Showing posts with label German winemakers in the World. Show all posts
Showing posts with label German winemakers in the World. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

The Heidsieck Champagnes – French Champagne Houses with German Roots

Picture: Heidsieck et Cie Monopol

I recently published a posting about French Champagne Houses with German roots, i.e. Champagne producers that were founded by Germans. Carolyne Henry pointed out to me that one name that was definitely missing was Heidsieck Champagne.

See more:
French Champagne Houses and German Roots

Heidsieck & Co

Florens-Louis Heidsieck (1749–1828) was the founder of the Champagne House Heidsieck & Co in 1785. Florens-Louis Heidsieck died in 1828 and the Champagne House Heidsieck & Co was dissolved in 1834. Over the following 20 years, however, three separate Champagne Houses took on the name of Heidsieck, all linked to Florens-Louis Heidsieck by various nephews. Today, they are known as Piper-Heidsieck, Heidsieck et Cie Monopole and Charles Heidsieck.

Florens-Louis was the son of a Lutheran minister from Borgholzhausen in Westphalia in Germany. Shortly after he moved to Reims, he married the daughter of the wealthy cloth merchant Nicolas Perthois. On July 16, 1785, Florens-Louis Heidsieck founded the Champagne House, Heidsieck & Co.

Initially, Florens-Louis Heidsick worked with his son, who, however, unexpectedly died at young age. Subsequently, 3 of Florens-Louis’ nephews – who were still in Germany - joined the company as partners:  Henry-Louis Walbaum-Heidsick and Pierre Auguste Delius Heidsieck in 1814 and Christian Heidsieck in 1820 as well as Henri-Guillaume Piper, a great nephew of Florens-Louis, in 1815. In addition, other family members and friends from Germany joined the company.

When Florens-Louis Heidsieck died in 1828, Ferdinand Walbaum, the son of Henry-Louis Walbaum-Heidsieck took over “comme légataire unique et universel”, as was the will of Florens-Louis Heidsieck. Christian Heidsieck managed Heidsieck & Co, while Henri-Guillaume Piper handled sales. Eventually, Heidsieck & Co was dissolved in 1834.

Piper-Heidsick

In 1834, following the dissolution of Heidsieck & Co, Christian Heidsieck created a new company, keeping the Heidsieck name. His staff comprised 3 employees, including Henri-Guillaume Piper and Henri-Guillaume Piper’s cousin Jacques-Charles Kunkelmann.

At Christian Heidsieck’s death in 1837, his widow continued to run the house for some time under the name Veuve Heidsieck. She then married Henri-Guillaume Piper and the House became H. Piper et Cie, but continued to sell champagne under the name of Heidsieck, and then Piper-Heidsieck in 1845.

Since 1990, Piper-Heidsieck has been part of the Rémy Cointreau wine and spirits group, which belongs to the Groupe Européenne de Participation Industrielle (EPI), a holding of the Descours family.

Champagne Piper-Heidsieck
Turnover 2010 :    104 millions €
Vineyard: 65 ha
Staff : 126

Heidsieck et Cie Monopole

The other 2 partners (and also nephews) of Florens-Louis Heidsick, Henry-Louis Walbaum-Heidsick and Pierre Auguste Delius-Heidsieck,  founded the house of Walbaum, Heidsieck et Cie in 1834 which, after several changes of name, became Heidsieck et Cie Monopole in 1923.

The "Monopole" part of the name was added in 1923. Today, Heidsieck is owned by the Vranken company (located in Épernay), which also has Pommery in the portfolio.

Champagne Heidsieck & C° Monopole
Group: Vranken-Pommery Monopole
Turnover 2011 : 340 millions €
Vineyard: 275 ha

Charles Heidsick 

Finally, in 1851 Charles-Camille Heidsieck founded the house of Charles Heidsieck. Charles-Camille Heidsieck was the son of Charles-Henri Heidsieck, who was a nephew of Florens-Louis Heidsick and who had worked with Florens-Louis Heidsieck.

Charles-Henri Heidsieck worked for his uncle’s Champagne House Heidsieck & Cie between 1805 and 1818. He became famous for riding into Moscow on a white stallion in 1811 just ahead of Napoleon's advancing army. Charles-Henri Heidsieck arrived with cases of his champagne and his order book, ready to celebrate with whichever side would win the upcoming battle. In 1818, he married Émilie Henriot Godinot and took over the textile company of his father-in-law.

Charles-Camille Heidsieck worked for a number of years at Piper-Heidsick, before leaving the company and founding Charles Heidsick in 1851, together with Ernest Henriot.

Charles-Camille Heidsieck is credited with popularizing champagne in the United States and became known as "Champagne Charlie" in the United States. During the American Civil War Charles-Camille Heidsieck was imprisoned under suspicion of being a spy for the French government and the Confederacy. His imprisonment sparked an international incident between France and US.

Champagne Charles Heidsieck
Founded in: 1851
Turnover 2010 : 104 millions €
Vineyard 65 ha

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The Wines and the Food at President Obama’s Inauguration Luncheon, January 21, 2013, USA

Monday, January 21, 2013

The Wines and the Food at President Obama’s Inauguration Luncheon, January 21, 2013, USA

Picture: The Capitol, Washington DC

Barack Obama was inaugurated today as 44th President of the United States. There were many events, but one of the main events and oldest inaugural traditions was the Inaugural Luncheon held at the National Statuary Hall in the Capitol Building following President Obama's Swearing-In.

Picture: Swearing-In Ceremony at the Capitol, January 21, 2013

Strong German Presence

Indirectly, my home country Germany had a very strong presence at the luncheon. First, the food was prepared and the event organized by the German-borne Horst Klein with his Design Cuisine Company. Second, one of the 2 (still) wines was a dry Riesling, co-produced by the German-borne Johannes Reinhardt of Anthony Road in the Finger Lakes Region. Finally, the sparkler served for dessert was produced by Korbel Champagne Cellars from California, which has its roots in Bohemia, where the first German speaking university was founded (Prague).

Strong New York State Presence

Also, the State of New York was very present at the luncheon. Both (still) wines came from New York State. Germany-based Riesling Guru Stuart Pigott:” On the wine front this is as significant a change as the introduction of serious gun control would be for law and order in the US.” So how did New York wine earn such a prominent spot at the Inaugural table? New York's own Sen. Chuck Schumer is chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and he was not shy about cheering for the home team during the wine-selection tastings.

The Luncheon

About 200 guests, including President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, their families as well as cabinet members, leaders of Congress and Supreme Court justices, diplomats and others, attended the luncheon.  The guest were entertained by the Rochester’s Eastman String Quartet that performed songs like “America the Beautiful” and Mozart’s Quartet in C Major, surrounded by orange themes floral arrangements by Jesse Bailey of Alexandria, Va.’s Jack Lucky Floral.

Sen. Chuck Schumer: “This Inaugural luncheon menu incorporates foods that the first Americans enjoyed, but with a modern, forward looking approach.”

