THE RHEINGAU
Classical, long-lived Riesling from the south-facing slopes centred
between Rudesheim and Wiesbaden. Perfumed and floral on the nose, with
wonderful precision in the mouth.
ASBACH-KRETSCHMAR (Oestrich-Winkel) ORGANIC
Rudesheim is on the western edge of the south-facing Rheingau,
where the Rhine then makes a sharp turn north. There's a statue of Germania
(not unlike Britannia) at the top of the hill, the car ferry from Bingen below.
A cable car crosses the vines. We had long been searching for a great Rudesheim
Riesling and it was a BIO-vintner on another river, Rudi Trossen from the
Mosel, who gave us the tip. Anglophiles Peter and Tania Kreuzberger lovingly
tend their handful of rows in Rudesheim, Oestrich-Winkel and Hattenheim. The
wines are perfect Rheingau; oily, almost unctuous Baroque perfume emerges as
the wine warms up. Classical structure. Enjoy the thrilling rollercoaster ride
of New Wave dry German Riesling!
JB BECKER (Walluf)
Like something out of Laurel and Hardy, Maria Becker sloshed some
Riesling out of the window anointing a surprised passer-by - and so the crazy
world of the Beckers continued to unfold around us. They were the best
double-act we encountered in Germany, complete with an excitable dog and the
moustachioed brother Hans-Josef, the winemaker who looks suspiciously like a
circus ringmaster - it wouldn't entirely surprise us if he really was.
They were the first in the world to use the cutting-edge glass closure, and
the wines are made in the traditional way, fermented in huge old creaking
Fuders with a long, slow fermentation. The wines are poised and elegant, the
trockens are very lean. The brother and sister are a great team, and Maria even
managed to dig out even more of the fruity Steinmacher Spatlese 1976 that we
drank with enormous enjoyment at Zum Krug!
CHAT SAUVAGE
(Johannisberg)
We were having dinner at Zum Krug in
Hattenheim in the Rheingau last Wednesday evening, when Josef Laufer Junior
(Zum KrugÕs excellent chef) flashed a bottle in front of us that looked
suspiciously like Burgundy. ÒYou really have to try this!Ó he said. Try it we
did and next day we were rattling the gates of Chat Sauvage in Johannisberg. Gunter
Schulz is from Hamburg, made
his fortune in the construction trade and developed a bit of a Burgundy habit.
An expensive DRC type habit (Domaine de la RomanŽe Conti, the most sought-after
Burgundy there is). Given that DRC isnÕt for sale and given that he didnÕt want
to leave Germany, he set up 27 year-old winemaker Michel Stadter with some excellent old vines and a brief
for uncompromising quality. Unfiltered and unfined, we were startled by the
style and polish of these Pinots from a region overwhelmingly known for its
Riesling.
FLICK (Wicker)
Hardly anyone has heard of the village of Wicker. It is part of the
other bit of the Rheingau next to Hochheim where the River Main meets the Rhine
and from whose slopes you can watch the planes on final approach to Frankfurt
airport. Although wine has been in the Flick family since 1775, it is only now,
through the rising fortune of Reiner and his wife Kirsten, that Wicker is being
put on the map.They live in a rennovated 13th century mill and work their 14ha
of vines - scattered across 102 seperate parcels in two villages. Jewels in
their crown are the Wickerer Monchsgewann and the Hochheimer Holle where Reiner
spends much of his time working with the soil, trying to get a 2-3% level of
houmous. The wines have blasted their way onto the German wine scene over the
past half decade. We found modern but stately wines here - sometimes with
savoury herbal notes, such as thyme or lavender. Supercharged Rheingau,
classical lines but definitely supercharged.
EVA FRICKE (Walluf)
Our eccentric, Berlin-based, journalist mate Stuart Pigott has often
tipped us on hot new growers. "Stuart here. I must tell you about
something really special. Eva Fricke. She's the winemaker at Leitz and has been
doing her own thing on the side. I told her she should charge double what
everyone else is charging. " Thanks, Stuart. Very helpful! Roll forward a few weeks and we're back
in Germany having dinner with Erni Loosen. Yes. La-di-dah. He asks who we're
seeing and I mention Eva Fricke. "Oh, I know Eva." What I'd neglected
to say was that we hadn't actually made the call yet. Next day we get a call
from Eva, who is in London showing Leitz wines. "Eva here. I'm sorry I
didn't realise we had a meeting" (well we didn't, yet) "I just wanted
to make sure I would be there to meet you." The jungle wire works again.
Fantastic. You only have to think it and say it out loud, even if it's not
actually to the right person, and lo-and-behold it happens! If only that was
always the case. So the following evening, the striking, blue-eyed girl from
Bremen shows up at Zum Krug for dinner with her two bottles. "I have a
half hectare across two red slate terraces at Lorch. I was looking for a
special soil. I was looking for slate, which is hard to find on the
Rheingau." And the wine is delicious. Intense, but not showy.
