Wine maker: Michael Hueck from Hochheim, Rheingau, Germany

Picture: Christian G.E. Schiller and Michael Hueck

Weingut Hueck is one of the well-established wine estates in Hochheim/Rheingau/Germany. It has a very charming wine brasserie and a large part of its wine production is consumed in the brasserie. The remainder is sold to customers of the brasserie and lovers of the Hueck wines, who come by the winery and buy wine for their home consumption, as I did recently.

My appreciation of Hueck wines goes back many years. For one thing, I always enjoyed to have a bottle or so of his wine with the good hearty food in the Hueck wine brasserie. The other thing is that when I started to learn about wine at wine seminars organized by Mr. Thust and the Volkshochschule (see my posting of October 27, 2009), we always had two glasses in front of us, one with the wine to be tasted and one with the same wine all the time, the base wine. The base wine was a fully-fermented bone-dry Hueck Gutswein. Thus, for several years I would compare wines from all over Germany or from different grapes with the Hueck Gutswein. I remember, it was really dry and this is what I have seen in Hueck wines over the years. They tend to be fresh and dry with a relatively high percentage of acidity.

The Hueck estate has a long history. The wine estate was first mentioned in 1632. The winery as we know it today was founded by Wilhelm Hueck in the early 1900s. His son Werner Hueck took over in 1952 and produced the base wine we had at the wine seminar tastings in the 1970s. His son Wilhelm Hueck took over in 1994. The wine growing area is now 5 hectares. In 2004, son Michael finished high school and started to learn the wine-growing and wine-making business at Schloss Vollrads and Schloss Johannisberg, two well-known wine estates in the Rheingau. Since 2006, he is studying at the wine college in Geisenheim.

In 2006, father Wilhelm and son Michael decided to let Michael grow and make his own wine, to apply what he was learning at college and to start learning by doing. They called the wine Primus. The first vintage was 2007—Primus I. I bought a case of the Primus II, from 2008. It costs Euro 5 ex-winery. Primus III(2009) has just been harvested and is already in the cellar.

Primus II is a Hochheimer Hofmeister, Riesling Spaetlese trocken, 12.5 percent alcohol. A bone-dry Spätlese, with a remaining sugar level of 3 grams/liter only.
Light yellow in the glass, wonderful floral notes with lemon-lime citrus and grapefruit on the nose, rich, round and full-bodied on the palate with a strong and lasting acidity and a wet stone note, a typical Hueck wine; which tend to be low in terms of sweetness and high in terms of acidity; they are always fully-fermented as this wine is. Great achievement.

What is nice is that Michael keeps minutes about his wine-growing and wine-making efforts and publishes these on the winery’s web site. You will thus have a full account of the 2007 cycle and the 2008 cycle with text and pictures. For the 2009 cycle, Michael became more adventures and put videos on the web site.

Here is the 2008 cycle; on the web, there are in addition nice pictures:

Unser Augenmerk liegt zurzeit auf dem kommenden Weinjahrgang 2008. Die ersten Triebchen die sich Anfang Mai in den Himmel streckten sind zu stattlichen Trieben geworden. Aus diesem Grund wurden auch schon die ersten Handarbeiten im Weinberg erledigt: „das Ausbrechen“. Auch wurden schon 16 neue Rieslingreben in der Anlage gepflanzt, die Stockausfälle aus den vergangenen Jahren kompensieren sollen. Maschinelle Arbeiten wurden auch schon in der Anlage ausgeführt: Die Dauerbegrünung wurde aufgebrochen & gefräst. Der dadurch freiwerdende Stickstoff soll mit einer eingesäten Halbzeitbegrünung bestehend aus Leguminosen (Stickstoffsammler) aufgenommen werden. Diese sammeln den im Boden und in der Luft befindlichen Stickstoff und halten diesen in ihrer Grünmasse fest, ohne das dieser ausgewaschen werden kann. Durch erneutes Umbrechen der Begrünung kann der gesammelte Stickstoff der Rebe wieder zur Verfügung gestellt werden. Dadurch kann man ohne Einsatz von mineralischen Düngern den Stickstoffhaushalt der Rebe decken.“

Nach einer schnellen Wachstumsperiode, „angeheizt“ durch den warmen Frühling und den reichlichen Niederschlägen, befinden wir uns derzeit im BBCH Code 75 (Traubenschluss). Die Beeren sind nun etwas größer als Erbsen und werden von Tag zu Tag dicker! Aus diesem Grund haben wir erst sehr spät die Triebspitzen abgeschnitten, so dass die ganze Kraft der Rebe so spät wie möglich auf das Wachstum der Beeren geht. Die Beeren bleiben insgesamt kleiner und die Trauben lockerbeeriger. Dies wirkt sich indirekt auf die Pflanzengesundheit aus. Die Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass sich die dicker werdenden Beeren gegenseitig abdrücken und somit Nährböden für eventuell auftretende Pilzinfektionen bilden, ist somit verringert. Insbesondere Botrytis = dt. Grauschimmel (im Weinjargon auch als „Edelfäulnis“ bezeichnet, wenn dieser erst spät in der Reifephase auftritt) verhindert eine reintönige Vergärung und stört die Aromenbildung, auf die wir großen Wert legen. Aus diesem Grund wollen wir bei der bevorstehenden Ernte möglichst gesunde Trauben ernten, ähnlich dem Jahrgang 2007, wo wir zu 99 % gesundes Lesegut erzielen konnten. Doch um das zu erreichen, müssen wir auch in diesem Jahr wieder einige Male mehr um den „Stock“ gehen.

So zum Beispiel am vergangenen Montag. Wir trafen uns im Weinberg und entblätterten auf der sonnenabgewandten Seite zunächst so stark, dass man die Trauben gut sehen konnte. Anschließend gingen wir erneut durch die Reihen und halbierten die einzelnen Trauben, indem wir immer die Spitze des Pergels abschnitten. So haben die übrigen Trauben am Stielgerüst mehr Platz und die Gefahr des Abdrückens ist geringer. Das Entblättern hat 2 wesentliche Vorteile: Erstens sieht man die Trauben in voller Pracht, sodass sich erste Eindrücke über die Erntemenge ergeben können, ein weiterer wesentlicher Punkt ist, dass die Trauben nun „frei“ hängen können, besser abtrocknen und zusätzliche Photosyntheseleistung der Beerenhaut (durch bessere Sonnenanstrahlung) aktiviert wird. Allerdings ist das Risiko von Hagelschäden und Sonnenbrand etwas größer!


Demnächst wird die angepflanzte Sommerbegrünung gemulcht. Man glaubt es kaum was da alles gewachsen ist! Die Pflanzenbestimmung vor Ort förderte Hochinteressantes zu Tage: Gefunden wurden neben Gelbsenf & Hahnenfuß auch Futtererbsen (Sehr bekömmlich!) und Dickwurze. Diese Artenvielfalt hält den Weinberg im Gleichgewicht und macht den Boden fruchtbar. Da die Begrünung mittlerweile fast kniehoch in den Reihen steht, ist es ratsam diese zu mulchen (Pflanzen verbrauchen zu viel Wasser = Wasserkonkurrenz für Rebe). Das Einarbeiten der Begrünung (mit Fräse) ist allerdings nicht sinnvoll, da der freiwerdende Stickstoff ein enormes Beerenwachstum zur Folge hätte!

Mitteilung am Rand:
Ab heute 8.07.2008 ist unser Primus 2007 Ausverkauft!

Der Nächste Wein wird noch besser! Verlassen Sie sich drauf!

Nach etlichen „Qualitätsfördernden Maßnahmen“ wie dem Ausdünnen, dem Entblättern, Trauben abstreifen (dieses Jahr erstmalig ausprobiert) & Trauben halbieren war es endlich so weit: Die Trauben konnten gelesen werden.

Anfang September war das Wetter durchwachsen, Regen wechselte sich mit Sonnenschein ab. Dadurch wurde insbesondere die Edelfäulnis, aber auch zum großen Leidwesen der Winzer, die sogenannte Essigfäule begünstigt. Wären die Temperaturen nicht Ende September in den Keller geschossen, hätte man sich auf einen durchwachsenen Jahrgang einstellen müssen. Dem war aber nicht so. Die kühlen Temperaturen Ende September/Anfang Oktober zeigten ihre Wirkung, zwar konnte bedingt durch die Kälte nur wenig Äpfelsäure abgebaut werden, aber der Vegetationsstopp ließ die Trauben bis in den Oktober hinein gesund bleiben.

