German Wine Musings

Since Jenise posted her impressions from a recent trip to France, now I need to stop being lazy and write up some observations from a few weeks I spent in Germany at the start of June. This was a vacation, without the specific goal of wine tourism, but not neglecting wine and food. To this end, I had the idea of spending at least a few days riding a rental bike around the Rhein (from Mainz) and the Mosel (from Trier). In the end, the weather would play a major role: I believe it rained every day I was in Germany, except one, and that was when I was in Munich. The bike paths along the Rhein, Mosel and Saar were sometimes submerged (not a big problem - just took to the roads) and my unpredictable schedule made it impossible to make appointments with producers. Nevertheless, I was able to drop in on a handful of producers and also hit a number of vinotheke, some with great regional selections.

Given the places I mentioned, Riesling was the focus. Just a few general observations from a US perspective:

The quality producers really do focus on trocken (dry) wines. While the 2013 and 2014 vintages were spotty, the 2015 wines will, in general, be excellent. It is fantastic to cycle along with the likes of Brauneberg Juffer-Sonnenuhr or Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck stretching up the hill on one side and the river on the other. There are dozens of producers you have probably never heard of, some making very good wine. Other than the likes of e.g. Egon Müller - Scharzhof, it is possible to find excellent wines from fine sites in the 10 to 20 euro range. From reading Terry Thiese catalogs, I got the impression that the Rheingau was chock full of underachieving noble estates, and while these may exist, there does seem to be some ambitious young producers who have great sites.

Here are a few wines I liked enough to remember and or buy, starting with the Rheingau and moving to the Mosel:

2014 Erbach Steinmorgen trocken, Erste Lage, Jakob Jung: An example of a young man, Alex Jung, who has taken over an old family estate. A fine range overall, this seemed to be the sweet spot in the lineup (12 euro vs. 20+ for the GG wines). All wines under screwcap, Alex thinks a corked GG is an awful thing. Nice PN here too.

2015 Hallgartener Hedelberg "Alte Reben" trocken, Spreitzer: While Jung wasn't tasting too many '15s, there were more at Spreitzer. This is rich yet lively and I think it sees some oak. From a cooler, higher elevation site, I preferred this wine to the '14 GG trockens. Also, seek out the '15 'Riesling 101' feinherb when it comes to the US (it is an export oriented bottling) - great value.

2014 Bopparder Hamm trocken, Matthias Müller: A Mittelrhein producer I had no previous knowlege of, this is one spicy, herbal wine. Made me think of Gewurztraminer! Very unique and delicious. No US importer, as far as I can tell.

2014 Ayl Riesling trocken Faß 25, Peter Lauer: I guess this would be an Ortswein (village). Great lively, aromatic and long. Tons of minerals and a great value.

2010 Saarburger Rausch Auslese GK, Armin Appel: lovely, rich but nervy from a producer that the locals seem to like. Another great value (under 20 euros).

2015 Saar Riesling trocken, Van Volxem: I suspect we will get this in the US, worth seeking out, greatly aromatic, long. The Van Volxem website has lots of nice photos, too.

2015 "SL" Riesling feinherb, Schoss Lieser: A basic gutswein that punches above its weight. Rich, tounge coating.

2013 Bernkasltler Ley trocken GG, Loosen: another spicy and mineral wine that reminded me a bit of the Müller wine above.

2013 Ungeheurer Riesling trocken GG (Pfalz), von Winnig: Had this in a Munich winebar, thought I would mention it, as it was so good. Already maturing a bit, but fabulously complex. BTW, unlike the wine regions, a lot of Munich restaurants offer Austrian GV as their BTG white offering, and reds from Italy or South America! I guess it is mainly a beer town.

Also spent some time in the Black Forest (in Gengenbach, south of Baden-Baden), where I had a few decent Pinot Noirs. On my way back to Frankfurt, I stopped overnight in Worms, and went out to watch Germany play Ukraine in their first Euro Championship game. Had a few glasses of some non-Riesling local wines (Rheinhessen) and was totally surprised by a Sauvignon Blanc from a producer called Dr. Schreiber, which seemed to be the house wine provider. The best non-Riesling wine on the whole trip - it was really very fine (and 7 euros, per their website).

Very nice report Joe. Did you manage to chat with Thomas Haag at Lieser?

[David M. Bueker]

Thanks Joe.

We may get the van Volxem in the USA, but the distribution will be spotty to non-existent. Their importer does a terrible job.

Sauvignon Blanc is on the upswing in German. I cannot say I am happy about that, but it sells, so the producers are happy.

As for those underperforming Rheingau estates, the next time I have an outstanding new release from Schloss Johannisberg, Kloster Eberbach, von Simmern or Schloss Schonborn it will be the first. There are indeed a number of newcomers who are doing much better, and of course some stars (Weil, Leitz). Terry Theise has also picked up Breuer and Kunstler, so that's two more established Rheingau estates that are doing very good things.

Very nice report Joe. Did you manage to chat with Thomas Haag at Lieser?

No, unfortunately the Lieser wine was from a Vinothek in Bernkastel. This was a day where I had to take a 2.5 hour lunch in Zeltingen-Rachtig to wait out a thunderstorm, which was not a disaster, since there is a hotel there with another Vinothek serving something like 100+ wines BTG!

Thanks for report. Sorry about rain. but sounds like you made do.
Around here usually good availability for Lauer & Loosen, sometimes see Leiser, occasionally Winning, Von Volxem & Spreitzer. Others new to me.

Thanks Joe.

We may get the van Volxem in the USA, but the distribution will be spotty to non-existent. Their importer does a terrible job.

Sauvignon Blanc is on the upswing in German. I cannot say I am happy about that, but it sells, so the producers are happy.

As for those underperforming Rheingau estates, the next time I have an outstanding new release from Schloss Johannisberg, Kloster Eberbach, von Simmern or Schloss Schonborn it will be the first. There are indeed a number of newcomers who are doing much better, and of course some stars (Weil, Leitz). Terry Theise has also picked up Breuer and Kunstler, so that's two more established Rheingau estates that are doing very good things.

There is a shop selling the '14 vintage of the van Volxem Saar trocken about 5 miles from where I am sitting, so I hope they get the '15...

SB is a grape that I often overlook (I know how much you love it), but after a number of lackluster Weiss- and Grauburgunders during the trip, it really stood out. The Dornfelder from Schreiber was pretty tasty as well (went well with my Flammenkuchen - sort of a Germanic Pizza and Zin combination).

On the old estates in Rheingau: there were so many places to try, I didn't worry much about the ones you mention. The bike I rented that day was quite heavy, but I did manage to struggle up to Kloster Eberbach for a look around (riding in the valley is easy), but no wine. I did have a nice glass from Knyphausen and another winemaker had good things to say about Schloss Volrads, so if I had more time they might be worth more detailed investigation. Some more under the radar type places I would have tried, given more time: Altenkirch, Crass, Eva Fricke, Robert Koenig (in Assmannhausen, interestingly does only Pinot Noir).

Thanks for report. Sorry about rain. but sounds like you made do.
Around here usually good availability for Lauer & Loosen, sometimes see Leiser, occasionally Winning, Von Volxem & Spreitzer. Others new to me.

This photo from Saarburg (a nice town, BTW) just about says it all:

saarburg.jpg

One additional photo that some may find interesting. Looks like the controversial bridge spanning the Mosel between Uerzig and Zeltigen is still not complete (Wikipedia says the planned completion date was February 2016). Here is how it currently looks:

bridge.jpg

Great, but sad, photo.