First
Steamed Lobster
with New England Clam Chowder Sauce

Served on Sauteed Spinach
with Sweet Potato Hay

Wine: Tierce 2009 Finger Lakes Dry Riesling (NY)

Main
Hickory Grilled Bison
with Wild Huckleberry Reduction

Strawberry Preserve and Red Cabbage

Red Potato Horseradish Cake

Baby Golden Beets and Green Beans

Butternut Squash Purée 

Wine: Bedell Cellars 2009 Merlot (Long Island, NY)

Dessert
Hudson Valley Apple Pie with Sour Cream Ice Cream
with Maple Caramel Sauce

Aged Cheeses and Honeycomb
Toma Celena and Jersey Girl Colby
Cooperstown Cheese Company (Milford, NY)

Wine: Korbel Natural, Special Inaugural Cuvée Champagne (California)

American Champagne

There was quite a bit of fuzz, when the menu was released. The initial menu's dessert pairing read "Korbel Natural, Special Inauguration Cuvée Champagne, California."

Picture: President Obama with a Glass of the Korbel Russian River Valley Champagne in his Hand at the Inauguration Luncheon (Source: CNN)

Most countries around the world, including the US, have agreed to ban the use of the word Champagne for any sparkling wine which was not produced in the viticultural area of Champagne. In the US, however, while sparkling wine labels submitted for approval after 2006 cannot make reference to Champagne anymore, some wineries were exempt as their label had been approved before. But in this case they have to add the place of origin before the word Champagne. Indeed, Korbel’s label states “Russian River Valley Champagne”. But the initial official press release omitted “Russian River Valley” and just said “Champagne”.

Overall, most US premium sparkling wine producers have by now dropped the word Champagne from their label and marketing, but Korbel is clinging on to the word even in its official name - Korbel Champagne Cellars.

Koerbel Champagne Cellars – A Leading Sparkling Wine Producer with Roots in Bohemia

Sparkling wine production in California dates to the late 1800s, when two groups -- Almaden Vineyards and the Korbel brothers -- offered their first bottles of sparklers (“Champagne”) for sale. Korbel Champagne Cellars was founded by 3 brothers -- Francis, Anton, and Joseph-- from Bohemia, which has historically been home to both Czechs and Germans and now is part of the Czech Republic. The first German University was founded in Bohemia. When the Korbel brothers were born, they were born in the Kingdom of Bohemia, which was, along with 39 other sovereign states, part of the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund).

Picture: Francis, Anton and Joseph Korbel, founders of the Korbel Champagne Cellars in California (Source: Korbel)

It was the timber that first attracted the Korbel brothers to the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County in 1872. When the building boom subsided, they began to grow alfalfa, beets, corn, prunes, and wheat, and also began to plant vineyards on their Russian River property. In 1884, they brought a Prague winemaker named Frank Hasek to California. Hasek used the methode champenoise approach to making sparkling wine. By 1894, the Korbel brothers began to sell their sparklers and by the end of the 1800s, Korbel was an award-winning, internationally recognized label.

In the early 1950s, the Koerbel family sold the business to Adolf L. Heck, a third generation winemaker whose family had roots in the Alsace Loraine straddling France and Germany. Adolph Heck ran Korbel until his death in 1984. His son, Gary, took over as chairman of the board and Robert Stashak became Korbel's sparkling wine master.

For more, see:
German Wine Makers in the World: The Korbel Brothers from Bohemia Introduced "Champagne" to the US

Wines from New York State

Stuart Pigott: “There is no question that this selection reflects how far New York’s wine industry has come during recent years. The image of the state as a producer of foxy Concord wine and “odd” wines from French-American hybrid vines has been fading fast as the premium quality wines from Vitis vinifera varieties (the European wine grape in its many forms) have steadily improved in quality, and even more rapidly gained ground in the market. The choice of varieties, a Merlot red and a Riesling white reflects (both dry wines) the twin strengths of New York State.”

Picture: New York State and the Finger Lakes and Long Island Wine Regions

Tierce Dry Riesling 2010 from the Finger Lakes

Tierce is a collaborative effort between three of the Finger Lakes' top winemakers, Peter Bell of Fox Run, Johannes Reinhardt of Anthony Road and David Whiting of Red Newt Cellars. Several years ago the three winemakers wondered if they could make a better wine together than any of them individually. In other words, could the whole be greater than the sum of its parts? So each year they make their own batches of dry Riesling and, when the three wines are ready, they get together on one day to taste dozens of different blends of the three wines until they arrive at the best. That wine is the Tierce of that year. "Tierce" means three, and the wine's back label reads, "Three vineyards, three winemakers, one wine." Tierce is a limited production wine, with only about 300 cases made in a given year, and is sold exclusively through the three wineries.

Picture: The Finger Lakes

The Anthony Road Wine Company caught international attention recently with their 2006 Finger Lakes Riesling Trockenbeeren, when it was awarded one of the 7 Trophies of Excellence of the Riesling Du Monde Competition 2010 in France. Ann and John Martini opened the winery in 1990. It is on the west shore of Seneca Lake in the town of Torrey, about 10 miles south of Geneva.

The winemaker, Johannes Reinhardt, is a German native, born in a little village of Franconia, 80 miles east of Frankfurt. Johannes grew up in a family that has been in the wine business since 1438. He has been in the vineyards and wine cellars all his life. He joined Anthony Road in 2000. Recently, he reportedly had a Visa issue, as the US Immigration office refused to provide him with a permanent work visa. This, luckily, has been solved.

For more, see: 
Celebrating the Rieslings of the Finger Lakes Region, New York State, US East Coast

The Finger Lakes AVA in upstate New York encompasses seven glacial lakes, although the majority of plantings are around Canandaigua, Keuka, Seneca, and Cayuga Lakes. Most vineyards are planted on hillsides overlooking the lakes. These deep lakes help to moderate the climate, as stored heat is released from the lakes during the winter, keeping the weather mild during summer extends the growing season. This cool-climate region is often compared to the wine-growing region of Germany, and like Germany, has had special success with Riesling.

The Finger Lakes include 4,452 hectares of vineyards, making it New York State's largest wine growing region. New York State is with Washington State the second largest wine producer in the US, with a bit more than 10.000 hectares. Of this, 400 hectares are accounted for by Riesling.

There are over 100 wineries, mostly family owned and operated small producers, bottling over 100,000 cases per year. While the region does an excellent job with other grapes like Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, and even Pinot Noir, Riesling is the star, with each producer making an average of two to three different styles from dry to sweet each vintage.

2009 Merlot, Bedell, Long Island

About 35 years ago, there was no meaningful wine industry on Long Island. In little over a quarter of a century, however, the Long Island wine industry has grown from one small vineyard to 3,000 acres of vines and over thirty wineries producing world-class wines. Located in New York State, on the East Coast of the United States, Long Island extends some 120 miles into the Atlantic Ocean. The wineries are all located at the East End, on the North and South Forks. The heart of Island’s wine country is the town of Southold, where more than 20 of the 30plus wineries are located.

Picture: The Wineries of Long Island

The leading grape variety is Merlot. In 1990, the first merlot vines were planted in the Hamptons at Channing Daughters and soon thereafter at Woelffer Estate Vineyards. More new growers coming into the region saw and heard of the success of merlot in more established vineyards and committed to further plantings. Today Merlot acreage on Long Island is approximately 700 acres, making up 30% of the overall vineyard acreage on Long Island.

