I had couple of glass of excellent dry Mosel Riesling from Weingut Robert Schmitz-Herges in the Spitzhaeuschen, a cosy wine tavern, right in the middle of Bernkastel-Kues in the Mosel Valley. The wine was served by Peter Schmitz, who owns and manages Spitzhaeuschen and who also owns and makes the wines at Weingut Robert Schmitz-Herges. Peter Schmitz serves his own wine and the food prepared by his wife in this cosy wine tavern.
The Mosel Valley
The Mosel River begins in a mountain range in France (where it's called Moselle) and runs northward near the border with Luxembourg until it flows into the larger Rhine in Germany. More than two millenia ago ancient Rome sent its armies north over the Alps to this lovely forested and watered region, and tried to push beyond. The "Vandals" kept them from settling for long north of the Mosel, and thus the beautiful river towns along the Mosel River became Roman frontier encampments, then settlements, and finally the largest evolved into true Roman towns with public baths, villas, roads, bridges, theaters, and of course the ubiquitous Roman vineyards - the descendents of which line the riverbanks today.
See also:
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Bernkastel-Kues
Bernkastel-Kues lies at the heart of the Mittelmosel (Middle Mosel), between Graach and Wehlen to the north and Piesport to the west. The town of Bernkastel and the village of Kues (on the opposite side of the Mosel river) amalgamated in 1905 to become Bernkastel-Kues.
The town's Lay and Doctor vineyards have been classified by the VDP as Erste Lage (to be renamed Grosse Lage). In fact, the Berncasteler Doctor is one of the most famous vineyard names in the world. The Doctor is a small (1.8 ha) plot – south-facing, and with an extremely steep slope of between 45% and 60%.
Bernkastel was granted town status by King Rudolph of Habsburg in 1291. The present town developed in the Middles Ages. The colorful medieval Market Square is beautiful. It is surrounded by many well preserved half-timbered houses, as well as the Renaissance Town Hall built in 1608.
Spitzhaeuschen Wine Tavern
The Spitzhäuschen wine tavern, built in 1416, is really a jewel of a rustic middle class building tradition of the Middle Ages. It is a narrow and grows in size the higher it gets. It looks as if it is ready to fall over.
It used to be a winemaker’s house with a slate walled wine cellar. The typical outwards widening of the loft was used as a fodder to keep domestic animals during the winter.
Since 1971, it houses a wine tavern, where Peter Schmitz, Weingut Robert Schmitz-Herges serves his own wine and the food prepared by his wife, such as a “Winzerplatte” with lunch meat, ham and cheese.
Weingut Schmitz-Herges
For generations, the family owned Weingut Schmitz-Herges has produced fine Riesling wines and also Pinot Noir red wines since a couple of years.
Peter Schmitz's vineyards are just 1.7 hectar large. There, he produces 1800 cases or so of wine. He sells his wine directly to his customers at his Weingut and pours his wine at his the Spitzhaeuschen right in the center of Bernkastel Kues. All work in the vineyard is done manually because of the steepness of the vineyards.
Wine Portfolio
Notwithstanding the rather small growing area, Weingut Schmitz-Herges currently has about 4 dozens of different wines on its list. I noted that all wines carry information on the remaining sugar level and the alcohol content.
First, 10 wines are classified as dry wines. Interestingly, 6 of them are either Spaetlese or Auslese, and fully fermented, i.a. dry. In particular, the 2010 Lieserer Niederberg-Helden, Riesling Auslese trocken, with grams remaining sugar and 13% alcohol, for Euro 8.70 is a most interesting wine.
Second, another 10 or so wines are labeled as halbtrocken and feinherb, again many at the Spaetlese and Auslese level.
Third, then follow about 20 or so fruity sweet and noble sweet Rieslings, almost all of them Spaetlese or Auslese wines.
The final group are 6 red wines: Pinot Noir, Regent and Cabernet Mitos.
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