So konnten wir auch in diesem Jahr wieder kerngesundes Lesegut erzielen. Wochenlang wurde das Mostgewicht mit einem sogenannten Refraktometer im Weinberg erfasst. Dieser hilft dem Winzer zusammen mit dessen sensorischen Fähigkeiten den genauen Lesezeitpunkt zu ermitteln.

Insbesondere bedeutet dies:
Traubenproben aus dem gesamten Weinberg entnehmen und untersuchen!
Hierbei liefern insbesondere die Kernfarbe (bei Riesling sollten die Kerne zum Lesezeitpunkt “braun“ gefärbt sein) sowie wahrnehmbare Säure wichtige Anhaltspunkte für den optimalen Lesezeitpunkt. Der Refraktometer dient ausschließlich dafür, die gewonnen Eindrücke des Winzers im Weinberg zu untermauern.

Doch zu 100% genau ist diese Methode jedoch auch nicht. Genauere Werte (Säure, Oechsle, etc.) lassen sich erst in der Kelterhalle mit einer Mostwaage genau ermitteln!

Aufgrund des guten Erfolges des 2007er Primus wurde die Rebfläche verdoppelt. Dies zog natürlich einen erheblichen Mehraufwand mit sich. Damit alle anfallenden Arbeiten termingerecht erledigt werden konnten, trafen wir uns fast alle 2 Wochen für einen gemeinsamen Arbeitsnachmittag. Insbesondere die Traubenlese, neben dem Rebschnitt, die arbeitsintensivste Zeit im Weinberg musste genau organisiert werden.

Bereits Wochen vor dem eigentlichen Lesetermin trafen wir uns und schnitten Fäulnisnester weg. Dies verhinderte zum Einen ein Ausbreiten von Fäulnis und zum Anderen war dies eine erhebliche Erleichterung für die Lesemannschaft.

Da unter der Woche keiner Zeit fand, trafen wir uns am Sonntagmorgen und lasen die ersten 4 Reihen des neuhinzugekommen Weinbergs. Aufgrund der wochenlangen Vorarbeit von Thomas und mir, ging die Lese relativ schnell von der Hand. Nur gesunde Trauben wurden gelesen und anschließend in die Transportbehälter geschüttet.

Eine Woche später wurde der Rest mit ähnlichem Ergebnis geerntet.

Nach dem Keltern stellte sich ein Mostgewicht von 93 bzw. 94 Oechsle ein. Wer den vorangegangenen Text aufmerksam verfolgt hat, wird bestimmt erkannt haben, dass das Mostgewicht etwas niedriger ausgefallen ist als im vergangenen Jahr. Dies ist natürlich etwas enttäuschend, aber die Wetterlage ließ leider nicht mehr zu! Aber Oechsle ist nicht alles! Wein ist etwas filigranes, die Harmonie (Zusammenspiel von Frucht, Süße, Alkohol, Säure und Gerbstoffgehalt) ist viel wichtiger!

So ist mit der Zeit ein gehaltvoller & fruchtbetonter Rieslingwein entstanden, der seinesgleichen sucht.

Am 20. März kommt der 2008er Primus in die Flasche und wird ab April zu genießen sein!

Michael Hück
Abitur 2004,Graf-Stauffenberg-Schule, Flörsheim
2004 – 2006 Winzerlehre,Schloss Johannisberg, Schloss Vollrads
ab 2007 Weinbaustudium FH Geisenheim

German winemakers in the World: Eduard Werle --- Owner of the Veuve Cliquot Champagne House (France)

Pictures: Veuve Cliquot label and Madame Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin

Eduard Werle was born near Frankfurt am Main in Germany. After finishing school, he moved to France and joined the Veuve Cliquot Champagne house for an apprenticeship as cellar man. Over the years, he rose in the company to the point of taking over the management and the ownership of the company. For many years, the Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin estate was fully owned and run by the Werle family.

Originally, the Clicquot company, established in 1772 by Philippe Clicquot, was dealing not only in champagne, but principally in textiles and finance. In 1801, Philippe handed control of the company to his son, François. At that time, François was already married to Nicole-Barbe Ponsardin, the future Veuve Clicquot. When François died shortly afterwords, his wife took control at age 27 only, in a move unprecedented in a world where business was still the domain of men.

Under the tenure of Nicole-Barbe the company did very well initially, in part thanks to the chef de caves, Antoine Müller, also a German, with whom Nicole-Barbe invented the system of remuage, but also because of her successful marketing efforts. Veuve Clicquot played an important role in establishing champagne as a favored drink of haute bourgeoisie and nobility throughout Europe, including Russia.

The remuage technique invented by her and Mueller revolutionized sparkling wine drinking. It remains a key elemement in the production of Champagne until today. As a result of the remuage,it would no longer be necessary to decant the sparkling wine before serving it, or to leave it in the glass for the sediment to settle before drinking it.

In 1810, the Champagne house was renamed Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin estate. But when in 1817, daughter Clémentine, married Comte Louis de Chevigné, under his unfluence, the fortunes of the Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne house turned sour and the time of the Werle family came.

Eduard Werle was borne on October 31, 1801 in Wetzlar/Germany. His father was an officer at the post office in Hattersheim. After school, Eduard moved to the Champagne region and joined the Cliquot company for an apprenticeship as cellar man. Over the years, he rose in the ranks and when the financial crisis hit the Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne house, he was already a wealthy senior manager and ready to assume responsability. The decline of the finances could have meant the end of the Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Champagne house, were it not for the fact that Eduard Werle succeeded in putting together a rescue package and paying off the firm's debts with his own money. In return, he was made a business partner by Madame Clicquot in 1828. Over the coming years, she increasingly relied on Eduard Werle as he put the company back on a sound footing.

During the French Revolution of 1830, the July Revolution, which saw the overthrow of King Charles X, the French Bourbon monarch, and the ascent of his cousin Louis-Philippe, the Duc d’Orleans, Eduard Werle temporarily had to relocate and abandoned the company to go back to Germany. But after the revolution, he returned to Reims to continue to run the finances of the company. He became Deputy Director in 1831. In 1836, he married M. Boisseau.

Eduard Werle assumed full control of the Veuve Clicquot estate in 1841 upon Nicole-Barbe's retirement, 20 years after he had joined the company as a cellar man. 25 years later, when Madame Clicquot died in 1866, in her will, she did not give the company to her daughter or her son-in-law. She was so grateful to Eduard Werle that she made him the sole owner of the Veuve Clicquot estate. Together with his son, Alfred Werle, Eduard lead the House Clicquot to the top of French champagne estates. Eduard’s son Alfred took over from him in 1884. Under his tenure, the company bought a lot of land and expanded the Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin vineyards considerably.

The Champagne House was renamed Werlé & Cie., Successeurs de Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin, when Eduard became the sole owner. The Champagne house continued to operate under this name until 1964, when it became Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin again. Since 1987 the Veuve Clicquot company has been part of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy group.

In 1831, Eduard Werle became a French citizen. In 1843 he became a Deputy of the Reims city council and was the Mayor of Reims from 1850 to 1868. Since 1862, he also was member of the French parliament.

He died in 1884.

Wine tasting: 30th Anniversary of the Weinfreundeskreis Hochheim, Rheingau, Germany

Picture: Christian G.E. Schiller with Princess Sabine


Picture: Annette Schiller and Dr. Michel from Domdechant Werner'sches Weingut

The Weinfreundeskreis Hochheim was founded on October 9, 1979 in the Nassauer Hof in Hochheim. It grew out of a series of wine seminars that had been organized by Robert Thust and the Volkshochschule for two years. There, wine friends from the Wiesbaden/Mainz/Hochheim region had come together and had studied wine profoundly during weekly seminars that began with the basics of wine, using the example of Riesling wines from Hochheim, moved to other German grapes and wine regions, and ended with the wines of other European wine regions such as Bordeaux and Bourgogne. When we came to the end of the cycle, the question was: what should we do now? Some of the wine friends, including my wife Annette and myself, decided to stay together and create the Weinfreundeskreis Hochheim. Since then, the Weinfreundeskreis meets about once a month for a tasting of or a presentation on wine and also undertakes wine excursions. There is also a group that meets once a month for a Weinstammtisch. Over all these years, the Weinfreundeskreis has been ably managed and lead by its current President Holger Krimmel. Chapeau!!


Picture: President Holger Krimmel

On October 16, 2009, the Weinfreundeskreis met at the Hochheimer Hof in Hochheim to celebrate its 30th anniversary with a special tasting of wines from Hochheim. The Weinfreundeskreis was honored by the precence of the mayor of Hochheim and by representatives of other wine brotherhoods, including the chairman of the association of German wine brotherhoods. The Hochheim winemakers were represented by Dr. Michel from the Domdechant Werner’sches Weingut.