For more, see:
Wine region: Upcoming Long Island, New York State

Horst Klein, Design Cuisine and the Food

The food was prepared – and the luncheon organized – by Design Cuisine, which is co-owned by the German-borne Horst Klein, along with his partners William A. Homan and Steve Veletsis. Horst Klein, as culinary director, guides both the kitchen staff and the sales team in their menu design and production efforts. During the Inauguration week, Design Cuisine serves up to 10,000 guests each day.

Picture: Horst Klein (Photo: Antje Passenheim, dpa)

I meet Horst Klein regularly at the German Embassy at the German National Day when Design Cuisine organizes the event at the Embassy. He told me that he is now semi-retired in Florida, but comes up for key events, like the Inauguration Luncheon.

Horst Klein has lived and worked in the US since the 1970s. He was borne in Cologne and speaks German with a strong Cologne accent. He is one of those who made it in the US from busboy to millionaire.

After an apprenticeship as a Chef in the Dom Hotel in Cologne, he worked for a number of hotels around the world, until he settled in the US. Together with two partners, he opened a restaurant with a small catering operation (Design Cuisine) on Capitol Hill in Washington DC in 1978.  Over the years, Design Cuisine has grown from a small boutique caterer to a leader in the Washington marketplace.

Design Cuisine now organizes up to 100 events per week, with up to 600 people working for Design Cuisine. The company now also includes its own tailor shop and laundry as well as a rental for party supplies. The culinary team comprises a staff of over 60 professional chefs, cooks, and assistants.

schiller-wine: Related Postings

The Wines Served at President Obama's State Dinner for Mexican President Calderon

California Pinot Noir Pioneer Walter Schug: From the Rheingau in Germany to Carneros in California

German Wine Makers in the World: The Korbel Brothers from Bohemia Introduced "Champagne" to the US

President Obama Serves a “German” Riesling at State Dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao

German Winemakers in the World: Hermann J. Wiemer, 1900/2000, Finger Lakes, US

German Wine Makers in the World: Dr. Konstantin Frank (USA)

German Winemakers in the World: Christian Woelffer and Roman Roth

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Wine region: Upcoming Long Island, New York State 

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Lunch with Pinot Noir Giant Walter Schug in Sonoma, California

Picture: Lunch with Walter Schug in Sonoma

Schug Carneros Estate Winery in Carneros/Sonoma is the showcase and life-long dream of a celebrated California winemaker with German roots - Walter Schug. His home is Schug Carneros Estate winery in Sonoma, California, but he was born and grew up in Assmannshausen in the Rheingau in Germany, not too far away from Mainz, where I spent 10 years before moving to Washington DC. Today, Walter Schug uses his experience of over 50 harvests to oversee the production at Schug Carneros Estate Winery, while son Managing Partner Axel Schug and Sonoma-raised Winemaker Michael Cox run the day-to-day duties at the winery.

I had the pleasure to spend almost half a day with Walter Schug. We first took a look at the vineyards in the Carneros appellation. We then toured the winery and tasted some of the Schug wines. We finished the visit with a lunch in Sonoma, where Walter lives. During these hours, we talked a lot about Walter’s passion for Pinot Noir and his life that brought him from Assmannshausen in the Rheingau to Sonoma in California. And I took many pictures.

This is the 3 posting of a series of postings on Walter Schug. It focuses on the lunch we had with Walter Schug in Sonoma. One more postings will follow: In the Carneros AVA with Walter Schug.

I have already written about Walter Schug on schiller-wine:

California Pinot Noir Pioneer Walter Schug: From the Rheingau in Germany to Carneros in California

Visiting Walter Schug and his Schug Carneros Estate Winery in Carneros, California

A California Wine Legend: Walter Schug

German-born Walter Schug is in particular known for being a California Pinot Noir Pioneer. Yet the success of his Schug Carneros Estate Winery is only the last chapter in an extraordinary career of making extraordinary wines in California.

 
Pictures: Pictures from Germany and the US and Pinot Noir from Staatsweingut, Joseph Pelps and Schug at Schug Carneros Estate Winery

Before establishing Schug Carneros Estate Winery, Walter Schug was Vice President and Winemaker at Joseph Phelps Vineyards for 10 years, laying the groundwork for Phelps' rise to iconic status. Under Walter’s hand, Joseph Phelps Vineyards became one of California’s top wineries. At Phelps, Walter produced America’s first proprietary Bordeaux-style blend, the critically acclaimed “Insignia.” He further developed Napa Valley’s reputation as a source of great Cabernet, producing the single-vineyard bottlings from the Eisele and Bacchus vineyards. His groundbreaking work with botrytis-affected Riesling and Gewurztraminer would help redefine the very idea of California dessert wine. Walter would go on to be the first to bottle a varietal-labeled Syrah. The 1974 vintage was the first varietal Syrah ever marketed in the United States and laid the groundwork for the popularity of Rhone-style wines today.

Schug Carneros Estate Winery


Schug Carneros Estate Winery is situated on a 50-acre site in the Carneros Appellation, south-west of the town of Sonoma. The post-and-beam German-style winery, hidden down a dusty lane behind a gas station, employs 12 people full time and a revolving cast of foreign students.

When Walter started to produce his own wines in 1980, his wife Gertrud joined the effort full time. With the help of Gertrud's tight financial controls, Walter and Gertrud purchased 50 acres and began to plant the vineyards in the Sonoma portion of the Carneros Appellation in 1989. Two years later, in 1991, the Schug Carneros facility went into operation.

Pictures: Schug Carneros Estate and Winston

Today, Schug Carneros Estate produces 50,000 cases annually. “In the beginning we made three times more Chardonnay than Pinot Noir. Today it is the opposite” Walter said.

In terms of grape growing, Walter said that the Schug team was very concerned with finding the most environmentally friendly and efficient way of growing the grapes. Cover crop is an important part of the yearly cycle. In the Spring, carpets of mustard flowers, California poppies and wild grasses cover the ground between the vines. Not only does this transform the vineyards into a colorful patchwork, but the benefits also include prevention of soil erosion, nitrogen addition, soil structure improvement, weed suppression and creating a habitat for beneficial insects. In addition, it reduces the vineyard work load, fuel use, and the necessity for pesticides.

Walter showed us around in the impressive cellar, which reminded me a lot of the wine cellars I know from Germany. In particular, there were not only 800 barrique barrels but also 30 larger barrels (German Stueckfass), which are exactly the same as those you find in Walter’s homeland Germany, but probably nowhere else in California.

Initially, for 4 years Walter made his wine using the facilities at Storybook Winery. Then Walter moved to Yountville, into a building owned by one of the Domaine Chandon principals. Through 1990 he continued to build production, reaching the 6,000 case level. The Schug Carneros facility went into operation in 1991, followed in 1995 by 5,000 square feet of barrel ageing caves. More cave additions followed since then and another cave addition is in the planning.


Pictures: Walter Schug and Christian G.E. Schiller

"We have always done well in the overseas market, but we have seen preferences shift here in the U.S.," Walter said. Particularly with Chardonnay, there has been a noticeable change away from the big oaky California-style Chardonnays to a more lean austere style which pairs more aptly with a wide variety of food.

