Baden
Earthy and ripe. Some great Pinots.
Bercher-Schmidt (Oberrotweil)
Bercher-Schmidt are perched in the dramatic setting of the Kaiserstuhl, the “Emperor’s Throne”, a huge volcanic rock in the Rhine Valley between Alsace and the Black Forest. The bulldozers moved in during the 1970′s, increasing the terracing and more favourable exposure towards the sun – talk about Germanic efficiency! When we called, they said, “oh, we’re at a wedding then. But no problem, we’ll leave the reception for the meeting!” Beate Bercher is also an Artist and rarely rises before midday, unlike her husband Peter Schmidt. Weissburgunder (Pinot Blanc), Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) and Muskateller are the specialities here.
Jurgen von der Mark (Bad Bellingen)
A German MW? A flying winemaker based in Baden? Welcome to the unusual world of Jurgen von der Mark. Stylish, modern, unfiltered Pinot Noir from 40 year-old vines just near Freiburg on the edge of the Black Forest. Currently converting to organic, the wines will be fully certified from 2011. He calls his top two Pinots “song wines” – one is named “Imagine my Frustration”, referencing an Ella Fitzgerald song she performed in Stockholm in 1966, the other “Hey Jude” the Beatles song also performed by Ella in 1968. Why? Next time we see him we will ask.
Shelter (Kenzingen)
High class Pinot Noir just off the Kaiserstuhl, close to the border with Alsace. Hans-Bert Espe and Silke Wolf met at Geisenheim, Germany’s top wine university and, after a stint in Oregon, started making their wine in a former Canadian Air Force bunker. Hence the name, Shelter Winery. Even though their output is miniscule, they quickly outgrew the space and were renting a corner of a friend’s new cellar while their own is being built. Their entry-level Spatburgunder is a big hit at The Winery.
Franken
Volcanic playground
Franken, 2 or 3 hours drive east of Frankfurt, is all about the Bocksbeutel and Minerals. “Bocksbeutel” is the name of the funny squat bottles most Franken wines come in, said to be derived from a goat’s “sack” and dangerously reminiscent of a Mateus Rose bottle – but there the similarity ends; the contents could not be more different!
The difference (as everyone in Franken keeps saying) is all to do with minerals. 250 million years ago, the bright sandstone rock Franken now sits on was on the equator and 100 million years later, as the continental plates shifted northwards and outwards, became the predecessor of the Mediterranean, accumulating fossil-heavy chalk. These layers fan outwards, exposing their seven different geologies to widely scattered pockets of the Franken vineyards. With such well-travelled geology, it’s easy to see why these dry Rieslings explode with spicy minerals.
Schloss Schonborn (Hallburg)
Schloss Schonborn have two wineries, one in Hattenheim in the Rheingau, the other in Hallburg in Franconia. We adore their vibrant single vineyard dry Rieslings, fizzing with volcanic minerality.
Pfalz
Fatter, rounder. Sometimes earthier. Much closer to France in style. Some standout growers.
Koehler-Ruprecht (Kallstadt)
Busy, busy, busy. Bernd Philippi, the estate’s energetic owner, and Axel Heinzmann, the cellarmaster, make one of the great dry Rieslings of the world from the Saumagen (sow’s stomach) vineyard outside Kallstadt towards the northern end of the region. They have all the dizzy, tropical notes of Pfalz Riesling along with the steel and presence of the finest dry Rieslings from Alsace, but with their own utterly distinctive character. Not one to sit still, Bernd has established new estates in Portugal and South Africa with well-known Rheingau grower Georg Breuer. Busy. Busy, busy. Got to go.
Sachsen
Region to watch. How can they make wine this far north? Klaus Zimmerling is the standout grower here.
Klaus Zimmerling (Dresden) ORGANIC
Sachsen has tended to produce mouth-puckeringly sharp whites. Klaus Zimmerling has re-written the script with a combination of tiny yields (20hl/ha), organic viticulture and perilously late harvesting. Klaus lives and works in the outskirts of Dresden with his Sculptress wife, Malgorzata Chodakowska, whose sculpture features on the label each year. Without doubt, the finest winemaker in Saxony.
Wurttemberg
A large region with a diversity of grapes and styles. Intriguing, distinctive reds. Some spicy whites.
The“Junges Schwaben”(Young Schwabians) are five young Wurttemberg growers, Jochen Beurer, Sven Ellwanger, Hans Hengerer, Rainer Wachtstetter and Jurgen Zipf, who recently took over from their parents and wanted to make better wine than the region was known for. With coaching from Stuttgart sommelier-turned-wine-merchant Bernd Kreis and early encouragement from highly-regarded boutique grower Albrecht Schwegler and journalists like Stuart Pigott the group is poised for wider recognition – we were the first to export their wines.
Jochen Beurer (Stetten)
Riesling from unlikely sounding wine country, the outskirts of Stuttgart. Made by former European BMX Champion Jochen Beurer. Jochen is one of the “Junges Schwaben” group and makes deep, lees-textured Riesling, mainly from the Pulvermacher (Powdermaker) vineyard above his home village of Stetten.
Albrecht Schwegler (Korb)
Local legend Albrecht set up this boutique winery with his wife Andrea outside Stuttgart, where he also runs his specialised machine parts business. With only 1.2ha of vines, a range of Lemberger, Zweigelt, Merlot and Regent, they don’t make much wine, but absolutely everything is done by hand.