Picture: Annette Schiller being honored as founding member of the Weinfreundeskreis by Holger Krimmel

Hochheim is one of the top wine producing villages in the Rheingau region with about two dozens winemakers. Already Goethe spoke of its distinctive microclimate: '...among the magnates of Rheingau wine, Rüdesheim, Johannisberg and Hochheim, there can be no dispute about rank!...'. The Őchsle tend to be higher here than in other areas of the Rheingau. And it was the English Queen Victoria's (1819-1901) special preference for Hochheim wine that prompted the abbreviation ‘Hock' for all good Rhine wines. But Hochheim is perhaps best known in the U.S. through President Jefferson. This is where Thomas Jefferson, when he was Ambassador in Paris, visited in 1788 and brought vine cuttings back to America to plant in his own vineyard.

Hochheim is about 50 minutes from Frankfurt Airport by S-Bahn. Most of Hochheim’s winemakers sell their wine directly to the consumer at their premise, which is typical for the German wine market, and many operate cosy Gutsausschänke (Restaurants), where you try their wines and eat hearty local food.


Picture: Annette and Christian G.E. Schiller

All wines we tasted were from Hochheim/Rheingau, only Rieslings, not Spaetburgunder or other grapes, although the former is coming up in the Rheingau. We tastes wines ranging from 1976 to 2008 and from Kabinett to Trockenbeerenauslese.

Riesling has a unique ability to convey a sense of place and a natural tension between fruit, minerality, acidity and sugar. All these wines did this perfectly. We started with a Riesling Sekt from Hochheim.

Sekt

2007 Hochheimer Mussie, brut, Schreiber and Hochheimer Hof

Hochheim has a long tradition of producing fine Sekt. It started 1832, when Ignatz Schweickhardt returned from Reims/Champagne where he lived with his godfather Eduard Werle who later became the owner of the Veuve Clicqout estate. In the following, the production of Sekt in Hochheim boomed. In the middle of the century, for example, a bottle sparkler from Hochheim cost US$ 5 at the Astoria in New York City, 3 US$ more than the Veuve Cliquot. These high-days are long over and all the Hochheim Sekt estates have closed down. Burgeff was the last one and the winery Kuenstler bought the premise and cellar recently.

This is a fine Sekt, bone-dry, made from Hochheimer Riesling in the traditional method to remember the father of Sekt making in Hochheim.

Dry wines

2008 Herrnberg, Kabinett, Weingut Baison

My neighbor at the winetasting felt that the junior chef at the Baison estate was one of the new talents in Hochheim; watch out for him!

Entry-level bottling, very fresh, a bit spritzy, with wonderful minerality and crystalline fruit.

2007 Hoelle, Erstes Gewaechs, Weingut Dorotheenhof

Owner and wine maker Thorsten Dienst is an ambitious young winemaker with a great wine brasserie on his wine estate; highly recommended.

A Erstes Gewaechs wine; Erstes and Grosses Gewächs is a new classification system that aims at making it easier for the consumer to identify premier/grand cru dry wines that can compete with the best dry wines from the rest of the world. See my postings of September 29, 2009 for further background information.

Erstes Gewaechs and Grosses Gewaechs basically mean the same: an outstanding dry wine from a great vineyard (Erste Lage). The term Erstes Geweachs is used in the Rheingau only and Grosses Gewaechs everywhere else. But while Grosses Gewaechs can only be used by a winemaker belonging to the club of VDP wine estates, Erstes Gewaechs in Rheingau is available to any winemaker who can call an Erste Lage vineyard his own. Thorsten Dienst does that.

Dark yellow in the glass, hint of tropical fruit, full texture, less acid than the Baison wine, impressive in its mineral definition and perfectly gauged residual sugar.

2003 Stielweg, Spaetlese, Weingut Kuenstler

Gunter Kuenstler is one of the very best German winemakers. He is one of the two winemakers of Hochheim who have ventured out to the American market (the other one is Weingut Domchechant Werner, see below), benefitting from the increasing popularity of Rieslings in the US and in general in the world.

In the US, his wines are imported by Rudi Wiest, Cellars International, 1780 La Costa Meadows Drive, Suite 201, San Marcos, California 92078.

I attended the Kuenstler autumn 2009 wine tasting at the Kuenstler estate in Hochheim. See my posting of October 2, 2009. The founder of the Weingut Kuenstler, Franz Kuenstler, has been a member of the Weinfreundeskreis for many years since its beginning.

A deep orange color, a fairly boisterous style with some botrytised grapes used, I guess, plenty of spice on the nose and a broad, rich palate, citrusy with a balanced dryness, the wine reminded me of a Chablis.

1994 Kirchenstueck, Spaetlese, Weingut der Stadt Frankfurt

Weingut der Stadt Frankfurt is one of the larger wine maker in Hochheim, owned by the City of Frankfurt; it tends to produce good wines that are served at official occasions in Frankfurt am Main and in the restaurant in the mayor’s office to the general public; if you stand before it, on the left side of the “Roemer”.

A aged wine with a light sherry tone.

Off-dry wines

2008 Koenigin Victoriaberg, Kabinett, Weingut Koenigin Victoriaberg

Koenigin Victoriaberg is exclusively owned by a winemaking family that has its winery not in Hochheim but about 30 km away in Mittelheim.

Light, off-dry, spritzy wine, hint of tropical fruit, nice sweetness/acidity play in the mouth.

2005 Berg, Kabinett, Weingut Schreiber

Schreiber is one of the winemakers in the Rheingau who have started to grow Merlot, reflecting the impact of global warming and adjusting to the new realities.

Schreiber also manages the wine estate of the catholic church of Hochheim and produces first class wines at reasonable prices.

Kabinett on the label, but possibly a Spaetlese that was demoted to broaden the wine portfolio, off-dry, honey and caramel on the nose, mineral and well crafted.

2006 Hoelle, Erstes Gewaechs, Weingut Rebenhof

Weingut Rebenhof is known for its special, including cultural, events at the winery. The Rebenhof is one of the few wine estates in the Rheingau that has a long tradition of biodynamic winemaking.

Also a Erstes Gewaechs from a non-VDP winemaker. The wine is from a specific area of the Hochheimer Hölle, which is 100 % Tonmergel (marly clay), citrus and green apple, long finish and a hint of sweetness on the palate, Erstes Gewaechs wines can have up to 12 gram remaining sugar per liter and this wine probably is very close to the limit.

Sweet wines

1996 Kirchenstueck, Spaetlese, Weingut Himmel

Emmerich Himmel is one of the (relative) newcomers in Hochheim. His wine estate has 5.5 hectars, including the best vineyards in Hochheim. He took over from his parents about 25 years ago, who had sold their wine in bulk. Since then, he has been increasingly producing outstanding wines, of which 80 percent are Rieslings, the remainder Spätburgunder (10%) and Weißburgunder (10%).

Earthy and complex, with a great balance and, at the end, a bite that gives the wine extra interest, coupled with a charming sweetness.

1990 Reichestal, Spaetlese, Weingut Schaefer

Weingut Schaefer is gaining increasingly international recognition, but does not export any of its wines. Last year, the first prize in the dry category at the Best of Riesling Competition was awarded to the 2007 Hochheimer Kirchenstück Spätlese from Weingut Schäfer. See my posting of ; I also reviewed the winemaker Josef Schaefer in a blog posting on September 29, 2009.

Almost 20 years in the bottle, an aged wine, but still fresh. Great fruit, fine acidity, ripe without being overly sweet, and totally winning.

1985 Reichestal, Auslese, Weingut Kuenstler

This was the first in a series of 3 sweet Auslese wines, all made by the Kuenstler estate, when Franz Kuenstler was still in charge of wine making at the estate. These were all his wines.

Dark-yellow in the glass, balanced, nectar-like wine enchanting the nose with ripe apricot, peach and honey; a firm acid profile balances the wine’s sweetness, yielding a deep, lingering finish.

1983 Kirchenstueck, Auslese, Weingut Kuenstler

Exciting fullness of fruit, hugely rich with a honeyed, almost oily texture from the late-harvested, botritysed grapes, but showing a strong acidic backbone and an obvious minerality.

1976 Kirchenstueck, Auslese, Weingut Kuenstler


Picture: Franz Kuenstler introducing his wine

Franz Kuenstler presented this wine personally; he reminded us that 1976 was an ideal year with perfect winegrowing conditions throughout the whole growing season until harvest; we all stood up and raised our glasses to honor the wine and its creator.

The wine is still fresh, intense, with plenty of personality, hint of lychee on the palate with white peach and earth, a masterpiece of harmony and acid integration, exciting and assertive finish.