David
and Alex were in Germany a couple of weeks ago and, thanks to a tip from Angela
Kuhn, found an upcoming grower called Himmel in Hochheim. Hochheim Riesling was Queen Victoria's favourite wine - and
where the word ÒHockÓ comes from, back when German wines were the most
expensive in the world. Himmel is German for heaven, and yes, we think
Annette and Emmerich HimmelÕs dry Rieslings are heavenly. As youÕd expect from the Rheingau, itÕs a geological
extravaganza in your mouth. Perfumed, blackcurrant leaf, petrol, peach and
spice, surging with racy freshness.
KLOSTER EBERBACH
(Eltville–Eberbach)
The State of HessenÕs Domain, formerly a cloister until Napoleon booted
the nuns out and ÒgiftedÓ it to the nation. We have long been obsessed with one
of their most prestigious walled vineyards, a monopole (they own it solely)
called Steinberg (stone hill). Dieter
Greiner and his team at Kloster Eberbach have made enormous efforts and this
legendary vineyard is again producing wines to match its reputation from a
century ago.
PETER-JAKOB KUHN
(Oestrich) BIODYNAMIC
Some of the most startling wines we have ever tasted
come from Peter-Jakob Kuhn
from Oestrich in the heart of the Rheingau - a magnificent south-facing slope
overlooking the Rhine near Wiesbaden, west of Frankfurt. Peter-Jakob was
certified organic in 2004 and then went the whole way to biodynamic, the
extreme end of organic viticulture, where decisions are made according to the
Lunar Calendar. Biodynamic viticulture is based on the teachings of Maria Thun,
the gnarly 80-something guru in middle Germany, who in turn is a disciple of
Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian philosopher who laid out his mission statement for
an alternative agriculture in the 1920s. An increasing number of winemakers
have switched to biodynamism. The whole family is involved and in-tune. His
wife Angela, daughter Sandra and son Peter. ItÕs an impressive winery, totally
committed and fearless. They have been experimenting with oak, ridiculously
long lees contact (Schlehdorn) and have even made wine in two amphoras they
bought in Spain. Watch out for the mad, haunting aromas of the wild yeasts.
Exotic, oily, peppery, savoury – almost salty.
LANGWERTH VON SIMMERN
(Stadt Eltville)
Crazy label, crazy wine! Well, crazily fabulous anyway. The
high-class von Simmerns may have been going since 1464 but their wines are bang
up to date with their oily, almost unctuous Baroque perfume and limey,
minerally dry finish; just the way
we like it.
FRED PRINZ (Hallgarten)
Until recently Fred worked for the large and well-known State Domain at
Kloster Eberbach in Stadt Eltville. He started as Sales Director and then
became responsible for the winemaking. He, his wife Sabine and their two
children live in a second floor flat in the village of Hallgarten high up on
the slopes above the Rhine. You only find evidence of what was his
"hobby" in the garage below the flats. Here you will find a few tanks
and pruning tools - a true garagiste! He and his wife built up their original
1.5ha of holdings in two vineyards around the village; Schonhell (generally
used for the dry styles) and Jungfer (for the fruity, sweeter styles). The
exception in both the 2001 and 2002 vintages is the dry "Erstes
Gewachs" (First Growth) which come from Jungfer. Quality is high, yields
are low, output tiny.
He green-harvests once or twice a year, stripping out 20-40% on each
pass. In the cellar he allows the grapes to cold soak overnight before allowing
them to ferment. This, Fred says, boosts the extraction and lowers the acidity.
After fermentation he then leaves his wines for 4 months on the lees, adding
more layers of complexity. The wines have a wonderful precision and focus - not
overblown, just quietly persuasive.
Demand for his wine is so great that he has just given up the day job to
turn the hobby into a full time job. Uneconomic with just 1.5 hectares, he
needed to find another hectare. He always keeps his ears open while he's
out working in the vines. Gossip and rumour are rife among the vines.who has
been approached by who, who's thinking of selling to who! As a result he has
now managed to scoop up a couple more parcels of old vines in his favourite
locations, almost doubling his holdings to 3 hectares.
ZUM KRUG - JOSEF LAUFER
(Hattenheim)
In the village of Hattenheim there is a wonderful hotel - Hotel Zum Krug
- with a superb restaurant serving traditional German specialities for lunch
and dinner, and a more ambitious Michelin-style menu available in the evenings.
Eccentric, bow-tied Josef Laufer is the owner. He is passionate about
Rheingau wine and is an authority on the subject. His winelist is staggering :
two inches thick with wines only from the region. He also has some vines of his
own and makes delicious Sekt. German sparkling wine, although popular on the
home market, can sometimes be a bracing, rather harsh experience, but not here.
Beautifully made Extra Brut with bottle fermentation - dry, full of character
with layers of flavour, and makes a wonderful change from Champagne.
What is CHARTA?
Charta was a forerunner of the ÒErstes GewachsÓ movement in the
Rheingau, an association of growers committed to enhancing the quality of
RheingauÕs dry wines. Grapes have to be 100% Riesling, be of one Pradikat level
higher than that stated on the bottle (so a Spatlese would be made from Auslese
grapes), and finally be approved by the Charta panel. They come in a tall brown
bottle embossed with a Roman double arch and a Charta back label.