In the cellar, Walter explained, he favors progressive use of the newer technologies available to winemakers today, such as the Voll Tauchers, hydraulic punch-down fermenters that automate the process of gently punching down the cap during fermentation, while at the same time preserving age old traditions.

The Schug Carneros Estate Portfolio

Though Walter’s career began in Germany’s Rheingau, his wines are more often associated with fine French Burgundy. This similarity is due in part to Walter’s philosophy that the varietal and regional qualities of the grape should shine through in his wines. “But the true credit goes to the grapes themselves, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay sourced from the cool Carneros Appellation, where climate and soils provide traits consistent with their French counterparts. The long Carneros growing season allows these grapes to mature slowly, developing intense flavors with balanced acidity” said Walter.

Pictures: Walter Schug and Christian G.E. Schiller

Carneros Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are the stars of the Schug Porfolio. True to the Carneros region, they exhibit lush, intense fruitiness, spicy complexity with balanced oak and acidity. “We make Pinot Noir at 3 quality levels” continued Walter “in stainless steel, 8 to 10 months in barrique barrels and our Heritage Reserve wine”.

The Schug Heritage Reserve collection is blended from the finest barrels in each vintage. These bottling are produced in small lots, emphasizing added complexity and concentration.

In recent years, Walter has even found room for some old friends, adding Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot as well as Sauvignon Blanc to his own label. Indeed, Schug's Heritage Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon brings back memories of his earlier Insignia creations. Blended with Merlot and Cabernet Franc, this limited 400 case production wine is sought out by the many collectors who remember his earlier years at Joseph Phelps Vineyards.

The first wine under the Schug label was the 1980 Heinemann Vineyard Pinot Noir from grapes grown on a Napa Valley hillside vineyard. Though this vineyard launched the brand, Walter’s search for great Pinot Noir eventually took him to the Carneros region.

Lunch in Sonoma

After the cellar and vineyard tour and a little wine tasting, Walter, my wife Annette and I went to Sonoma, where Walter lives, for lunch. When I was sitting with Walter at the lunch table, I was very proud and honored. I could feel that I was lunching with an American wine hero.

Pictures: Walter Schug

Over lunch, Walter surveyed a California wine industry that had been transformed from its forgotten status in the 1960s to the level of international quality leader it enjoys now. We talked a lot about these amazing developments over the hours we spent together. Modestly, Walter simply acknowledged an involvement in this transformation. Of course, there is much more to it. Walter Schug’s influence and impact on California wine make him an icon in the industry.

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The 2011 Pinot Days in San Francisco

In the Glass: A 2007 Pinot Noir from the Gault Millau Shooting Star of the Year - Estate Baron Gleichenstein, Germany

In the Glass: Pinot Noir from France, Germany and California

New Classification of New Zealand Pinot Noirs

California Pinot Noir Pioneer Walter Schug: From the Rheingau in Germany to Carneros in California

German winemakers in the World: Robert Stemmler (USA)

Meeting Winemaker Dianna Lee and Tasting Her Siduri Wines and Her Novi Family Wines

Visiting Walter Schug and his Schug Carneros Estate Winery in Carneros, California

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

State Dinner at the White House: Chancellor Merkel Dined and Wined with President Obama - The Wines they Drank and the Wines they did not Drink

Picture: President Obama and the First Lady with Chancellor Merkel and Joachim Sauer, Angela Merkel's Husband (Source: White House Press)

When President Obama honors foreign guests with a State Dinner, he likes to serve American wines with some connection to the country where the guest comes from. When President Obama welcomed President Calderón of Mexico and Mrs. Margarita Zavala to the White House, the dinner had a Mexican soul, both the food and the wines. Two of the wines were made by Mexican-born American winemakers who worked their way up to become America’s best. Which wines did the President serve for Chancellor Merkel? And which wines did he not serve, but could have served?

Chancellor Merkel was in Washington DC for 28 hours. She arrived in the late afternoon of the June 6 and had a private dinner – alone - with the President at the Georgetown Restaurant 1789. Tuesday was filled with the official arrival ceremony, a bilateral meeting , a press conference with the two leaders and the state dinner in the evening. Immediately after the dinner, the delegation flew back to Germany after the dinner.

President Obama and Chancellor Merkel at Restaurant 1789 (Source: White House Press)

This was President Obama’s fourth State Dinner (China, India, Mexico) and third German guest of honor at a State Dinner at the White House. In 1992, President George H.W. Bush hosted President Richard von Weizsacker and in 1995, President Clinton hosted Chancellor Helmuth Kohl for a state dinner.

At the State Dinner, Merkel was presented with her 2010 Medal of Freedom, which was awarded to her and twelve others earlier this year in a White House ceremony Merkel was unable to attend. Chancellor Merkel was honored for her commitment to freedom and her contribution to German unity. She was awarded the Medal of Freedom alongside President George H. W. Bush, Congressman John Lewis, and twelve others who, according to President Obama, “have lived extraordinary lives that have inspired us, enriched our culture, and made our country and our world a better place.” The career of Angela Merkel, born and raised in communist east Germany to the head of Government of the united Germany remains highly fascinating for the Americans, who see in her a living proof that anybody can achieve anything.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the United States’ highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private

The Guests

The dinner was once again held outdoors, on the South Lawn in the Rose Garden. Angela Merkel was accompanied by Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich and Economics Minister and Vice Chancellor Philipp Rösler. On the German side, Thomas Gottschalk and Jürgen Klinsmann were among the guests, as well as 2 German artists with GDR background: the writer Freya Klier und the photographer Andreas Mühe, son of the late Ulrich Mühe.

Compared with other State Dinners, there was not much glamour – Dirk Nowitzki, Leonardo di Caprio, Bruce Willis, Sandra Bullock, to name a few of possible guests who were not invited or did not accept the invitation.

Picture: Welcome Ceremony at the White House (Source: White House Press)

During and after dinner, legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor who in March received one of the National Medal of Arts at a White House ceremony and his band performed as well as the National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the German Christophe Eschenbach, with performances by Nurit Bar-Josef on violin and 15-year-old piano sensation George Li.

The Menu

Here’s the menu:

White House Garden Chopped Salad
Fine Herbs
White House Honey Gastrique

Tuna Tartare with Rye Crisps
Pickled Young Carrots and Mustard Oil
Spring Pea Salad
Shaved Ham and Ginger Snaps

Petit Filet
With Maryland Crab Ravioli
Wild Ramp Puree

Apple Strudel
Golden Raisins and Topfen

The menu was an All American meal, with artisanal and seasonal ingredients from six different States. The White House spotlighted some of the ingredients.

The Spiced Mammoth Pecans used in the White House Chopped Salad were from Georgia. The Blue Crab that accompanied the entree was from Maryland. Wild ramps from West Virginia accompanied the main course, too.

The White House Kitchen Garden Chopped Salad contained lettuces and fine herbs from the White House Kitchen Garden, tossed in a Honey vinaigrette made with White House Beehive Honey. The carrots and peas featured in the second course were from the Kitchen Garden, too.

The dessert was a faux pas. It was supposed to pay homage to one of the traditional sweets from Chancellor Merkel's homeland: Apple Strudel. But Apple Strudel is typical for Austria, not Germany. The Apple Strudel was made with apples from Maryland and topped with golden raisins from California and Topfen, a Farmer's Cheese sourced from Vermont.

