Martin Zwick from Berlin is rapidly building up a reputation as being a mover and shaker in the German wine scene. This is due to the various Berlin Cups that he is organizing.
It all started with the BerlinRieslingCup a few years ago, a blind tasting and ranking in November of what Martin Zwick considered the leading Grosses Gewächs wines - the ultra-premium dry wines of the VDP producers, Germany’s elite wine makers - that were released on September 1 of the same year. Initially, people did not pay much attention to the BerlinRieslingCup, but this has clearly changed over the years.
Today, the BerlinCup is no longer just about Grosses Gewächs wines. Martin added a (1) BerlinGutsweinCup – ranking entry level dry Riesling wines, a (2) BerlinKabinettCup – ranking lightly sweet Riesling wines at the Kabinett level and (3) BerlinSpätburgunderCup – ranking German Pinot Noir wines. For more, see below.
BerlinRieslingCup
The Berlin RieslingCup is a very special annual ranking of German wines, at least for 2 reasons. First, it includes only dry ultra-premium Rieslings, mainly Grosses Gewächs wines. So, (1) the segment of fruity-sweet and noble-sweet ultra-premium wines, which are so popular in the German export markets, is excluded as is the (2) dry ultra-premium non-Riesling white wine segment, which is being pushed by many in the German wine industry. Second, and what makes this ranking so interesting, it is a very early ranking, basically the first one after the release of the wines in September.
Grosses Gewächs (GG)
What is a Grosses Gewächs wine? There is currently a bit of confusion (and there will be even more confusion in the years to come) as (1) Grosses Gewächs was a term that was created by the VDP only a few years ago and (2) the VDP has created a new classification for German wines that differs radically from the German standard classification (and is still in the process of refining and implementing it). The latest revisions were those that came into effect with the vintage 2012.
Grosses Gewächs and the new German Wine Classification
Although many people think that there is only one wine classification system in Germany – the classification system of the Law of 1971 – this is not correct. True, the classification system of the Law of 1971 is the standard classification system in Germany and the vast majority of winemakers in Germany use this approach. A large number of winemakers, however, have moved away from the standard, in particular the VDP producers.
In a nutshell, the VDP is moving to a classification system that resembles very much the classification system in the Bourgogne. The classification of the VDP puts the terroir principle at the center of its classification approach.
With the latest modifications, the absolutely finest vineyards are called Grosse Lage and dry wines from these super top vineyards are called Grosses Gewächs. Grosses Gewächs wines are the finest dry wines from Germany’s finest vineyards. For legal reasons, the VDP producers use the terms VDP.Grosses Gewächs and VDP.Grosse Lage, instead of just Grosses Gewächs and Grosse Lage.
To qualify for the Grosses Gewächs label, a number of criteria need to be respected. (i) The fruit has to come from a Grosse Lage vineyard. (ii) At harvest, the grapes need to be at least at Spätlese level in terms of the sugar content. (iii) Only certain – typical - grape varieties are allowed, including Riesling and Spätburgunder. Riesling is the only varietal allowed for Grosse Lage wines in the Mosel, Nahe, and Mittelrhein, but grapes like Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir), Lemberger, Frühburgunder, Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris), Gewürztraminer, and Silvaner are included in other regions. (iv) Further restrictions apply: there are yield restrictions; only hand picking of grapes is permitted and harvest must be late in the autumn.
BerlinRieslingCup 2015
This year’s BerlinRieslingCup took place in early October and included 44 wines.
The overwhelming majority of the wines were GGs from VDP members. There were a few non-GG ultra-premium dry wines from non-VDP members and one from a VDP member, which did not qualify as a GG.
By definition, the 44 wines represented a subjective selection, but I think it probably included a substantial share of the ultra-premium Rieslings that could be the grand cru top wines of the 2014 vintage. 2 bottles came on the table. It is a blind tasting.
Here are the results.