1976 Reichestal, Beerenauslese, Weingut Kyritz


Picture: Mrs. Kyritz introducing her Beerenauslese

Mrs. Kyritz, the wife of a Hochheimer winemaker Kyritz, is also a member of the Weinfreundeskreis and I remember vividly one of the first tastings of the Weinfreundeskreis, which took place in the beautiful old Kyritz cellar; unfortunately, the Kyritz couple had to stop making wine a few years ago.

Dark brown in the glass, strong taste of honey on the palate, paired with tropical fruit, lush nectar, ripe peaches and an almost sinful mouth feel, was harvested with 130 gram Oechsle and has 135 gram remaining sugar and 7,5 % acidity.

1999 Domdechaney Trockenbeerenauslese, Domdechant Werner’sches Weingut

This is the other internationally well recognized winery that sells its wines all over the world. Its owner Franz Michel, is one of German wine’s most engaging personalities.

Dark brown, orange blossoms on the nose, taste of honey on the palate paired with tropical fruit, very rich and expressive, that golden glow seems to go right down your throat, beautiful wine, both in the glass and the mouth.

"Winstub" Gruener Baum in Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Picture: Restaurant Gruener Baum in Frankfurt am Main (Neu Isenburg)

This is not a wine bar, but an Alsatian Winstub in Frankfurt am Main, where you can have excellent Alsatian wines and food.

Alsatian wines play a special role in France. They tend to be different from those in the other parts of France. Higher in acidity, sometimes really sour, but always a pleasant experience to have them in the glass. And they go very well with the Alsatian food, which is also unique in France. The famous choucroute you find only there in France. But of course, you find it in Germany, for example in Frankfurt am Main.

As a young adult, when I used to live in Mainz/Germany with my wife and our dog Jo, we would regularly go to Alsace for the afternoon or the week end to shop in France, to indulge into the French food, to taste and buy the wonderful Alsatian wines directly from the winemaker or just to enjoy the small picturesque Alsatian villages and landscape and to speak French. We would follow the enchanting wine route in Alsace that takes you over rolling hills, through charming villages, down narrow cobblestone streets and past half-timbered houses.

We would check into a hotel in Obernai in the late Friday afternoon, for example. Take a walking tour of Obernai to see Mount Sainte-Odile in the distance and the meticulously restored Medieval features of this amazing old town.

In Strasbourg we would walk discover its charming old center, including the Gothic cathedral. Strasbourg's Gothic cathedral is a renowned architectural masterpiece - and one of France's most popular sites. This was the highest building in Christendom until the 19th-century, and today it remains France's second most-visited church - after Notre Dame in Paris. The cathedral's single tower is so famous that the building's asymmetry looks almost normal. It rises to 470 feet and over the centuries has been the target of wind, rain, lightning and enemy bombardment. Strasbourg is also the political capital of Europe as it is the seat of the Council of Europe and the European Parliament.

One of our favorite towns was Barr, with the Winstub Gilg. We also often enjoyed a visit to Trimbach in Ribeauvillé, one of the major wine producers in the region. The winery Hugel is located in Riquewihr, another wonderful town with fascinating Medieval and Renaissance buildings, including the splendid 14th-century church of Notre Dame.

Going to Colmar, further south, would take a bit longer. Colmar is known as the wine capital of Alsace and for its exceptional art treasures. The Museum of Unterlinden, located in a former convent founded by Dominican nuns in the 13th-century is renowned for the Issenheim Altarpiece, one of the masterpieces of Western art. Matthias Grünewald created this monumental work which has been exhibited in the chapel since the beginning of the 16th-century. Kaysersberg is another very attractive Medieval and Renaissance town offering more treasures of architecture and the distinction of being the birthplace of Nobel Prize winner Albert Schweitzer.

You cannot bring the landscape and the wonderful medieval towns to Frankfurt am Main. But as far as wine, Alsatian food and Alsatian Winstub atmosphere is concerned, Dominique and Guy Mosbach have succeeded in bringing this to Frankfurt. After having run the Bistro 77 in Frankfurt of Main for many years, they took over the Gruener Baum in Neu Isenburg in Frankfurt am Main about six years ago. The Gruener Baum used to be a famous cider brasserie, of which many exist in Frankfurt am Main, but has now become the home for down to earth, good Alsatian food and wine, just 15 minutes away be car for me when I am in Frankfurt.

I had a three-course menu for 26 Euros with escargot, coque au vin and Gewuerztraminer Sorbet. It was excellent. The French would say “correct”. Wonderful French food, nothing fancy, just good and at a good price.

We tried a Pinot Noir from the Mosbach estate, which is now increasingly grown in Alsace. It was was fine, but we thought we should have stayed with the famous Alsatian whites. Paul and Jean Marie run the family wine estate in Marlenheim/Alsace, which is west of Strasbourg.

There is no need to go to Alsace to have Alsatian food and wine and Winstub atmosphere. When the Mosbachs were running the and cooking at the Bistrot 77, they had one star Michelin. I think there kitchen has not changed and they continue to cook at the one star Michelin level.

Ambitious Rheinhessen Winemakers - "Message in a Bottle Group" (Germany)

Picture: Weingut Wittmann


Rheinhessen is the largest viticultural region in Germany. Every fourth bottle of German wine comes from Rheinhessen. About one third of Rheinhessen’s agricultural area is cultivated with vines, more than 26000 hectares. The high-yielder Mueller-Thurgau accounts for about 1/5 of the vineyards, and Silvaner and Dornfelder both for 1/10. Riesling is on the backburner. Unlike in other German wine regions, where monoculture of the vine is the norm, here the many rolling hills are host to a wide variety of crops grown alongside the grape. Rheinhessen also has the rather dubious honor of being considered the birthplace of Liebfraumilch.

At the same time, Rheinhessen is at this time among Germany’s most interesting wine regions. A lot is happening there. This is not because of the terroir, but because of the people. There is an increasing group of young, ambitious and dynamic winemakers who want to produce and indeed do produce outstanding wine and not wines in large quantities.

Twenty of those have created a network of wine makers and they have given themselves the name “message in a bottle”. Not a lot of words are necessary, just open a bottle of wine from these winemakers and you get the message. It is in the bottle. You do indeed find outstanding wine in the bottles of these winemakers.

They are not only colleagues, but they claim to be also friends. When the “message in the bottle’ network was created in 2002, most winemakers joining the network were not yet well established and were trying to work their way up, except for two: Philipp Wittmann/Westhofen and Klaus-Peter Keller/ Flörsheim-Dalsheim.



„Message in a bottle“ is:

Hans-Oliver Spanier
Wein– und Sektmanufaktur Battenfeld-Spanier

Jochen Dreissigacker
Weingut Dreissigacker

Johannes Geil-Bierschenk
Weingut Oekonomierat Johann Geil I. Erben

Michael Gutzler
Weingut Gutzler

Arno Göhring
Weingut Göhring

Alexander Gysler
Weingut Gysler

Klaus-Peter Keller
Weingut Keller

Matthias Keth
Weingut Keth

Carolin Gillot
Weingut Kuehling-Gillot

Andre Landgraf
Weingut Landgraf

Johannes Landgraf
Weingut Becker-Landgraf

Frank Meiser
Weingut Meiser

Dirk Emmich
Weingut Neef-Emmich

Stefan Sander
Weingut Sander

Florian Fauth
Weingut Seehof Ernst Fauth
Weingut-seehof@t-online.de

Christian Spohr
Weingut Spohr

Jens Bäder
Weingut Villa Bäder

Daniel Wagner
Weingut Wagner-Stempel

Stefan Winter
Weingut Winter

Philip Wittmann
Weingut Wittmann

Emerging wine country: Russia --- After the break down of the Soviet Union, many important wine growing areas became foreign for Russia

I have started to cover countries east of the former iron curtain(although Serbs may argue that they were not east of the iron curtain). These are all what I would call emerging wine countries, although in Hungary, but also Serbia, wine making has a long tradition. But they were absent from the international market since the Second World War, at least from a western perspective.

I covered Serbia on October 2009, 1,5,12 and 19, Hungary on October 2009, 12 and 15 and Poland on October 2009, 21. Today Russia.

Wine making during the period of the Soviet Union was concentrated in the South, reflecting the climating conditions there: Crimea in the Ukraine, the valley of Ararat in Armenia, as well as the Republics of Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

The founder of modern commercial wine-making in Russia is Prince Leo Galitzine , who established the first Russian sparkling wine estate in the Crimea. In 1889 his sparkling wine won the Gold Medal in Paris. Until today, Russian Sekt remains very popular in Germany.

