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Yoon Ha
Oct 5, 2009

Germany Day One

I recently returned from a visit to the Rheinhessen, Nahe and Mosel regions of Germany.  I was a recipient of the Riesling Enrichment Scholarship offered by the Guild of Sommeliers and I’d like to share my experience with you. 
 
The pace was vigorous with 4-5 appointments daily.  Our days started at 7:30 AM with breakfast and ended well into the evening after dinner.  I landed in Frankfurt on Sunday morning and was driven to Hotel Merian in Oppenheim, where I was joined by other American sommeliers.  As Sunday was our travel day, we had the rest of the day to ourselves until dinner with Johannes Geil-Bierschenk of Weingut Geil I. Erben, a VDP estate, later in the evening. 
 
The seven of us decided to tour the village.  Oppenheim is an old city that dates back to the Medieval period.  The streets are cobble-stoned and narrow lined with tall adjoined buildings with arched roofs displaying colorful trim accents and flower boxes.  The highlights of our tour included a quaint town square, the the Katharinenkirche, Oppenheim’s main church and a vineyard of what appeared to be Riesling or Scheurebe.
When we returned, the proprietor of the hotel offered to drive us to an open house at Weingut Grohl, according to him, the best producer in the area.  After a ten- minute drive through gently rolling vineyards, we exited the van, entered through huge gates and into a frenzy of activity.  Most German wineries are located right in the village so they’re easy to miss (look for the plaque on the wall).   Typically the huge gates open to a big courtyard to accommodate trucks bringing in fruit with the winery built in a U-shape around it.  As harvest was still a week away, the courtyard at Grohl was turned into a true Weingarten, filled with picnic tables where people enjoying schnitzel prepared from the large tented kitchen.  In a large L-shaped room to the right, there was a mind-boggling display of about 70 wines to taste, from sekt to cabernet sauvignon and everything in between.  We learned that this was a once a year event in which every bottling of the current vintage was available to taste.  I found the quality level to be very good; the standouts included a 2007 Alte Reben Riesling Trocken, a 2008 Scheurebe Trocken and 2006 Spatburgunder, St. Laurent and Fruhburgunder also from old vines.
We met Johannes Geil-Bierschenk of Weingut Geil I. Erben for dinner at Weingewolbe, a quaint restaurant in Bermersheim, a village 15 miles southwest of Oppenheim.  Johannes was tall, slender and appeared to be in his early-mid thirties.  Weingut Geil is located in the village Bechtheim and dates back to 1821.  They hold just over 27 hectares and produce 18,000 cases annually.  85% of their production is white, with Riesling accounting for 35%.  Bechtheim is located in a valley floor west of the Rhein where the soil composition is mostly chalky loam and loess so the wines showed a generosity in both flavor and texture.  Over a delicious dinner of salad, beef carpaccio and roasted local chicken he informed us that he had recently acquired complete autonomy of the weingut from his father, Karl.  His greatest impact since taking over was reducing yield in the vineyard, currently averaging 50hl/ha.  He was also experimenting with cultured yeasts and acknowledged that both strains had their advantages and drawbacks.  Fermentation for the whites takes place in old stück of various sizes in a cool cellar.  The white wines are aged in old stück on the lees without stirring and racked once before bottling. 
Johannes had brought seven wines to share with dinner.  With the salad course we enjoyed a Scheurebe trocken and a Muskateller trocken, both 2008.  The wines were very expressive with white floral aromas and yellow fruit over a stony minerality, ending with bright acidity and a pleasant hint of bitterness.   Next we enjoyed the Riesling trocken and Silvaner spätlese trocken “S” (indicating reserve) both 2008 and from their top site Bechtheimer Geyersberg.  The wines showed more power, depth and weight, especially the silvaner.  The rich minerality of the wines echoed the iron note of the carpaccio while the acid structure paralleled the dill vinaigrette.   The main course of local chicken with hedgehog mushrooms (it was peak season for mushrooms in Germany) was served with herb boiled potatoes and a mustard cream sauce.  Johannes opened a Scheurebe Kabinett Bechtheimer Heligkreuz 2008 and a Riesling spätlese “S” Bechtheimer Geyersberg 2003.  The RS gave these wines more presence, lending to their ability to respond well to the deeper flavors and the increased weight of the dish.  The Riesling was especially delicious and well balanced given that it was warm vintage in which Kabinetts were scarce. He said that this wine was just now gaining its identity as it was very awkward in its youth. Johannes said that the oechsle was over 100 degrees but the wine did not seem loose at all.  I asked if the wine was acidulated he said no.  He said that the temptation was there, but he resisted.  He elaborated that it was an option of either creating the balance early by adding acid and risk it coming too aggressive later or allowing for the balance to come naturally through aging.  The wine was perfect with the dish, showing nice harmony and ichness.
 
As dinner concluded I was very excited about the future of the Rheinesseen, a region I had largely ignored. Driving back to the hotel, our guide, Michael Schemmel of the German Wine Institute believed the Rheinhessen to be the most exciting region in Germany.  “Nowhere else in Germany will you see this type of collective dedication to quality happening so quickly.”  Perhaps this was because there was so much improvement to be made in the first place.  It was, after all, the home of Liebfraulmilche.  The bull’s eye accuracy of Michael’s assessment would be realized tomorrow with our visit with Klaus Peter Keller.  Stay tuned for day two.

 

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