The Wines

Unusually, the official White House Press Release said this time that "a selection of American wines will accompany each course" and did not identify these, when the menu was released. I have contacted the White House to find out what the President served. There were some rumors that among others he might have served Walter Schug wines, but he did not. Here are the wines that were served.

Woodward Canyon Chardonnay "Washington" 2009

Kosta Browne Pinot Noir "Koplen Vineyard" 2008

Schramsberg Cremant 2006

As for the two still wines, no link whatsoever to Germany! No wonder that the White House did not identify the wines, when the menu was released.

In 1826, in the small town of Pfeddersheim Germany, along the Rhine River, Jacob Schram was born. He came from a winemaking family. When he was sixteen, the young Schram immigrated to New York. He was educated in the trade of barbering, and in 1852 sailed across the Caribbean, crossed-over the Panama Isthmus, and continued up to San Francisco. He spent the next several years barbering, eventually moving his way north, to the Napa Valley.
 
In 1859 he married Annie Christine Weaver, also from Germany, and they started a family. For several years he continued to barber full time. Never far from his thoughts were his homeland and his roots in the vinelands of Germany. In 1862, Jacob purchased a large piece of land on the mountainsides of the Napa Valley. He was going to be a part of the emerging efforts by many fellow German countrymen in the Napa Valley to make wine; thus Schramsberg was born.

What President Obama could have served
Here is a listing of wines I would call American-German wines. All these wines were made from grapes grown in the US, but the winemaker had in some way or another links to Germany. They could have been served at the State Dinner in honor of Chancellor Merkel.

Ernst Loosen’s Eroica in Washington State and J. Christopher Pinot Noir in Oregon

Eroica is a collaboration between Chateau Ste. Michelle, the huge Washington State winemaker, and Dr. Ernst Loosen, the eminent Riesling producer from the Mosel region of Germany. The wine is made at Chateau Ste. Michelle north of Seattle from grapes grown in the Columbia Valley.

Picture: Christian G.E.Schiller and Ernst Loosen

Promoting the worldwide ascendancy of Riesling was a big reason why Ernst Loosen began a joint venture with Chateau Ste. Michelle in Washington State a bit more than 10 years ago. He was convinced that it would take a seriously good New World Riesling to help bring the variety back to the forefront. Eroica was launched in 1999. Named for Beethoven’s Third Symphony, Eroica is supposed to reflect not only its variety and site, but also its heritage: bold and forward from its Washington roots, elegant and refined from German inspiration.

Chateau Ste. Michelle and Ernst Loosen make three kinds of the Eroica. The regular Eroica, an icewine and a single berry selection. The latter is made in the traditional German Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA) style and is one of the few TBAs in North America. Literally, the word means a wine made from a selection (Auslese) of individually picked grapes (Beeren) which have been left on the vine until so ripe as to be practically dry (trocken) or raisened. They are raisened because of noble rot (Botrytis). This wine is made in very limited quantities, typically less than 75 cases a year.

Ernst Loosen’s second – and relatively new - project in the US is a joint venture with Jay Christopher Somers in Oregon. Located in Oregon’s Northern Willamette Valley, J. Christopher Wines is a small winery that specializes in Pinot Noir made in the traditional style of Burgundy. The winery also produces Sauvignon Blanc modeled after the great wines of Sancerre. Owner Jay Somers has been making wine in Oregon for more than 15 years, including with Bill Holloran. Jay’s wines are hand-crafted in small lots and are sourced from some of the best vineyards in Oregon. The philosophy at J. Christopher is to produce wines in an Old World style that emphasizes focus, length and balance.

Jay Somers and Ernst Loosen met years ago, and quickly realized that they shared a similar taste and passion for Pinot Noir. Their friendship led to a partnership, and in 2010, they began building a winery and vineyard in Newberg, Oregon. The new venture, Loosen Christopher Wines LLC, produces wines under the already-established “J. Christopher” brand. As winemaker for the joint venture, Jay is in charge of all winery operations. Ernst sees his role as that of an investor who both supports the growth of the brand and broadens the winery’s exposure to Old World ideas and techniques.

The new venture, Loosen Christopher Wines LLC, will produce wines under the already-established J. Christopher brand. The venture has purchased a 40-acre property for a new vineyard and J. Christopher Winery on Hillside Drive in Newberg, Oregon. Planting of the first block of Pinot Noir will begin this spring. Barrel cellar construction is planned to occur before the 2010 harvest.

As part of the J. Christopher Wines, the two winemakers have started to produce a boutique bottling of Oregon Pinot Noir called Appassionata after their passion for Pinot Noir. So far, they have produced four vintages of their boutique wine but released none giving Appassionata extra time to barrel- and bottle-age. Appassionata is a collector’s item which retails in the $70 –$80 range.

Armin Diel’s Poet’s Leap

Long Shadows has become, in a short time, one of the premier wineries in Washington State . Based in Walla Walla, it is an unusual set up. Former Stimson-Lane CEO Allen Shoup works with renowned winemakers from around the world for this venture. Each winemaker creates a single wine using Washington State fruit. Add resident winemaker Gilles Nicault to shepherd all of the wines along.

The Poet’s Leap Riesling is made by Armin Diel, one of Germany’s most highly regarded Riesling producers. His family has owned the celebrated estate of Schlossgut Diel in Burg Layen in the Nahe river valley since 1802. Schlossgut Diel is international renowned for its white wines, predominately Rieslings, across a wide range of styles. Armin Diel is also one of Germany’s leading wine writers. Armin and his wife Monika live in Burg Layen. Their daughter Caroline just completed her studies in enology in Geisenheim,Germany’s UC Davis equivalent, and is now co-managing the winery in the Nahe valley.

Koerbel Champagne

Sparkling wine production in California dates to the late 1800s, when two groups -- Almaden Vineyards and the Korbel brothers -- offered their first bottles of sparklers (“Champgane”) for sale. Korbel Champagne Cellars was founded by 3 brothers -- Francis, Anton, and Joseph-- from Bohemia, which has historically been home to both Czechs and Germans now is part of the Czech Republic. The first German University was founded in Bohemia. When the Korbel brothers were born, they were born in the Kingdom of Bohemia, which was, along with 39 other sovereign states, part of the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund).

It was the timber that first attracted the Korbel brothers to the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County in 1872. When the building boom subsided, they began to grow alfalfa, beets, corn, prunes, and wheat, and also began to plant vineyards on their Russian River property. In 1984, they brought a Prague winemaker named Frank Hasek to California. Hasek used the methode champenoise approach to making sparkling wine. By 1894, the Korbel brothers began to sell their sparklers and by the end of the 1800s, Korbel was an award-winning, internationally recognized label.

In the early 1950s, the Koerbel family sold the business to Adolf L. Heck, a third generation winemaker whose family had roots in the Alsace Loraine straddling France and Germany. In 1956, Adolf L. Heck reintroduced Korbel Brut, making it much lighter and drier than other American sparklers. He developed his own yeasts and introduced Korbel Natural, Korbel Blanc de Blancs, and Korbel Blanc de Noirs. Adolph Heck ran Korbel until his death in 1984. His son, Gary, took over as chairman of the board and Robert Stashak became Korbel's sparkling wine master.