After the Russian Revolution in 1917, the French wine-savvy professionals fled Russia, but during the Soviet Union, wine growing and making came back. Few wineries, however, had any bottling equipment. Wine was sent in tanks to separate bottling plants located close to the big cities in the Soviet Union. In general, priority was given to higher-yielding sorts of grapes, quantity over quality.

After the break down of the Soviet Union, many important wine growing areas became foreign for Russia. The Russian population is approximately 145 million people and the Republics of the former USSR total over 295 million.

The wine growing areas of Russia are located between the Caspian and Black Seas. Until today, the wine market in Russia is almost entirely a table wine market.

Jancis Robinson now has a report on Russia in the FT of October 24, 2009.

Winemaker- winery: Generation Riesling

Picture: Generation Riesling wine makers

In visiting wineries in Germany, I have met many young, well trained, cosmopolitan and ambitious winemakers, ofteny from family owned wineries. The German wine industry is dominated by small and medium size wineries. The Deutsche Wein Institute in Mainz (Germany) has now created a new marketing tool, a web site, for this group of winemakers to help them in their efforts to promote their wine.

“By launching the website, we have created a supra-regional platform for the young generation of winemakers”, explained DWI managing director Monika Reule. The DWI has been looking for young people, under 35, who belong to this group of winemakers, and who are ready to take part in events, quasi as ambassadors of the Generation Riesling and as young representatives of Germany’s modern, high-quality and dynamic viticulture. Language skills, professional education and experience abroad were among the selection criteria.

The website provides member profiles, including statements about their wine making philosophies. Furthermore, the pages provide information on events and news related to the individual members, but also on joint activities conducted by the Generation Riesling. Different search functions, e.g. for wines, certain grape varieties or regions as well as diverse event types make it easier to find of certain members and are also supposed to encourage users to contact Generation Riesling directly.

The name Generation Riesling indeed places special emphasis on the Riesling as currently being the flagship German grape variety, but it also includes winemakers, who rather rely on Silvaner, Lemberger, Burgundy or other grape varieties.

Tour d'Argent sells its wine in an auction

Picture: The famous view of the Seine and Notre Dame

I have never eaten at the Tour d’Argent in Paris. But I have heard a lot about it. It is one of the most famous restaurants in Paris dating from 1582, It is said to have been frequented by Henri IV. My cousin also eat there once. He told me about the dining room featuring an outstanding view of the river Seine and Notre Dame, if you have the right table, and about the duck.

Of course, the famous duck, the duck with the serial number. This is the restaurant’s specialty. When my cousin had the duck there, perhaps 30 years ago, the Tour d’Argent was a 3 star Michelin restaurant. It now has only 1 Michelin star. It lost its third star in 1996 and its second star in 2006.

The restaurant also has a huge wine cellar containing more than 450,000 bottles of wine. Every ones in a while, the Tour d’Argent clears out its wine cellar. Such an action is coming up on December 8 and 9, where 18,000 bottles out of the 450,000 collection in the caves of the illustrious Tour d’Argent will be sold to the highest bidders (starting at €30 for a lot of six wines from the Jura). Although the number of bottles sounds large, it is only about 5 percent of the stock.

Here is the press release from AFP, which makes an interesting reading.

Les estimations des lots sont comprises entre une centaine et plusieurs milliers d?euros pour un produit total d?environ un million d?euros.

Ces 18.000 bouteilles, petite partie d'une cave qui en compte actuellement 450.000, ont été sélectionnées par David Ridgway, chef sommelier du restaurant.

La sélection comprend des châteaux prestigieux et des vins de domaines moins connus, indique la maison d'enchères.

Acquises directement auprès de châteaux ou de producteurs, ces bouteilles n?ont jamais été mises sur le marché et ont seulement figuré sur la carte des vins du restaurant, dont elles portent le sceau, ajoute Piasa.

Parmi les grands Bordeaux, l'amateur pourra trouver des Château Latour (1975, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994), Château Lafite Rothschild (1970, 1982, 1997), Château Cheval Blanc (1928, 1949, 1966) et Château Margaux (1970, 1990).

La Bourgogne sera représentée par des Meursault Clos de la Barre Lafon (2004), Puligny Montrachet Referts Sauzet (1992), Volnay Santenots Leroy (1969) et Vosne Romanée Jayer (1988).

Les vins de la Loire incluront des Pouilly Fumé Silex Dagueneau (2005), Montlouis Remus Taille aux Loups (1997), Vouvray Haut Lieu Huet (1919) et Chinon Coteau de Noire Alliet (1999).

Côté spiritueux, on trouvera des Bas Armagnac Jouanda (1934), Rhum Bally (1947) et Grande Fine Champagne Monnet (1858).

Le produit de la vente de la plus ancienne bouteille, une Fine Champagne Clos du Griffier de 1788, sera versé à des organisations caritatives.

Le produit de la vente qui permet de "faire tourner la cave", est destiné à "moderniser" le restaurant, selon Piasa.

La Tour d'Argent, célèbre restaurant des bords de Seine, a été fondée en 1582. Il est célèbre pour sa cave - la plus grande de France pour un restaurant - et pour son "canard au sang". Il a été fréquenté par les plus grandes personnalités du monde de l'aristocratie, des arts, de la politique et des affaires.

(Salons Hoche, Salon Elysée, 9 avenue Hoche, Paris 75008. Vacations le lundi à 10h00, 14h00, 21h00 et le mardi à 10h00 et 14h00).

AFP - le 25 septembre 2009, 12h08

See also Le Matin and the Telegraph from the UK

Wine bar: Paris, Berlin, New York City, London

If you go to a winebar or a restaurant in Berlin, London, New York City or Paris, you will be surprised how different the wine lists are.

Paris is extremely inward looking. It is very difficult to find a non-French wine there. But Paris is the capital of France, with the most famous wine producers in the world. Though limited to French wines, Wine lists tend to be wide and deep. You often find French wines on the wine card that are impossible to drink outside of France. I appreciate the sometimes stunning selection of wines from the South West, like the Iroulegy, made from the Tannat grape. And of course, in the Michelin starred restaurants you tend to have an amazing selection of Bordeaux and Bourgogne wines.

The French have a strong resistance against wines from anywhere else in the world. When I lived in Paris, I invited friends for dinner and prepared a coq au vin, the French fricassee of rooster cocked with wine, lardons, mushrooms and garlic, and wanted drink a Australian Shiraz with it. My friends were disturbed—because only a Pomerol works with coq au vin!!

People in Berlin, and in Germany in general, are pretty lukewarm, when it comes to wines from the New World, in particular wines from the US. The Germans have a strong suspicion towards wine produced not in the Old World as they believe that in the New World too much hanky panky is going on in the wine cellar during the fermentation and maturing of the wine. In the good wine bars like Rutz – see my posting of August 31, 2009 -- you will find an excellent selection of German Rieslings and Spaetburgunder, coupled with a good selection of other European wines, in particular French, Italian, Spanish and Austrian wines. New World wines are on the list, but the selection is very limited.

In New York, Europe is far away and the American wines get the recognition that they deserve. Wines from California, Oregon and Washington State are the backbone of the wine lists and you also get a wide selection of other New World wines, though Old World wines are a must for any wine bar and restaurant in New York City. German Rieslings are very difficult to come by, in particular dry German Rieslings. One exception is Spruce, in San Francisco, which has about 150 German Rieslings on its wine list, though most of them are sweet. See my posting of earlier today.

London is the only capital of the four countries that does not have its own wine, at least not yet in meaningful quantities. But it is the center of the Commonwealth, the successor of the British Empire. In my view, London is the most cosmopolitan city of the four reviewed capitals. And this shows in the wine lists. These are broad, covering all major regions, though the selection of American wines tends to be limited. You find an excellent selection of Australian and New Zealand wines in London. I reviewed The Providores and Tapa Room in London in a posting of October 16, 2009, which has an outstanding selection of wines from New Zealand.

The other element that has influenced the wine offered in London is the British French axis. Down the centuries, the histories of both countries often interlocked and sometimes merged. William of Normandy conquered much of England in 1066. French princesses became English queens: Isabella, daughter of Philip the Fair, married Edward II ; Catherine of Valois, daughter of Charles VI of France, wed Henry V. In the 12th century, the marriage of the English Henry Plantagenet and the French Alienor d”Aquitaine made the province of Aquitaine English territory, and thenceforth the majority of Bordeaux was exported to the UK. It opened the Bordeaux region to the English market and since then Bordeaux wines have remained very popular in the UK. I reviewed the Vat Wine Bar, a French inspired wine bar and restaurant in London, in a posting on October 16, 2009.

