Germany Trip

R

Robert Dentice

Robert Dentice
Just back from a wonderful 6 day German trip. I am posting some observations on Vinous, if there is interest I can also post them here. Apologies in advance for typos etc work and other things will be coming at me at 300 mph upon my return so these will be just some quick hits!

2017 is a very good vintage in the hands of the top growers. However yields were down dramatically, multiple growers said it was the smallest yields of their careers. Almost every winery I visited so far was completely sold out. If you need German wine in your cellar I would be backfilling on 16s.

Mosel dry wines have made dramatic improvements. I was blown away by Daniel Vollenweiders dry wines, he showed 16 dry wines. I think it is because of a combination of a warmer climates and growers wanting to make dry wines.

Kabinett Trocken - LOVE, LOVE LOVE these wines and wish more growers would make them.

2018 so far looks very promising. Although a couple growers got hit with hail this week. Most growers said we are 2-3 weeks ahead of 2017 which was a very early year. I think this is the new normal.

Natural wine - some good producers doing Natural wine.

Here are the producers we visited:

J.B. Becker
Ulli Stein
Daniel Vollenweider
Weiser-Künstler
Julian Haart
Lauer
Egon Müller
Brand
Durst
Beurer
Wasenhaus
Roterfaden
Stefen Vetter
Immich-Batterieberg
Heymann-Löwenstein
Falkenstein

Sylvaner - I have always loved Sylvaner. On this trip I tried some amazingly good Sylvaners including one or two from Stefan Vetter that I would have guessed Premier or Grand Cru Chablis if blinded. Also many other greats from Andreas Durst and a natural one from the Brand Brothers

Chardonnay - I think this grape has a bright future in the Pfalz. I tasted a superb Chardonnay from Andreas Durst

Lemberger (Blaufränkisch) - Another grape that thoroughly impressed me. Particularly two fantastic GGs from Beurer.

Micro-Producers - If you dig deep there are some amazing small producers in Germany. I tasted with a few producers whose production is under 5,000 bottles that are producing wines that are just mind-blowing. Not surprisingly they are doing great things outside of the strict German wine labeling rules and simply labeling their wines Landwein which among other things allows them not to have their wines tested where things like a golden color can cause wine to be rejected.

2018 Vintage - I am rooting so hard for this to be a very good vintage with great volume. The small growers are really hurting after the small quantities from 2017
and 2016. As I mentioned above two winemakers with an average of 50 years experience said 2017 was the smallest yielding vintage of their career.

I will try to add a small post on each of the visits.

Lots more info on my instragram https://www.instagram.com/soilpimp/

And please feel free to fire away with questions.
 
I've got lots of questions! Let's start with ... Do you have some more details on Vollenweider (was he showing 2016ers or 16 different dry wines?) and Weiser-Künstler (any Ellergrub kabinett in 2017?). Or if you'd rather not be so focused on particular producers, what was your experience with feinherb on this trip? I tend to enjoy those more than the trocken wines, particularly with food.
 
originally posted by John M:
I've got lots of questions! Let's start with ... Do you have some more details on Vollenweider (was he showing 2016ers or 16 different dry wines?) and Weiser-Künstler (any Ellergrub kabinett in 2017?). Or if you'd rather not be so focused on particular producers, what was your experience with feinherb on this trip? I tend to enjoy those more than the trocken wines, particularly with food.
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Here is what we tasted at Weiser-Küntsler:

All 2017s

Sekt
Basic Riesling - blend of 2016 & 17
Wolfer Sonnenlayt Kabinett Trocken - Loved this
Steffensberg
Wolfer Sonnenlay Kabinett
Ellergrub Kabinett - my notes are very positive on this and say that the yields in this old vine parcels are extremely low
Ellergrub Spätlese Gokdkapsel
Ellergrub Auslese

We had lunch with them in their part of Ellergrub. All wines are great and quantities are miniscule so I would not hesitate to buy any of them.

For Vollenweider we tasted 2016 Dry wines and 2017 Sweet wines. I was absolutely shocked at how good the 2016 dry wines were. One in particular called Aurum which is from a new vineyard was one of the best wines of the trip but it will be expensive and very small quantities. I liked his 17 sweet wines quite a bit as they have more acid and are in balance more than some prior wines which are just a tad too sweet for me.

And yes I agree with you I also love Feinherbs and drink them regularly. Tasted many good ones. One that particular stood out as great value and excellent wine was the Brand basic riesling which is sold for around $15 in a 1 Liter bottle. Ulli Steins Blauchiefer Feinherb was outstanding. I should note that I prefer Feinherbs with high acid.
 
Thanks for the comments above about Vollenweider and Weiser-Künstler.

originally posted by Robert Dentice:

I will try to add a small post on each of the visits.
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I am very much looking forward to these posts. Many of the producers on your list are favorites and a few are not as well known to me. I don't think I have even heard of Wasenhaus before.

Given who you visited I am a little surprised you didn't stop in at Falkenstein. When I asked about feinherb, they were one of the producers at the front of my mind. But then one can only visit so many places on any given trip.
 
originally posted by John M:
Thanks for the comments above about Vollenweider and Weiser-Künstler.

originally posted by Robert Dentice:

I will try to add a small post on each of the visits.
Click to expand...

I am very much looking forward to these posts. Many of the producers on your list are favorites and a few are not as well known to me. I don't think I have even heard of Wasenhaus before.