Walter Schug’s Pinot Noirs

Walter Schug is one of California’s Pinot Noir pioneers. His home is Walter Schug Carneros Estate winery in Sonoma, California, but he was born and grew up in Assmannshausen in the Rheingau in Germany. He also received his formal training as winemaker in Germany. Walter Schug first made Pinot Noir in 1954, with his father in Assmannshausen in the Rheingau.

Walter Schug was the first winemaker at Joseph Phelps in 1973, where he initially built a reputation for Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon, but also made Pinot Noir. In 1989, Walter purchased 50 acres in the Sonoma portion of the Carneros Appellation for their new Carneros Estate.

Robert Stemmler’s Pinot Noirs

Robert Stemmler, a native from Germany, is another early and passionate producer of outstanding California Pinot Noir. He arrived in Napa Valley in 1961 after making wine for nearly a decade in Germany. In 1976, he founded his own winery in Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley and in 1982, having found a cool-climate Russian River Valley fruit source, released his first Pinot Noir to great critical acclaim. Robert traveled tirelessly promoting his Pinot Noir at tastings dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay producers, and he steadily developed his own following.

Dr. Konstantin Frank and the Vitis Vinifera Revolution

Dr. Konstantin Frank (1897-1985) was a viticulturist and wine maker in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, USA. He was born in Europe, in Odessa, now Ukraine into a Russian-German family. Dr. Konstantin Frank ignited the so-called vitis vinifera revolution, which changed the course of wine growing in the Finger Lakes and the North-East of the US.

Well, was Dr. Konstantin Frank a German? He was born in the former Soviet Union into a family with German roots. The Germans came in waves from the West to Russia and settled there from the 16th century onwards. A big wave of German immigration occurred in the 18th century under Catherine the Great, who herself was a German from Anhalt. The Frank family belongs to the Black Sea Germans. At the time Konstantin Frank was born, Odessa belonged to the Russian Empire. When he left for the US, it was part of the Soviet Union. Now, after his death, it has become Ukraine. I met Dr. Konstantin Frank's grandson, Fred, who now owns and runs the estate this year; we communicated in German. Fred got his wine growing and wine making training at the wine college in Geisenheim in the Rheingau, Germany.

Dr. Konstantin Frank’s achievement is that he was the first to find a way to plant vitis vinifera varietals in the cool northern fringes of the north-eastern US. The struggle to do this goes back many centuries.

In the original charter of the 13 colonies was a royal commission to pursue three luxury items that England was unable to provide for itself: wine, silk, and olive oil. Every colony made attempts to satisfy the requirements of its charter, but made only limited progress. The problem was that on the one hand there were the native American grapes. All these native American grapes were cold tolerant and disease and pest resistant, but not that well suited for wine making, due to their coarseness, high tannins, and foxy flavors. On the other hand, the vitis vinifera which settlers brought from Europe, were well suited for wine making, but uniformly unable to survive long enough to produce a crop.

Despite many years of failure, the early Americans persisted in their efforts. And they had some success. A big step forward was made in 1740 when a natural cross pollination occurred between a native American grape and a European vitis vinifera. Other successful crossings followed.

So, only native American grapes and European American hybrids were grown in the Finger Lakes area, when Dr. Konstantin Frank arrived in the United States in 1951, finding work at a Cornell University experimental station in the Finger Lakes region. Having grown vitis vinifera back home in regions so cold that "spit would freeze before touching the ground" Dr. Frank believed that the lack of proper rootstock, not the cold climate, was the reason for the failure of vitis vinifera in the Finger Lakes region. He thought that European grapes could do well on the rolling, well-drained hills around the Finger Lakes provided they were grafted onto early maturing American rootstock.

With the help of the French champagne maker Charles Fournier, Dr. Frank put his ideas into practice. He developed the right root stock and grafted European vitis vinifera on them. He planted these vitis vinifera in the slate soil around Lake Keuka and he opened a winery, Vinifera Wine Cellars, in 1962. Despite his success, other winemakers still doubted him for many years and he had trouble getting New York distributors to handle his wine.

Today, Dr. Frank is recognized as having led the revolution in wine quality in New York State and the East Coast. With the help of his cousin Eric Volz as vineyard manager, Fred Frank, Konstantin's grandson took over the winery in 1993. Fred’s business degree from Cornell University and his study of viticulture and enology in Germany helped prepare him to take over the family business.

Hermann J. Wiemer and the Riesling Revolution

Hermann J. Wiemer is another pioneer of viticulture and winemaking in the Finger Lakes region with German links. He was born and raised in Germany, and arrived in the US in 1968. His first wine was released in 1980. In the 30 years since then, the winery has been lauded as one of the nation’s premier white wine producers, in particular of Riesling. Hermann J. Wiemer was born in Bernkastel into an influential family in the wine business. Hermann's father was the head of the Agricultural Experiment Station in Bernkastel and was responsible for restoring vines in the Mosel region after WWII. He came to the US in the early 1970s. When he arrived, wine making in the Finger Lakes area was dominated by native American grapes and American European hybrid grapes. Riesling, for which Hermann J. Wiemer has become famous, was not grown. Initially, he made hybrid and American wines for Walter Taylor at the Bully Hill winery on Keuka Lake.

In 1973 Hermann J. Wiemer bought 140 acres of land, the barn and a mid-19th-century house on the west side of Route 14, which runs along Seneca Lake and turned it into one of the premier vineyards and nurseries in the region. Starting with four acres, he developed the right root stock for grafting European vinifera on them. The first vintage, a 1979, was released in 1980. Hermann Wiemer quickly became known for his German-style vinifera wines. He claims that he made the first dry Riesling in the US and said that many scoffed at him for making Riesling even though today it's the flagship wine grape variety of the region. Wiemer has three estate vineyards within 10 miles of the winery on the west side of Seneca Lake: Magdalena, Josef, and HJW. The vineyards are farmed under strict sustainable agricultural practices.

Hermann J. Wiemer retired a few years ago. Today the winemaking process is managed by Hermann J Wiemer’s long-term winemaker Fred Merwarth who has worked closely with Hermann as one of his winemakers for the last 8 years. Hermann is still passionately and practically involved in the life of the winery, and Fred continues faithfully executing the Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard legacy and heritage.

5 Rieslings from around the world – 3 from Germany, 1 from Alsace and 1 from the US – were on last year’s Wine Spectator Top 100 Wines List. The Riesling from the US was: Hermann J. Wiemer, - Riesling Finger Lakes, Dry Reserve, 2008, 91 Points, $23.

Johannes Reinhard from Anthony Road Wine Company and the Riesling Du Monde Competition

The Anthony Road Wine Company, a top winemaker in the Finger Lakes region, caught international attention recently with their 2006 Finger Lakes Riesling Trockenbeeren, when it was awarded one of the 7 Trophies of Excellence of the Riesling Du Monde Competition 2010 in France.

Ann and John Martini opened the winery in 1990. It is on the west shore of Seneca Lake in the town of Torrey, about 10 miles south of Geneva. The German connection? The winemaker, Johannes Reinhardt, is a German native, born in at little village of Franconia, 80 miles east of Frankfurt. Johannes grew up in a family that has been in the wine business since 1438. He has been in the vineyards and wine cellars all his life. He joined Anthony Road in 2000.