Finally, the Brits have the saying “Good Hock keeps off the doc” meaning “Good wine from Hochheim, or more generally from Germany, keeps you healthy”. Frankly, I have not yet found a bar or a restaurant with a decent selection of good quality German wine in London.

Restaurants with Impressive Wine Lists in the San Francisco Bay Area

I love to spend time in the San Francisco Bay area, for the food, the wine, the opera, the bay athmosphere and last but not least my daughter Katharina, who lives with her partner Kevin in Berkeley.

Eric Asimov from the New York Times has written a couple of interesting articles about the wine lists of some restaurants in the San Francisco bay area. You find them here and here. He reviewed the wine list at Nopa, RN74, the Slanted Door and A16. He also mentioned the wine list at Aziza, especially noteworthy as it’s a Moroccan restaurant, not the sort usually associated with great wine lists and La Ciccia, a Sardinian restaurant with an excellent list, or Adesso in Oakland, where the list is almost as good as the sensational salumi.

I can recommend Spruce on 3640 Sacramento Street. Spruce not only has an amazing wine list with about 1.300 bottles of wine from all over the world. As a German and lover of German Riesling, of particular note is the outstanding selection of over 160 German Rieslings. They pair beautifully with Chef Sullivan’s house made charcuterie. As a minus, I am a fan of the dry Rieslings; Spruce offers not more than a handful of those. The wine list is dominated by sweet German Rieslings.

Emerging Wine Country Poland --- The Early Days of a Climate Change Gainer?

Picture: Chateau Lomnica in Silesia, Poland

I visited Poland in the summer with my wife, including Krakow and Wrozlaw. We stayed for a couple of days at the charming Schloss Lomnitz in Silesia. But unfortunately, we did not find and taste any Polish wines, though there is a rapidly growing wine industry. But it is still in the early days, although, 3 years ago, when EU accession was negotiated, Poland asked that 100.000 hectares of to land be approved for wine growing. If one day all this land is planted with grape vines, this would exceed Germany’s current wine growing area.

A bit of history. Present-day Poland traces its origins back to the year 966, when Mieszko I accepted Christianity from the South. What followed was a tumultuous history. Between 1795 and 1918, Poland even disappeared from Europe's maps, only to re-emerge once more at the end of World War I. After World War II, Poland was shifted to the West. It lost a large part of its territory to Ukraine in the East and gained territory in the West that had been under German influence for several centuries.

Throughout history, Poland has never been an important producer of wine. But the Polish aristocracy always had a taste for good wine and the European producers always had an eye on the Polish market. In terms of production, the small vineyards around Zielona Gora and in Podolia were the exception, the former been developed during the period when this region belonged to Germany.

With regard to consumption, the Polish market was always an important element for the European and in particular, the French chateaus. Although the aristocracy liked French wine, it drank much more wine from neighboring Hungary than from France.

The situation today in Poland in terms of consumption is not encouraging. As in many other Eastern European countries, beer and vodka are the preferred beverages of the Polish people. During the Socialist period, the only available wine was bulk wine from other countries in the socialist block, mainly sparkling wine from the Ukraine and still wine from Bulgaria. Better quality wine only started to appear in the market after 1989. And change is evident, with the growing middle class showing some interest in wine. However, as I have seen in other East European countries, consumers tend to turn to imported wine first, before developing an interest for locally produced wine. This is very clear in Serbia now.

At the same time, things are improving in terms of production, although starting from a very low level. Polish wine is one of those that are in Stuart Pigott's words "Wein weit weg" -- "wine far away", where the wine industry used to be dormant or non existent, but is now (re-) emerging due to global warming and or political reforms. In Poland, an additional factor was the EU accession a few years ago. Currently, however, the areas were wine is grown do not add up to more than 500 hectares, although, as noted above, the target is much higher.

Poland lies at the northern limit for wine growing. But in Poland and elsewhere in this situation, this line is moving upwards, as I have recently also observed in the UK. Wine growing is now viable in a large part of Poland, although vineyards are still concentrated in the South. The main problem that the climate is cool is still there, but slowly loosing its relevance. The ripening season still remains short, although it is expanding.

There are about 500 winemakers now. Most are boutique wineries with less than 1 hectare of land. Most of the plantings took place in the last 20 years, after the fall of the iron curtain. Wine makers are experimenting with a wide array of grape varieties. Red grapes include Dornfelder, Zweigelt, Pinot Noir, and even Cabernet Sauvignon, while among white varieties we have Pinot Blanc, Riesling, Müller-Thurgau, Sauvignon Blanc and Grüner Veltliner. But the wine growers are also experimenting with grapes not well known in the international market.

Apart from the difficult, though improving, climate, the wine industry still suffers from lack of expertise and experience. In Belgrade, when I was there earlier this year, I could find local wines anywhere and some of them were pretty good. In Poland, the situation was different. It appears that there are only few, if any wine makers that can produce wine that would meet the requirements of the international market and could be exported. Often, local wines that are sold on the market suffer from a variety of problems, including unripeness of the grapes at harvest, and/or excessive chaptalisation, excessive sulphuring, and oxidation in the cellar during fermentation.

In other northern parts of Europe and the World ,however, winemakers have experienced quite similar problems with frosts and ripeness, and have learned how to solve them. I have recently visited Long Island in New York State, US and I was impressed by the boom in the wine industry there. It also seems to me that Poland could be a place were wine makers could have a comparative advantage in producing ice wine. They could learn, for example, from the wine makers in Canada. In my view it is likely that in the not too distant future we will see Polish wine not only sold locally, but also exported, just as Slovenian, Bulgarian or Hungarian wine is.

Prime Minister Putin said some time ago, that global warming is good for Russia. Global warming is also good for Poland's wine industry.

I have benefited a lot from from reading Wojcieck Bonkowski's wine blog and I would like to express my gratitude to him. Also, in my communications with him, it turned out that he does no see the future for Poland wine makers as bright as I have described it in the last paragraph.

Wine region: Baden and Württemberg, Germany

Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 German states that make up Germany. Baden-Wuerttemberg used to be one of the growth centers of Germany due to its booming export industries. Mercedes-Benz and Porsche are prime examples. Now, Baden-Württemberg is an area that is pulling Germany down due to the financial crisis and its impact. By contrast, the wine business is holding up.

Baden-Württemberg comprises two wine growing areas, Baden and Württemberg.

Baden is the most southerly German wine-growing area in Germany's southwestern corner, across river Rhine from Alsace. It is known for its pinot wines - both red and white. It is the only wine-growing region in Germany to belong to the ECs wine-growing zone B which results in higher minimum required maturity of grapes and less chaptalization allowed.

The Spätburgunder is the most widely grown variety in Baden and is extremely popular. In good years the wine has a dark fruity color and has scents of berries, the forest floor, sometimes also caramel and vanilla. The wine is full-bodied and typical in expression, with a cool bite and has a lot of character. But the white wines from Baden are also very respectable. The main wine variety grown in the Tauber valley is the Müller-Thurgau, a resilient grape which produces very notable wines with a fine bouquet and an earthy-flowery scent. The Grauburgunder also deserves mention; it can have scents of exotic fruits - apricot, mango and melon.

Wine from Württemberg is mainly red wine. The main production area is along the Neckar river between Stuttgart and Heilbronn and, more wine is consumed here than anywhere else in Germany - actually twice as much as in the rest of Germany. The German poet Friedrich von Schiller wrote already several centuries ago: “A Württemberger without wine--is that a real Württemberger?”

In Württemberg the Trollinger is the most important variety. The Trollinger, with its characteristic bright red color, is grown almost exclusively in Württemberg. It is a typical Vierteleswein (equivalent to a vin ordinaire and so-called because such wines are normally ordered by the quarter liter): fruity, bodied and fresh and goes well with all kinds of dishes. In exceptional years, the fairly ordinary table wine can become a top-quality, but it usually is a good table wine for every-day consumption. There is also Lemberger, which is a better wine.

I have discussed the wine Schiller from Wuerttemberg in an earlier posting. Schiller looks like a Rose, but is produced by blending red and white grapes before fermentation. Ideally, the red and white grapes are planted in mixed lots in the vineyards and are harvested and treated together. You can find Schillerwein only in Württemberg. The name of the wine has nothing to do with the German poet Friedrich von Schiller (although he is from Württemberg). The wine got its name from the verb “schillern”. The verb "schillern" means "to scintillate". Schillerwein is thus a wine with a scintillating color, reflecting the fact that the wine is a blend of red and white grapes.