Given who you visited I am a little surprised you didn't stop in at Falkenstein. When I asked about feinherb, they were one of the producers at the front of my mind. But then one can only visit so many places on any given trip.
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Probably just an inadvertent omission. It is on the instagram page:

 
originally posted by mark e:
originally posted by John M:
Thanks for the comments above about Vollenweider and Weiser-Künstler.

originally posted by Robert Dentice:

I will try to add a small post on each of the visits.
Click to expand...

I am very much looking forward to these posts. Many of the producers on your list are favorites and a few are not as well known to me. I don't think I have even heard of Wasenhaus before.

Given who you visited I am a little surprised you didn't stop in at Falkenstein. When I asked about feinherb, they were one of the producers at the front of my mind. But then one can only visit so many places on any given trip.
Click to expand...

Probably just an inadvertent omission. It is on the instagram page:

Click to expand...

Thanks. I hadn't followed the instagram link. The instagram posts gave me a bit of information about Wasenhaus as well. Great pictures! But even with the great pictures I'm still looking forward to some text on the visits.
 
originally posted by John M:
Thanks for the comments above about Vollenweider and Weiser-Künstler.

originally posted by Robert Dentice:

I will try to add a small post on each of the visits.
Click to expand...

I am very much looking forward to these posts. Many of the producers on your list are favorites and a few are not as well known to me. I don't think I have even heard of Wasenhaus before.

Given who you visited I am a little surprised you didn't stop in at Falkenstein. When I asked about feinherb, they were one of the producers at the front of my mind. But then one can only visit so many places on any given trip.
Click to expand...

Yes Falkenstein was an omission. I absolutely love the wines and 2017 was a great vintage for them.

Wasenhaus is a new project from two people who grew up in Baden but trained recently in Burgundy. In fact one of them is currently the vineyard manager for Domain de Montille. Very exciting wines that have Burgundian touch influence to them. We tasted a Guted, a Weissburgunder and a Spatburgunder. They have a total of two Hectares so availability will be limited and given the quality and scarcity pricing will be high. Keep in mind some of these are no more than 300 bottles. Not because they are trying to be a cultish producers because they only afford to rent small plots.
 
We land in Frankfurt fresh off a flight from Paris where we spent one glorious Sunday in between London and Germany drinking and eating and staying out way too late. Our first stop is a mere 50 minutes from the airport is with the one and only HaJo Becker. I love these wines and love discussing wine with Hans Joseph.

For those who do not know the wines. The backstory is that shortly after graduating from Geisenheim he discovered a wine that had accidentally gone dry in the cellar and he loved it. When he took over the family domain in 1971 he immediately decided to focus primarily on dry wines. A extremely radical concept in 1971. And he says led to an immediate loss of all his customers. He was clearly 40 years ahead of his time.

HaJo

We start with an absolutely stunning 2015 Eltviller Rheinberg Kabinett Trocken which is surprisingly open for a 2015 (sadly 15s are mostly shutting down hard). I just looked and this wine does not appear to be available in the U.S. or elsewhere? Need to get to the bottom of this. I want a case.

Then on to the 2016s. They are showing 16s because they are always behind everyone else. In short it is a beautiful collection of balanced wines that are drinking extremely well know. I love 2016 and happy to have the vintage in between 2015 which is closed and 2017 which will be hard to get. HaJo uses the word harmonic to describe the vintage.

One particular highlight was the 2016 Walkenberg Spatlese Trocken oh and a 2000 Berg Bildstock Spatlese Trocken that wondefully illustrate the magic of Becker.

We taste 2015 Spatburgunders from a vintage that HaJo says was ideal for Spätburgunder. The wines are fantastic and in the world of Pinot great values (I think these will be around $40-50 in the U.S.). I love the minerality in these wines. HaJo mentioned he uses a technique to press his Spätburgunder that originated in 1920 and has long been forgotten. It has something to do with gently exploding the grapes to create an almost carbonic like effect during fermentation.

After the formal tasting we begin a feast of Sushi and Sashimi that the Beckers have organized from their favorite local Japanese chef.

Then we tour the winery, not my first time here, yet still geek out on a place that looks frozen in time - HaJo says we have not changed in 50 years (with the exception of his glass stoppers). I curious how the glass stoppers will change the long term aging of these wines but also delighted to see they drink so well young.

Then a few in our group (not me) join HaJo on his daily swim in the Rhein!

I truly feel it is an honor to taste with an iconoclast who has been making wine for close to 60 years!
 
Sounds great. I've tried to warm to the Becker wines over the years but have never really gotten a handle on them. Probably more a function of my spotty tasting exposure than anything else.

But I like the fact that he served you sushi and sashimi!
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
Sounds great. I've tried to warm to the Becker wines over the years but have never really gotten a handle on them. Probably more a function of my spotty tasting exposure than anything else.
Click to expand...

This.
 
originally posted by Robert Dentice:

I will try to add a small post on each of the visits.
Click to expand...

No more additions to the comments above? I keep taking days off from work so that I can read what else you have to share about Vollenweider, Weiser-Künstler, Müller, Wasenhaus, Vetter, Falkenstein, ...
 
originally posted by John M:
originally posted by Robert Dentice:

I will try to add a small post on each of the visits.
Click to expand...

No more additions to the comments above? I keep taking days off from work so that I can read what else you have to share about Vollenweider, Weiser-Künstler, Müller, Wasenhaus, Vetter, Falkenstein, ...
Click to expand...

I'm also keen on hearing more about the sites visited

and would love to hear about trip logistics, as well.

Cheers!
 
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