Ranking
1 Bürklin-Wolf "Pechstein" GG 95 Punkte
2 Schloss Johannisberg "Silberlack" GG 95 Punkte
3 von Winning "Ungeheuer" GG 94 Punkte
4 von Buhl " Pechstein" GG 94 Punkte
5 Wittmann" Brunnenhäuschen" GG 94 Punkte
6 Gunderloch "Pettenthal" GG 93 Punkte
7 Keller "Abtserde" GG 93 Punkte
8 Schwedhelm "Schwarzer Herrgott" 93 Punkte
9. Aldinger "Gips" GG 93 Punkte
10. Wagner-Stempel "Heerkretz" GG 93 Punkte
11 A. Christmann "Mandelgarten" GG 93 Punkte
12 Battenfeld-Spanier "Am Schwarzen Herrgott" GG 93 Punkte
13 Schäfer-Fröhlich "Halenberg" GG 93 Punkte
14 Jakob Jung "Hohenrain" 93 Punkte
15 Keller "Pettenthal" GG 93 Punkte
16 Bassermann-Jordan "Ungeheuer"GG 93 Punkte
17 von Winning "Grainhübel" GG 93 Punkte
18 Emrich-Schoenleber "Halenberg" GG 93 Punkte
19 A. Christmann "IDIG" GG 93 Punkte
20 Rings "Saumagen" 92 Punkte
21 Wittmann "Morstein" GG 92 Punkte
22 Spreitzer "St Nikolaus" GG 92 Punkte
23 Bassermann-Jordan "Hohenmorgen" GG 92 Punkte
24 R. Haart "Goldtröpfchen" GG 92 Punkte
25 Heymann-Loewenstein "Röttgen" GG 92 Punkte
26 Schäfer-Fröhlich "Felsenberg" GG 92 Punkte
27 Kühling-GillotG "Pettenthal" GG 92 Punkte
28 Dautel "Steingrüben" GG 92 Punkte
29 Lauer "Kupp" GG 91 Punkte
30 Diel "Goldloch" GG 91 Punkte
31 St Anthony "10morgen" GG 91 Punkte
32 Gunderloch "Rothenberg" GG 91 Punkte
33 Buhl "Ungeheuer" GG 91 Punkte
34 Schloss Lieser "Helden" GG 91 Punkte
35 Katharina Wechsler "Benn" 90 Punkte
36 Weil "Gräfenberg" GG 90 Punkte
37 Fürst "Centgrafenberg" GG 89 Punkte
38 Sauer "am Lumpen 1655" GG 89 Punkte
39 Flick "Herrgottspfad" 88 Punkte
40 Hans Lang Wisselbrunnen 88 Punkte
41 Groebe "Aulerde" GG 88 Punkte
42 Julianne Eller "Frühmesse" 88 Punkte
43 Gold "Beutelsacher Altenberg" 87 Punkte
44 Bürklin-Wolf Ungeheuer GG 81 Punkte
The winner is – as in this year’s BerlinGutsrieslingCup - Weingut Bürklin-Wolf from the Pfalz. In general, the Pfalz region is well represented among the top 10 wines (1 Bürklin-Wolf "Pechstein" GG 95 Punkte, 3 von Winning "Ungeheuer" GG 94 Punkte, 4 von Buhl " Pechstein" GG 94 Punkte, 8 Schwedhelm "Schwarzer Herrgott" 93 Punkte) as is the Rheinhessen region (5 Wittmann" Brunnenhäuschen" GG 94 Punkte, 6 Gunderloch "Pettenthal" GG 93 Punkte, 7 Keller "Abtserde" GG 93 Punkte, 10. Wagner-Stempel "Heerkretz" GG 93 Punkte). Notable is the ranking of Weingut Schwedhelm, ahead of many well established VDP producers, as is the ranking of Schloss Johannisberg from the Rheingau, with 95 points at the top of the list (#2).
schiller-wine: Related Postings (Berlin Cups)
Germany’s Best Ultra-premium Dry Riesling Wines - BerlinRieslingCup 2015, Germany
Germany’s Best Ultra-premium Dry Riesling Wines - BerlinRieslingCup 2014, Germany
Germany’s Best Ultra-premium Dry Riesling Wines - BerlinRieslingCup 2013, Germany
Germany’s Ultra Premium Dry Riesling Wines – The Berlin Riesling Cup 2012
Germany’s Top Wines – The Berlin Riesling Cup 2011 Ranking
Martin Zwick’s BerlinGutsrieslingCup 2015 - Rating Dry Entry-level Rieslings from Germany's Best Producers
Martin Zwick’s BerlinGutsrieslingCup 2014 - Rating Entry-level Rieslings from Germany's Best Producers
BerlinGutsrieslingCup 2013 – Rating Entry-level Rieslings from Germany
Berlin Gutsriesling Cup 2012, Germany
Martin Zwick's BerlinKabinettCup 2015: Germany's Best 2014 Riesling Kabinett Wines
Martin Zwick's BerlinKabinettCup 2014, Germany
BerlinKabinettCup 2013 - Kabinett 2012, Germany
Germany's Best Pinot Noir Wines - BerlinSpätburgunderCup 2012/2014
BerlinSpaetburgunderCup 2011/2013, Germany
Schiller-wine - Related Postings
Germany-East Wine and Art Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), Germany
Bourgogne Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France
Bordeaux Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015), France
Germany’s Grosses Gewächs GG Wines Released (2014 White and 2013 Red) - Notes from the Pre-release Tasting in Wiesbaden, Germany
Philipp Wittmann and Eva Clüsserath-Wittmann at Weingut Wittmann in Westhofen – Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Wine Tasting at Weingut Gunderloch in Nackenheim, with Owners and Winemaker Fritz Hasselbach and Agnes Hasselbach-Usinger – Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
A German Riesling Feast in New York City: Rieslingfeier 2015, USA
Winery Tour and Wine Tasting at Weingut A. Christmann, with Steffen Christmann – Germany-South Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2014)
Steffen Christmann (Weingut A. Christmann) and Wilhelm Weil (Weingut Robert Weil) Presented the New Wine Classification of the VDP, Germany
Approaches to Classifying German Wine: The Standard Approach (the Law of 1971), the VDP Approach and the Zero Classification Approach
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