Overall in the German wine market, sales have gone down in parallel with the declining economy. Not so in Baden-Württemberg. The annual turn-over of the wine co-operatives has remained stable in the past 12 months. Sles of sparkling wines have even increased.

Wines from Baden and Württemberg are hard to find in the US. This is partly explained by the production structure, which is dominated by co-operatives. Much of the wine sector in Baden and Württemberg is in the hands of local co-operatives. These co-operatives are known for producing top class wines. But they tend to be less aggressive in terms of penetrating new markets. Stuart Pigott, the German wine writer, believes that Württemberg is the area with the largest potential for quality growth in Germany.

Winemaker Small Cellar Radovanovic in Serbia

Serbia is still an undiscovered country in the heart of Europe, when it comes to wine making. It is not yet easy to find Serbian wines that are up to international standards in these days, partly due to 50 years of Yugoslavian-style socialism and 15 years of war and political repression and unrest. But there are exceptions. One of them is Small Cellar Radovanovic, a family owned winery that has started to make wine about 15 years ago and now produces outstanding wines. More generally, things are rapidly changing to the better in this lovely country in the Eastern part of Europe. See my posting of October 12 on “Wine Region: Serbia”

There are big producers (from the Yugoslavian period, when private wine businesses were not allowed to exist) and an increasing number of private, middle size, family owned wineries. Foreign wineries have unfortunately shown only limited interest so far so that foreign investment has been practically non-existent up to now.

The big producers are:
WOW Winery-Subotica
Vrsacki Vinogradi-Vrsac
NAVIP-Zemun
Rubin-Krusevac and
Vino Zupa-Aleksandrovac.

Upcoming middle size, family owned wineries include:
Aleksandrovic Cellar
Winery Kovacevic
Cellar Jelic and
Small Cellar Radovanovic

The wine hedonism has a list of quality winemakers in Serbia, including web-links.

Small Cellar Radovanovic is in the Sumadijsko-velimoravski wine region, which borders on the rivers Danube and Morava. It is known for the Royal Wine Cellars of the Karadjordjevic dynasty, established in 1903. Further up the Morava is the village of Krnjevo where Small Cellar Radovanovic is based.

Miodrag Radovanovic, the wine maker and owner, is a Belgrade university-trained enologist, who had worked for NAVIP-Zemun for many years, before he started his own wine business in 1992. Initially, he produced wine only for his family and friends. Gradually, his private enterprise took on larger dimensions and he quit NAVIP-Zemun in 2002 to exclusively focus on his own wine business.

He now grows grapes on his own 2.5 hectare large vineyard, but also buys grapes from wine co-operatives. The annual production is around 400.000 bottles of wine. You find his Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Rhine Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon in many of the best restaurants and wine bars of Belgrade as well as in the Duty-free shop at Belgrade airport.

I tasted the

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Barique

at the Podrum Wine Art in Belgrade. It was dark red in the glass. Hint of vanilla and raspberries on the nose. A lush and fruity New World-style wine. I paid RSD 400 for the glass, which is about Euro 4. See my Posting of October 5, 2009 on wine bars in Belgrade.

http://www.podrumradovanovic.com

Mali Podrum Radovanović, Dositejeva 10, Krnjevo, phone: (0) 26-821 085

Paris' Bar und Café in Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Picture: Tariq Tassadaq and Karl Wurm at Paris' Bar und Café with a beer to finish off a long evening with wines

For newcomers, this seems to be a French wine bar. But it is not. It is the wine bar of Paris Kosmidis, a film maker, author and journalist from Greece. He is usually there in the evening. Look out for a man with grey hair and chat with him about wine, art, theater or whatever.

It is a wine bar and a café. It caters to an intellectual crowd during the whole day. You can have breakfast there in the morning, and cheese, cold cuts and vegetables during the day and in the evening. They do not have a kitchen and everything is prepared in a little corner of the bar.

Paris' Bar and Café offers about a dozen wines by the glass. The focus is clearly on German, Austrian and Spanish wines. As often in Europe, New World Wines are not popular with the crowd that you meet at Paris' Bar and Café.

Pictures: Paris' Bar and Cafe in Frankfurt am Main

Paris' Bar and Café provides a very relaxed atmosphere, where you meet interesting people from the banking sector, university or art scene. “Meine Bar ist ein Treffpunkt von nicht-kleinkarierten Menschen" says Paris. "Die Schweizer Straße ist der urbanste Teil Frankfurts", she says, "hier wohnen so kosmopolitische Menschen wie der Museumsdirektor Max Hollein und der Schriftsteller Bodo Kirchhoff.” Clearly, the bar has an intellectual touch. No wonder. Frankfurt is the town of Goethe.

In London, a new trend is wine bars that offer Tapas kind of food. Paris' Bar and Café is a bit like that with a menu of cheese, cold cuts and vegetable dishes, like the Serrano ham or the manchego cheese, which I like very much. My wife is a fan of the salami with truffles. She is a big truffle fan. Truffles have a long history as a gastronomic delight, and for her there is nothing to compare with their intense, musty, intoxicating fragrance. There are numerous varieties of truffles, yet the most prized are the black truffle from France's Perigord region and the white truffle from Italy's Piedmont.

We always try to sit at the communal bar table in the middle of the bar and meet nice people there. If you want to shift from grape wine to apple wine, the national drink of Frankfurt am Main, two of the many cider brasseries are just around the corner, Adolf Wagner and Gemahltes Haus, on Schweizer Strasse.

Sweet Wines from the United States

The fermentation of grape must is a complex process in which sugars, naturally present in grape juice, are transformed into alcohol and carbon dioxide by the action of yeasts. The fermentation process stops when the alcohol level in the wine has reached around 13 to 15 percent of the volume. In most cases, all the sugar in the grape is fermented by then and the wine is dry. Thus, all over the world, even in the warmer regions, wine tends to be dry.

Sweet wines are sweet because of three reasons: (i) the fog in the vineyard producing the noble rot and botrytised wines, (ii) the frost during the harvest resulting in ice wine or (iii) the skillfull processing of the grapes by the winemaker after the harvest in the wine cellar. Indeed, in Germany wine makers have developed extraordinary skills in arresting the fermentation or blending the dry wine with suessreserve (sterilized juice) to produce wines that display a combination of a low level of alcohol and delicious sweetness making them unique in the world.

Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Becher from the WSJ reviewed sweet American wines on October 17, 2009. A great article.

Among the 5 wines mentioned is also a sweet Riesling from the Finger Lakes, produced by the Wiemer winery, a very fine wine.

Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard Bunch Select Late Harvest Riesling 2006 (Finger Lakes). $50. New York makes fine Riesling, both dry and sweet, and this is one good example, from a reliable name. The taste is rich with lychee, white peach and earth, but the texture is light. Clean, fresh and tangy. There was just one barrel—50 cases—of the 2006. The 2007 (about $70) is a bit more widely available.

See my blogposting of August 12, 2009: German Wine Basics: How does a Sweet German Riesling Become Sweet on more background information on the various reasons why sweet wine can be sweet.

In the Glass: 2004 Portugieser from Teschke in Gau-Algesheim/Rheinhessen

Stuart Pigott’s wine of the month (October 2009) is a wine that costs only Euro 3,50 ex-winery.

It is

2004 Portugieser Rotwein trocken, Michael Teschke, Gau-Algesheim/Rheinhessen

Portugieser is a high-yield, low quality grape. What appears to make this wine so special is not the high absolute quality of the wine but the high quality of the wine in relation to the price.

“3,50 Euro für Teschkes 2004 Portugieser sind fast absurd günstig, weil es sich um einen perfekt gereiften Rotwein mit einer wunderbaren sanften Wärme von reifen Gerbstoffen, eindeutiger herber Harmonie, überraschender Frische und für sein Alter viel Charakter handelt. Überhaupt gibt es bei den Weinen des Gutes ein Übermaß an Ausdruck und Eigenart, genau wie beim Chef des Hauses.” says Pigott.

The Teschke winery is small with 7 hectar only, but Teschke does not want to expand as he prefers to keep his winery at a size where he can do everything by himself, assisted by an administrative aid.

So he also finds time to do other things, such as composing poems, as indicates on his web site.

Here is his latest one, with a strong erotic touch. I like it.

September 2009

Huren im Kaff


Das Gemächt ihrer Freier in den Händen ganz schlaff.
Überall und doch eigentlich nirgendwo
Zeigen ihren Arsch, manchmal auch Popo.
Drängen ihren opulenten Busen dem Gedanken ins Gesicht,
ziehen mit sich selbst allenfalls vors Linsengericht!
Präferieren den Mammon der Linie stets vor
Behaupten von sich selbst zu haben ein Tor.
Gekerkert, gestopft den Horizont in ein erfundenes Loch.
Die Mauer sie sperrt und somit vorgibt das Joch.

