Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours took place from August 28 – Friday, September 06, 2024. We spent 10 days visiting top wine estates in five wine regions, tasting fabulous Rieslings and Pinot Noir (aka Spätburgunder), meeting world-renowned wine makers, travelling through the world’smost beautiful wine regions, cruising on the romantic Rhein river, looking at dizzying steep vineyards along the Rhein and Mosel rivers, and delving deep into German history and culture: Rheinhessen • Rheingau • Mittelrhein • Mosel • Nahe
Rheingau
The next two days we explored the Rheingau wine region, by many considered the jewel in the crown because of its legendary aristocratic history of world-famous wine estates. It is a fairly small wine region with about 8,000 acres of vineyards. The Rhein river originates in Switzerland and flows north where it empties into the North Sea in the Netherlands. The Taunus mountains force the Rhein river to make a sudden turn. Near Wiesbaden the Rhein turns west at a right angle and continues flowing east to west for about 19 miles before it turns north again. The Rheingau is the narrow strip on the south-facing slope of the Taunus along the Rhein river. We are here at 50° north of latitude but the huge body of water and the protective Taunus hills make the Rheingau perfect for grape growing. It is a predominantly Riesling region with a historic pocket of perfect terroir on the steep south-facing slopes around Assmannshausen for producing stunning Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir).
Tasting at Weingut Eva Fricke in Eltville, Rheingau
This was a tasting only event. We were received by Eva Fricke and two staff members.
This wine estate was only founded in 2006, and has an unusual upbringing. Eva Fricke was not born into a winemaker family. She was born in Bremen – both her parents were physicians – and wanted to become a beer brewer. Still in her teenage years, during one summer she was working at a wine estate in South Africa and she was bitten by the wine bug.
After studying oenology at the famous Geisenheim oenological university and doing stints at many wineries around the world she returned to Germany and started working at wineries in the Rheingau.
In 2006 she was able to produce her first vintage and since then she has established her winery in Eltville and farms 42 acres in top sites in the Rheingau. She concentrates on producing Riesling, she has a tiny bit of Pinot Noir, Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc) and Silvaner which she also uses for producing ‘Winzersekt’, the German term for sparkling wine made in the traditional method by a second fermentation in the bottle. Her wines have received many high scores from famous international wine critics including a perfect 100-point score from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate. From the start Eva worked according to organic and biodynamic methods, fermentation is done spontaneously and her wines spend many months on their fine lees to gain weight and complexity, while at the same time arresting freshness.
Stephan Reinhard Robert Parker Wine Advocate 2020
Eva Fricke is going Burgundy. In fact, she not only travels to Burgundy occasionally, due to her pure passion for Pinot Noir, she also goes Burgundy on her wine labels. While the legal information is put on the back label, the front label only shows what's really important: the name of the region (Rheingau), the village (either Kiedrich or Lorch) or the single vineyard (i.e., Krone, Schlossberg or Seligmacher) and, if it comes to the (German) predicates, the term Spätlese or Auslese. Like this, German wine labels are very easy to understand. For example, Kiedrich contains nothing but Riesling, and the Riesling originates only from Kiedrich. A Kiedrich is always classified as quality wine from the Rheingau. If it was a sweet wine, you would see an added predicate too. As long as there is no predicate given, the wine is either dry (trocken) or at least kind of dry (which means it tastes dry even with some grams of residual sugar due to low pH levels).
James Suckling/ Stuart Pigott 2024
...There could hardly be a greater contrast to all this history and tradition than Eva Fricke, who founded her garage winery in 2006 with just 0.1 hectare of vineyards in Lorch at the western tip of the Rheingau. She now has 18 hectares of vineyards, the focus still on Lorch, which Stuart describes as the lost world of Rheingau riesling thanks to these steep vineyards with stony soils remaining stubbornly under the radar. Today, the Eva Fricke winery is housed in an extremely modern light industrial unit on the edge of the Rheingau town of Eltville.
The properly dry Eva Fricke Riesling Rheingau Krone Trocken 2023 has a mind-bending concentration of yellow peach and Amalfi lemon character with a mineral freshness that’s like the beam of a lighthouse shining to the horizon. At the other end of the sweetness spectrum there is the equally astonishing Eva Fricke Riesling Rheingau Schlossberg Trockenbeerenauslese 2023. Yes, this is a luscious, nobly sweet wine, but it is also incredibly compact and focused with gigantic energy and acidity. It should live for many decades, if you can resist it during the next few years. Production was extremely limited.
Stuart was also very impressed with the wines Eva Fricke will release from later this year under the name “Eltville Collection.” They come from a very old vineyard close to the Eva Fricke winery that used to belong to the legendary Schloss Eltz estate. It wound up operations just before James and Stuart first met, but collectors still hunt down the Schloss Eltz wines on the secondary market. On the basis of these first wines, they may well do the same for the Eltville Collection in the future.
