen in 1576. The old estate buildings, which are still the heart of the Dr. Crusius winery today, were built in 1888. In the 1950s, Hans Crusius transformed what was then a mixed agricultural and winegrowing operation into a wine estate covering 7.5 ha. Today it has grown to 21 ha and is one of Germany’s top wine estates.

Picture: Dr. Peter Crusius and his wife Birgitta Crusius with their Daughters Judith Crusius and Rebecca Crusius

Dr. Peter Crusius, the son of Hans Crusius, is the present owner and has planted the estate predominantly with Riesling (60%), some white Burgundy varieties (30%) and several varieties of red wine (Pinot noir précoce and Pinot noir 10%). Two thirds of the vineyard area is classified as VDP.GROSSE LAGE® and VDP.ERSTE LAGE®. These top vineyard sites include the spectacular “Traiser Bastei” and the very steep “Schlossböckelheimer Felsenberg”.

Dr. Peter Crusius and his wife Birgitta Crusius put their long years of experience and solid training into the maturation of the wines and the production and marketing of around 120,000 bottles per year. Our two daughters are now bringing their own, fresh perspective to the family business: Judith Crusius is mainly involved in the marketing and export side of things, whilst Rebecca, who is currently studying enology at Geisenheim University, helps out in the cellar and the vineyards whenever her timetable permits.

Year in, year out, we remain committed to our common goal of crafting wines that reflect their origins and delight the senses.

Pictures: Welcome with a Glass of 2015 Weingut Dr. Crusius Traiser Auxerrois Brut Nature

Motivation

Dr. Peter Crusius: For over 400 years our family has lived in one of Germany’s most beautiful wine regions – the Middle Nahe. The scenery on this stretch of the River Nahe is noticeably more rugged and varied, the river still meanders in its original bed and the red cliffs of the mighty Rotenfels form the region’s spectacular centrepiece. This unique landscape is our incentive to craft wines that reflect their origins and delight the senses.

A First-Class Portfolio of Vineyard Sites

Dr. Peter Crusius: We’re convinced that the best, most characteristic wines can only evolve in superb vineyards. Which is why part of our success is due to the fact that 70% of our total vineyard area is classified as either VDP.ERSTE LAGEN® or VDP.GROSSE LAGEN®,according to the vineyard site statutes of the VDP Nahe. The vineyards are all located in the direct vicinity of the wine estate (with no vineyard more than 8km away), in the area surrounding our home village of Traisen, in Norheim, Niederhausen and Schlossboeckelheim.

Pictures: In the Wine Cellar

Unique Wine Expertise

Dr. Peter Crusius: We’re convinced that solid professional training and long years of experience in tasting and crafting wines help us make the right decisions in the vineyard and in the cellar. Whether we’re completing the intensive, continuous tasting sessions at the young-wine stage, tackling vertical tastings of different vintages or tasting the wines of our colleagues, we always taste as a team over several days. During this process, the extensive experience of Peter & Birgitta Crusius in growing grapes and making wine meets the new ideas and inspirations of their daughters Judith (Sales & Marketing) & Rebecca (currently studying enology at Geisenheim). We think it’s a wonderful combination!

Pictures: Tasting with Judith Crusius

Professional and Passionate Work

Dr. Peter Crusius: We’re convinced that professionalism and passion in one’s day-to-day work creates better wines – wines that reflect their origins to inspire and delight. In the vineyards we pay meticulous attention to the health of the vines. We harvest by hand with only a few, very experienced grape-pickers. Work in the cellar is done with maximum care and flexibility. For us, there’s no dogmatic contradiction between spontaneous and selected yeast fermentation. We use both methods, depending on the vintage and harvest situation. Our approach is equally pragmatic when it comes to the choice of old wooden barrels or stainless steel tanks for aging the wine.

But for all the methodology, each year we consciously create space for experimentation and we continually force ourselves to break the rules. Two successful examples of these experiments are the cultivation of Auxerrois and our Riesling Cuvée Top-of-the-Rock.

The Wines Judith Crusius Poured

We tasted 10 wines, all white.

2015 Weingut Dr. Crusius Traiser Auxerrois Brut Nature

2018 Weingut Dr. Crusius Traiser Weissburgunder & Auxerrois dry
2018 Weingut Dr. Crusius Traiser Weissburgunder "Kaffel" dry

2018 Weingut Dr. Crusius Dr. Crusius Sonnenfels Riesling dry (VDP.Gutswein)
2018 Weingut Dr. Crusius Vom Fels Traisen Riesling dry (VDP.Ortswein)

2018 Weingut Dr. Crusius Traiser Rotenfels Riesling dry (VDP.Erste Lage)
2018 Weingut Dr. Crusius Norheimer In der Kirschhecke Riesling dry (VDP.Erste Lage)