Michael Teschke

Sektkellerei Kessler, Esslingen, Germany

Picture: Kessler Sekt and Speyrer Pfleghof

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. See my blog posting of October 2, 2009 for an overview about German Sekt.

There is a dozen or so large Sekt houses. They produce more than 2.000.000 bottles each annually. 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. Most of the Sekt houses have beautiful chateau-type facilities with old underground cellars for the second fermentation and storage.

Germany's oldest Sekt estate is Kessler, at home in Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg. It belongs to the second group of Sekt producers, i.e to the group of smaller Sekt estates.

The founder learned the trade of making sparkling wines in the French Champagne before importing the art to Germany. Georg Christian von Kessler (1787-1842), originally a businessman from Heilbronn, went to France to seek his fortune and subsequently made his career in the famous Champagne house Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin, founded in 1772. After 20 years he had risen through the ranks to become "associé et co-directeur" and joint partner. He imported the art of Champagne preparation (primarily the process of remuage or riddling) into his home country, and thus German Sekt was born. In 1826, Kessler founded the first Sekt cellar in Germany in the town of Esslingen.

At the Kessler estate, Sekt has been prepared now for 170 years in the grand half-timber house of the former Speyrer Pfleghof in a process of guaranteed bottle fermentation with carefully selected wines (see picture above). The oldest parts of the house actually date back to the 13th century. Here in the ancient, labyrinthine vaults of the cellar, which covers over 2,000 m², about one million bottles mature for up to five years at a temperature of approximately 13 degrees on riddling racks (pupitres) or large stacks. The cool storage conditions mean that the second fermentation takes place particularly slowly.

Wine Bars in London: Vats Wine Bar, The Cork and Bottle Wine Bar and The Providores and Tapa Room

When my daughter Cornelia studied at the London School of Economics, on her way to and from her apartment, she would always walk by

Vats Wine Bar, 51 Lambs’ Conduit Street, London, WC1N 3NB

which she liked from the outside and which she wanted to show to me. Now back in London at the School of Oriental and African Studies, I visited her to help her set up shop there. The first thing we did was to stop by Vats Wine Bar. It is a French inspired wine bar with a large bar area plus a restaurant. The wine list is long and French dominated, but you also find wines from other European countries. Nothing from Germany however. They have about 20 wines by the glass. Wines are reasonably priced, but you do not find higher quality wines. Nevertheless, an excellent selection, as you would find in a “down the road” wine Bistro in Paris, but the wines teand to be from large producers.

The Cork and Bottle Wine Bar, 44-46 Cranbourn Street, London WC2H 7AN

is clearly in a different league. It is a hidden gem in the center of Covent Garden. It is difficult to find, as it is in the basement and there is only a small door at the street level. But it has a soul. I felt very comfortable there. They have a wide selection of new and old world wines, which includes many excellent wines. Large selection of Bordeaux wines, but also other French regions. The wine bar was established 30 years ago by Don Hewitson from New Zealand, who still owns and runs it. There are many tables were you can eat or just drink a glass of wine and several of these tables are in unusual locations such as under the stairs or in a corner niche. Remember the wine bar is in cellar.

Finally, Stuart Pigott told me to go to

The Providores and Tapa Room, 109 Maryleborne High Street, London, W1U 4RX

A hip place divided into a restaurant (upstairs) and a wine tapas bar (downstairs). Tapas have become very popular in London. The chef is from New Zealand and is currently there to promote his latest cook book. If you do not like wines from New Zealand, stay away. But if you like them, this is the place to go. I have never seen such a broad and deep selection of excellent wines from New Zealand outside of New Zealand. Naturally, the focus is on Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc.

But I had an amazing Riesling

2006, Riesling, Waipara West, Waipara, North Canterburry

The wine displayed a nose of citrus with mandarin and lime and slight floral aromas. Green apple, floral and lime aromas, a full palate with an oily texture and a persistent finish.

The knowledgeable waiter told us that Waipara is situated some forty - five miles north of Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. Vines were first planted there in 1981 although commercial winemaking really only started in 1990. Waipara has many natural advantages for grape production - long dry summers, sheltered from cold easterly winds by a range of coastal hills but exposed to the hot nor-west winds which help to control disease, and a remarkable range of soils, including shingle, river stones and pockets of clay loams over limestone.

The bottles at The Providores and Tapa Room were in the BP 30 to 40 range with some wines going for BP 20 and some for up to BP 60.

We sat on a nice communal bar table and had a great time.

In the Glass: Two Rieslings from Washington State, US

I grew up with dry German Rieslings. For so many years in my life, I would always have an open bottle or two of dry German Riesling in my fridge. This has changed, since I have moved to the US. I have started to appreciate Rieslings made in other wine regions of the World, in particular in the Finger Lakes region in upstate New York and in Washington State.

Harvey Steimann has put a very nice video on the web site of the Wine Spectator in which he tastes two Rieslings from Washington State. He is rather positive about these two wines and I fully agree with him.

2007 Riesling, Colombia Valley, Dry, Chateau Ste. Michelle
2007 Riesling Kung Fu Girl, Columbia Valeey, Charles Smith Wines

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8ADq1rcpqc&feature=player_embedded

In the glass: Schiller from Serbia

Picture: 2002, Schiller, Milutinovic winery, Serbia

This is a unique wine. On the label it says “Vina aromatic et medicate”. The wine is sweet, fortified and has a strong herbal taste. It is not a table wine, more a digestive. It has 17 percent alcohol.

This Schiller is made by the Milutinovic winery. They also make Ausbruch and Bermet, both also dessert wines, in the area of Sremski Karlovci. The winery has two large cellars from the 18th century.

The town of Sremski Karlovci at the foot of the Fruska Gora mountain in the Srem region north of Belgrade is known as Serbian wine capital, a little baroque city which had an important role in Serbian history. The Srem region is one of the oldest viticultural areas in Europe. Wine has been grown here for over 1,700 years, ever since it was first planted by Roman Emperor Probus.

The Schiller from the Srem area is a special aromatic wine with reportedly organoleptic properties. It is blend of Pinot Noir and other grapes (“Plemenke” and “Lize”). In the production process, the wine undergoes maceration with marigold, caraway, laurel and nutmeg, which gives the wine the special, herbal taste.

It is an old drink. The Milutinovic winery is using the recipe of Zachary Orphelin who already in 1783 wrote in the “The Experienced Winemaker”: When this wine is used in moderation, all life forces are invigorated; winds in the body disperse, it aids digestion, restores sight, eases the blood, warms and invigorates the stomach and brain; it gives strength to limbs, dispels melancholy; while those of strong blood should be wary of this wine, the weak and old will see much benefit.

Each vintage, only 1500 bottles of Schiller are produced by Milutinovic and the bottles are numbered. My bottle is from 2002 and carries the number 618.

In Germany, there is a wine called ‘Schiller” (see my blog posting of August 16, 2009) that is produced by blending red and white grapes before fermentation. You can only find Schiller in the region of Württemberg in the south of Germany. Ideally, the red and white grapes are planted in mixed lots in the vineyards and are harvested and treated together. The wine got its name from the verb “schillern”. The verb "schillern" means "to scintillate". “Schillerwein” is thus a wine with a scintillating color, reflecting the fact that the wine is a blend of red and white grapes.

The Serbia Schiller comes from an area with German roots. It looks like a rose wine, like the German Schiller. I have to investigate this further but I suspect there are links between the Schiller from Serbia and the Schiller from Germany.

In the Train: Eurostar from Paris to London in October 2009

Pictures: St. Pancras station and Eurostar

The Eurostar provides a very comfortable way of traveling from Paris to London in a little bit more than 2 hours. You leave at the Gare du Nord in Paris and you arrive at St. Pancras, the new railway station close to King’s Cross, in London.

I traveled 2. class and the wine list was disappointing. Not worth mentioning. In business class, however, one is served a meal with drinks like in a plane.

Anyway, 2. class or not,the world changes when you arrive at St. Pancras. The St. Pancras Champagne Bar, just next to the tracks where the Euro Star arrives, offers an amazing selection of Champagne. In addition, the set up is very nice and comfortable with a range o different seating options. The Champagne Bar has an outstanding and very wide selection of NV Champagnes as well as older vintage Champagnes. It is a formidable place to celebrate the arrival in London or wait for the departure of the train for Paris or Brussels.

Furthermore, next to the Champagne Bar is an Oyster Bar. They had 6 different varieties, both native and rock oysters, on the menu. There is also a nice restaurant if you want a more complete meal.