Arriving
Tasting with Eva Fricke
The Wines
Bye-bye
Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours: Already Released and Forthcoming Postings
Vineyard Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Braunewell in Essenheim, Rheinhessen, with Stefan Braunewell - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Weingut Thörle in Saulheim, Rheinhessen, with Christoph Thörle, Johannes Thörle and Uta Thörle - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Grauburgunder (French: Pinot Gris - Italian: Pinot Grigio) and Dinner at Restaurant Lumen - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by
ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Weingut Eva Fricke in Eltville, Rheingau, with Eva Fricke - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar
Tour and Tasting at Wein- und Sektgut Barth (VDP) in Hattenheim,
Rheingau, with Mark Barth and Alexia Putze - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe
2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch at the Abbey Tavern and Guided Tour of Eberbach Abbey (founded by Cistercian monks
at about the same time as the famous Château de Clos de Vougeot in
Burgundy) - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard
Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Kloster Eberbach (VDP) in
Eltville, Rheingau, with Head-winemaker Katrin Puff - Germany
Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Wine-pairing
Dinner with Wines of Weingut Balthasar Ress at Restaurant
Kronenschlösschen, with Weingut Balthasar Ress Senior Boss Stefan Ress,
Kronenschlösschen Head-sommelier Florian Richter (Best German Sommelier
2024 - Sommelier Union), Chef Roland Gorgosilich and Owner Johanna
Ullrich - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Georg Breuer in Rüdesheim, Rheingau, with
Theresa Breuer - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar
Tour and Tasting at Weingut Schloss Johannisberg (VDP), with Dieter
Salomon - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch and Impromptu Tasting of Weingut Familie Allendorf Wines with Ulrich Allendorf and Max J. Schönleber at Restaurant Allendorf am Rhein - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting
at Weingut Peter Jakob Kühn (VDP) in Oestrich-Winkel, Rheingau, with
Peter Bernhard Kühn - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Weingut August Kesseler (VDP) in Assmannshausen,
Rheingau, with August Kesseler - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by
ombiasy WineTours
Lunch, Tasting and Vineyard Tour at Weingut
Lanius Knab (VDP) in Oberwesel, Mittelrhein, with Jörg Lanius - Germany
Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Cruise on the Rhein,
from Boppard to Koblenz, passing the famous Loreley Rock - Germany
Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour of the Fortress Ehrenbreitstein - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch and Impromptu Wine Tasting of the Wines of Weingut Madame Flöck, with Weingut Madame Flöck Owner/ Winemaker Robert Wade, Verbene Bistro Chef Tim Johnston, Restaurant Verbene Michelin starred Chef/ Owner David Weigang and Partner Verena Schimmel - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at the 2024 Weinfest in Winningen - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tour
of Eltz Castle, a True Fairy-tale Medieval Castle in the Hills above
the Mosel, Built more than 850 Years ago by the Eltz Family - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch
at Restaurant Heim in Hotel Reiler Hof (Michelin Bib Gourmand) in Reil -
Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Cellar Tour
and Tasting at Weingut Melsheimer in Reil, Middle Mosel, with Thorsten
Melsheimer - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting
at Weingut Clemens Busch (VDP) in Pünderich, Middle Mosel, with Oda
Berthold - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Weingut
Dr. Thanisch, Erben Müller-Burggraef Wines and Overnight Stay at the
Brand-new, High-end Deinhard’s Hotel in Bernkastel-Kues - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting
Weingut Dr.Loosen (VDP) in Bernkastel-Kues, Middle Mosel, with Anne
Juchem - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting
at Weingut Max Ferdinand Richter in Mülheim, Middle Mosel, with Dirk
Richter - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting
at Weingut Hermann Ludes in Thörnich, Middle Mosel, with Julian Ludes -
Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Weingut Günther Steinmetz in Brauneberg, Middle Mosel, with Sammy Steinmetz - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting
at Weingut Matthias Hild in Wincheringen, Upper Mosel, with Matthias
and Jonas Hild - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch with Wines from Luxemburg at Koeppchen Bistro-Brasserie in Wormeldange-Haut in Luxembourg - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Vineyard
Tour, Cellar Tour and Tasting at Weingut Van Volxem (VDP) in Wiltingen,
Saar, with Lukas Büchner - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy
WineTours
Asian Themed Wine-pairing Dinner at Dian's in
Bernkastel-Kues, led by Janet Cam and Annette Schiller - Germany
Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting at Weingut H. Dönnhoff (VDP), Oberhausen, Nahe, with Anne Dönnhoff - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Lunch at Hermannshöhle Restaurant Weck in Niederhausen - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy WineTours
Tasting
at Weingut Korrell Johanneshof in Bad Kreuznach, Nahe, with Sonja
Reinbold and Martin Korell - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe 2024 by ombiasy
WineTours
Wine-pairing Dinner at Restaurant Kruger-Rumpf,
Weingut Kruger-Rumpf (VDP), with Stefan Rumpf - Germany Rhein-Mosel-Nahe
2024 by ombiasy WineTours
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