The award winning wine was released in the Martini-Rheinhardt Selection Series. These are special wines named after the Anthony Road’s vineyard manager, Peter Martini, and winemaker Johannes Reinhardt to honor the collaboration between the vineyard and the winery.

This is a lusciously sweet wine. How was it made? Mother Nature, under normal circumstances, produces dry wines in the vineyard - everywhere in the world. All the sugar in the grapes at harvest disappears during fermentation and no sweetness remains in the wine. There are, however, plenty of sweet wines made around the world. Different techniques exist to make a wine sweet. One of them is to let the noble rot – botrytis cinerea – suck the water out of the grape, so that the degree of sugar in the grapes is extra-ordinary high. Botrytis cinerea is a fungus that under the right conditions attacks already-ripe grapes, shrivelling them, concentrating the sweetness and acidity. The grapes end up looking disgusting but they make profound sweet white wines.

The 2008 Finger Lakes Riesling Trockenbeeren was produce with this method. 2008 was a good year for noble rot in the Finger Lakes region, with some rain, enough heat and fog or dew in the morning at harvest time.

Botrytis cinerea is the key to the success of many of the world’s most famous noble sweet wines. These include the Sauternes in France, the Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese in Germany and in Austria, the Austria Ausbruch and the Tokaji from Hungary. No doubt, the first noble rot wines were created by accident - both the Hungarians and the Germans have similar stories of how the harvest was delayed for some reason, but the over-ripe grapes were vinified anyway and then the resulting wine found to be delicious.

Christian Wuelfer and Roman Roth in the Hamptons on Long Island in New York State


The Woelffer Estate is located in the Hamptons on Long Island in New York State. The Woelffer Wine Estate, one of the top wine estates on Long Island, New York State, would not be what it is today without the two Germans Christian Woelffer, its founder, and Roman Roth, its wine maker.

Christian Wölffer was born in Hamburg, Germany. He made a successful career in investment banking, real estate, venture capital and agriculture in different countries, before moving into wine and establishing the critically acclaimed Woelffer Estate.

Wine making in Long Island began in the late 1970s. Since then, in little over a quarter of a century, the Long Island wine industry has grown to 3,000 acres of vines and over thirty wineries producing outstanding wines. Located in New York State, on the East Coast of the United States, Long Island extends some 120 miles into the Atlantic Ocean. Its maritime climate, geography and soil characteristics provide ideal conditions for producing wines of exceptional quality.

Christian Wölffer purchased land on Long Island in 1978. He joined the wine movement in 1987, when he started to grow wine, and became a driving force of wine making in the Long Island in the following years until his untimely death in 2008. In 1997, Christian Wölffer completed work on his state-of-the-art winery, unquestionably the most stylish on Long Island.

The other driving force behind the Wölffer Estate is the German winemaker Roman Roth. Born in Rottweil, Germany, Roth was a choirboy in his youth. In 1982, at age 16, he began a three-year apprenticeship at the Kaiserstuhl Wine Cooperative in Oberrotweil. Turning 20, Roman Roth traveled to California, where he worked at the Saintsbury Estate and Australia, where he worked at the Rosemount Estate. Back in Germany, for further study, Roth worked at the Winzerkeller Wiesloch in Baden.

The year 1992 became a turning point for Roman Roth for two reasons: first, he earned his Master Winemaker and Cellar Master degree from the College for Oenology and Viticulture in Weinsberg. And second, he accepted Christian Wölffer’s invitation to join him in New York to be the winemaker at what was then the mere start-up of a winery, at that time known as Sagpond Vineyards in Sagaponack.

Arriving at Sagaponack, Roth found 28 acres of vineyards and rudimentary winemaking facilities. In quick order, he established a temporary winery and a tasting room and began the exacting task of bringing forth the Sagpond Vineyards’ first vintage, a Chardonnay.

Over the next several years, Roth managed the cultivation and expansion of the vineyards, which today number 50 acres, and the vinification, ultimately producing wines that embody the essence of the Hamptons appellation—ripe fruit and natural acidity born of a unique terroir, a lush combination of soil, sun, moisture and the ever-present maritime breezes from the nearby Atlantic Ocean.

The Beringer Brothers and the Rhine House


Beringer Vineyards is the oldest continuously operating winery in the Napa Valley. In 2001, the estate was placed on the National Register for Historic Places as a Historic District.

Jacob Beringer left his home in Mainz, Germany, in 1868 to start a new life in the U.S., enticed by his brother, Frederick, who had sailed to New York five years earlier and wrote home constantly of the grand opportunities to be found in the vast new world. New York did not appeal to Jacob, however. He had enjoyed working in wine cellars in Germany when he was younger and had heard that the warm, sunny climate of California was ideal for growing wine grapes. So in 1870 he traveled by train from the East Coast, first to San Francisco and then on to Napa Valley. To his delight, he discovered rocky, well-drained soils similar to those in his native Rhine Valley.
Jacob and Frederick together bought land in 1875 and set about making wines that compared to the best in Europe . In 1876, they founded the Beringer Winery. In 1883, Frederick permanently moved to the Napa Valley and began construction of a 17-room mansion – the Rhine House- that was to be his home—a re-creation of the Beringer family home located on the Rhine River in Germany.

Today, Beringer Winery is owned by the Beringer (Wolfgang) Blass Group from Australia. The Beringer Winery has 4200 hectares of land under vine, more than the whole Rheingau region. Incidentially, Wolfgang Blass is also a native of Germany and considered to be the “father” of the Australian wine industry.


schiller Wine: Related Postings


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California Pinot Noir Pioneer Walter Schug: From the Rheingau in Germany to Carneros in California

German Wine Makers in the World: The Korbel Brothers from Bohemia Introduced "Champagne" to the US

President Obama Serves a “German” Riesling at State Dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao

German Winemakers in the World: Hermann J. Wiemer, 1900/2000, Finger Lakes, US

German Wine Makers in the World: Dr. Konstantin Frank (USA)

German Winemakers in the World: Christian Woelffer and Roman Roth

German winemakers in the World: Robert Stemmler (USA)

Celebrating the Rieslings of the Finger Lakes Region, New York State, US East Coast

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Visiting Winemaker and Web 2.0 Guru Patrick Johner - Weingut Karl Heinz Johner and Johner Estate - in Baden, Germany

Picture: Christian G.E. Schiller with Patrick Johner at Weingut Karl Heinz Johner

Following the 3. (German) Twitter Wein Awards event in the Kaiserstuhl region, Patrick Johner had invited us to visit him at Weingut Karl Heinz Johner and taste his wines. Patrick co-owns with his father Karl Heinz Johner both Weingut Karl Heinz Johner in Germany and the Johner Estate in New Zealand, so we had the chance to taste the wines from 2 wineries – in the Old and New Worlds.

