Ken Schramm
Ken Schramm
We are in Freiburg, and have enjoyed a couple of visits to local wine emporia. Yesterday, we toured the Staatsweingut Freiburg, which is the state wine research teaching facility. We got a detailed tour of the facilities by Kolja Bitzenhofer, the sales manager. The production from the winery is very small - I believe he said they only have about 12 hectare of vines. The Muskateller was the most memorable wine we tasted - had a really pronounced fruitiness in the nose, very much a trocken, striking attack on the palate and dramatic mouthfeel for such a maligned variety. If I hadn’t been worried about having to lug it home, I would have bought a case. The sparkling wines were also delightful, although I did not take any notes. I will post more when I get home and have time to make a more detailed accounting of the wines. Across the board, I found the wines reflected a winery being run by individuals with very high skill levels in every aspect of production. It is surprising that their wines do not see any US import or distribution. They punched well above their price points.
They recommended we visit Weingut Dr. Heger in Ihringen, which we did today. It, too, was quite a welcome slate of offerings. There are two tiers of products - those under the Heger label, and the GGs and better vineyards, under the Dr. Heger label. I found the Heger 2015 Weissburgunder Oktav to be similarly turbo-charged to the Muskateller on the nose. On the palate it is still quite young; tight and angular but with firm minerality and fantastic promise. We tasted two Grauburgunders, the 2015 Heger Grauburgunder Oktav, which was softer and rounder than the Weissburgunder, but with less dynamism, and the ’15 Dr Heger Ihringer Winklerburg Erste Lage Trocken, 13.5% which blossomed in the glass beautifully, with pineapple and pear aromatics, and came across with a sleek flavors and well proportioned fruit-to-acidity balance. Those were buys.
We had the granddaughters in tow, and at just over 11 and 23 months, we were testing their patience by this point. We hastily worked through two barrique aged whites, a Chardonnay, and another Grauburgunder that were not in line with my tastes, and then tried two Spätburgunders: the 2013 Mimus, which was tasty but has many years of work to do to sort itself out, and the 2104 Vorderer Winklerburg GG, which delivered much more recognizable pinosity, more cherry and red currant on the nose, and much more fruit underneath the oak. The latter a buy, and off we went.
We were taking in what we thought would be a quick lunch on the way back to the train station, when my son-in-law noticed Joachim Heger sitting by himself having his own lunch. We let him know that the case of wine in the stroller was from his winery, and he was incredibly accommodating in talking to us and offering to give us a tour later.
When we reconnoitered at the winery a short time later, he squeezed us all into his car and took us up to visit his best pinot vineyard, which was being worked by horse today. He explained how the vines were pruned and their soil practices until the horse started to get skittish about too many strangers. The views of the Schwartzwald and surrounding vineyards and villages were spectacular.
Back in the village, Joachim gave us a tour of his winery and cellars, which was above and beyond for a winery owner at 3:30 on a Saturday afternoon. He was almost unthinkably kind, and we will never be able to repay him. It does not seem impossible that we might see him again, however, as he is well acquainted with a Traverse City winemaker who has also been extremely kind and generous with his knowledge. We are also lovers of Freiburg, and I hope this is not our last trip.
They recommended we visit Weingut Dr. Heger in Ihringen, which we did today. It, too, was quite a welcome slate of offerings. There are two tiers of products - those under the Heger label, and the GGs and better vineyards, under the Dr. Heger label. I found the Heger 2015 Weissburgunder Oktav to be similarly turbo-charged to the Muskateller on the nose. On the palate it is still quite young; tight and angular but with firm minerality and fantastic promise. We tasted two Grauburgunders, the 2015 Heger Grauburgunder Oktav, which was softer and rounder than the Weissburgunder, but with less dynamism, and the ’15 Dr Heger Ihringer Winklerburg Erste Lage Trocken, 13.5% which blossomed in the glass beautifully, with pineapple and pear aromatics, and came across with a sleek flavors and well proportioned fruit-to-acidity balance. Those were buys.
We had the granddaughters in tow, and at just over 11 and 23 months, we were testing their patience by this point. We hastily worked through two barrique aged whites, a Chardonnay, and another Grauburgunder that were not in line with my tastes, and then tried two Spätburgunders: the 2013 Mimus, which was tasty but has many years of work to do to sort itself out, and the 2104 Vorderer Winklerburg GG, which delivered much more recognizable pinosity, more cherry and red currant on the nose, and much more fruit underneath the oak. The latter a buy, and off we went.
We were taking in what we thought would be a quick lunch on the way back to the train station, when my son-in-law noticed Joachim Heger sitting by himself having his own lunch. We let him know that the case of wine in the stroller was from his winery, and he was incredibly accommodating in talking to us and offering to give us a tour later.
When we reconnoitered at the winery a short time later, he squeezed us all into his car and took us up to visit his best pinot vineyard, which was being worked by horse today. He explained how the vines were pruned and their soil practices until the horse started to get skittish about too many strangers. The views of the Schwartzwald and surrounding vineyards and villages were spectacular.
Back in the village, Joachim gave us a tour of his winery and cellars, which was above and beyond for a winery owner at 3:30 on a Saturday afternoon. He was almost unthinkably kind, and we will never be able to repay him. It does not seem impossible that we might see him again, however, as he is well acquainted with a Traverse City winemaker who has also been extremely kind and generous with his knowledge. We are also lovers of Freiburg, and I hope this is not our last trip.