Patrick and Karl Heinz Johner

Patrick’s father, Karl Heinz Johner is an unusual winemaker. He spent the first 10 years or so of his professional career making wine in Kent, UK. In fact, he was one of the first, if not the first to produce English sparkler, which are increasingly gaining international recognition. He then returned to Germany in 1985, created Weingut Karl Heinz Johner and started to make wine in Germany. The wines were matured in barrique from the outset and were considered by the German wine establishment as so far away from what German wine should be that they could not be marketed as Qualitaets- or Preaedikatswein but only as table wines. He was also one of the first German winemakers to experiment with most concentration. An innovative wine cellar was built in the early 1990s, in a cloister style and with a circular barrique cellar, using Californian examples. Then, he got bored in Germany and decided to venture into winemaking in the New World. He created Johner Estate in New Zealand and now spends most of the time there, while he still keeps an eye on Weingut Karl Heinz Johner in Germany.

Picture: Christian G.E.Schiller with Patrick Johner at 3. (German) Twitter Wein Awards Event at the Schwarzer Adler in Oberbergen

Patrick followed in his father’s footsteps. He was born in the UK and speaks beautiful English. He studied, as his father, winemaking at the Geisenheim Wine College. He then did internships in the Bourgogne and Australia and travelled with his father around the world to eventually establish Johner Estate in New Zealand. He now got married, has a family with young children and is grounded in Germany. He runs Weingut Karl Heinz Johner in Baden as well as the sale operations of the two Johner wineries in Germany. In addition, Patrick Johner has emerged as one of the leaders of the web 2.0 scene in the German wine industry.

Weingut Karl Heinz Johner

Weingut Karl Heinz Johner is in Bischoffingen in the Kaiserstuhl area in the Baden wine region in Germany. The vineyard area totals 16,5 hectares, and is planted with Pinot Noir(5,8 ha), Pinot Gris (4,1 ha), Pinot Blanc (3,5 ha), Müller-Thurgau (1,9 ha), Chardonnay (0,4 ha) and Sauvignon Blanc (0,4 ha).

Weingut Karl Heinz Johner has its own classification system. There are no references on the label to vineyard sites. All wines are either table wines or QbA (Qualitaetswein besonderer Anbaugebiete). The best wines come as reserve bottling, marketed as „SJ” (Selektion Johner). All wines are bottled with a screw-cap closure.

Picture: Weingut Karl Heinz Johner in Bischoffingen in the Kaiserstuhl area in the Baden wine region in Germany

Patrick Johner is now mainly responsible for the wines of Weingut Karl Heinz Johner. He has not changed anything but fully supports the innovations introduced by his father, for example, not to follow the traditional German wine classification system.

Weingut Karl Heinz Johner is a 3 (out of 5) grapes producer in the Gault Millau WeinGuide Deutschland 2011 ranking. Annual production is around 100.000 bottles of wine.

The Johner Estate in New Zealand

One of the wine success stories in the past couple of decades is New Zealand. New Zealand’s wine makers have penetrated the global wine market with stunning Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir wines, but also with other grape varieties and sparklers. Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc are New Zealand’s flagship grapes. New Zealand is a relatively small wine country, at about 10% of Germany’s wine output or 2% of France’s output, the world’s largest wine producer.

The Johner Estate was established in 2001 by Karl Heinz and Patrick Johner. It is outside of Masterton in the northern Wairarapa Valley. Wairarapa is a young wine growing region north of Wellington over the Rimutaka Hills.

The Johners have planted 8 ha of various Pinot Noir clones, originally selected in Burgundy, 3 ha of Sauvignon Blanc and a further hectare of 10 trial Varieties ranging from Pinot Gris to Syrah.

2002 saw the release of the first wine from the Johner Estate. Last year, for the first time, the Johner Estate was included in Mathew Luke’s Classification of New Zealand’s Top 60 Pinot Noir producers. Following the example of the 1855 Bordeaux classification, Matthew Juke has developed a New Zealand Pinot Noir Classification with 5 groups of winemakers.

Patrick Johner is Winemaker and Web 2.0 Guru


As far as I can see, Patrick Johner is – with Dirk Wuertz – the winemaker who is most present in the German web 2.0 wine world. In fact, I first got in touch with him through the internet. Last year, he organized a fascinating twitter wine tasting on Ustream.tv with a Skype connection to Karl Heinz in New Zealand.



Pictures: Patrick Johner at Weingut Karl Heinz Johner

First, there was Patrick Johner sitting in the office of his winery in Baden, Germany, behind a monitor and with a head set on his head. He was orchestrating the whole show and broadcasting live through Ustream.tv. Second, Patrick was connected via Skype with his father Karl Heinz in New Zealand, who was also on-line. During the show, with his lap –top, connected to Ustream.tv via Skype , Karl Heinz was walking in the vineyard showing us the grapes, then showing us his cellar and finally also drinking the wine, while commenting on questions and remarks. Amazing pictures! Third, there were the viewers like me. Many of the viewers had ordered the wine before the show and were tasting with Patrick Johner and his father the Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. The viewers were watching and hearing the father in New Zealand in one window of the screen and Patrick in Baden in another window. They were all in their twitter accounts and sending out notes and questions via twitter. We were all reading the tweets, including Patrick Johner. He would select the more interesting ones and share them with his father. Then, his father would answer from New Zealand or Patrick would answer from Germany. All this was streamed live on Ustream.tv.

Picture: Patrick Johner's Twitter Wine Tasting on Ustream.tv with a Skype Connection to Karl Heinz Johner in New Zealand.

Weingut Karl Heinz Johner Wine Portfolio

Patrick took us through the wine portfolio of Weingut Karl Heinz Johner and the Johner Estate. The Weingut Karl Heinz Johner wine were divided into 4 groups. The exchange rates were Euro 1 = US$ 1.36 = BP 0.84 at the time of the drafting of this posting.

First, white wines, comprising both regular wines with just the grape variety on the label (in the Euro 7 to 15 range) and the reserve bottling (SJ) for Euro 25 (Chardonnay, Grauer Burgunder and Weisser Burgunder). These are all bone-dry wines.

Second, red wines, again regular red wines such as the 2007 Spaetburgunder vom Kaiserstul for Euro 10 and the reserve bottling (SJ). I was in particular impressed by the 2005 Blauer Spaetburgunder SJ for Euro 39.

Third, dessert wines, all in a 0.375 liter bottle. This are lusciously sweet wines, including the 2008 Saint Patrick with 204 g/l remaining sugar for Euro 13.
Forth, wines in small bottles. Some of the wines are bottled in the 0.375 liter bottle size, such as the 2008 Grauer Burgunder SJ for Euro 13.50.

Johner Estate Wine Portoflio


There were 6 white wines on the list, an off-dry 2009 Riesling for Euro 8.00, a 2009 Chardonnay for Euro 15 and 3 of the New Zealand flagship grape variety, Sauvignon Blanc, in the Euro 10 to 15 price range. Of course, the 2009 Noble Sauvignon Blanc Dessert wine in the 0.375 liter bottle for Euro 13 stood out.

With regard to red wine, I was very much impressed by the 2009 Syrah for Euro 30. Three of the other wines were Pinot Noirs, including the 2009 Pinot Noir Wairarapa for Euro 10 and the 2007 Reserve Pinot Noir Gladstone for Euro 25. Finally, there were also two 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot based blends for Euro 25 and Euro 30.

schiller-wine - Related Postings

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