T H E M AGAZINE OF THE GER M AN WINE INSTIT U TE oCHSLE TraveL & ENJOYMENT EXPERIENCE WINE Wine KnowLEDge Overview of ALL ALL YOU NEED to GERMAN wine TIPS FOR Know FROM AHR growing regions THE ACTIVE to ZELLertaL Wine is the nightingale of drinks. Voltaire David Schildknecht, The Wine Advocate, USA Advocate, The Wine David Schildknecht, this to us. has revealed generations of vintners which of Riesling and the work several greatness I do indeed feel deep humility in view of the durable white wine in the world. Gian Luca Mazella, wine journalist, Rome German wine is very popular in my country as it today, is all over the world. Riesling especially so, which even in Italy is seen as the finest and most Wine is bottled poetry. Robert Louis Stevenson Paul Grieco, Restaurant Hearth, New York Paul Grieco,Hearth, New Restaurant German wine! in America… Thank god for produced the antithesis of those German wines are German wines, whether it is the inimitable Riesling or the deli- cate Pinot Noir, are enjoyable and wonderful with all types of food with their refreshing acidity and focused, linear style. Jeannie Cho Lee, MW, Hongkong A miracle has happened in Germany. A generation ago there were good German wines but you had to search hard to find some. Today they are available in abundance in every price range. Stuart Pigott, English author and wine critic Consumers’ and opinion makers’ fanaticism for dry wine and against the threat of global gustatory uni- formity, gives German vintners an opportunity to flourish with that dazzling stylistic diversity of which they are uniquely capable. Jancis Robinson, The Oxford Companion to Wine It’s a pity that one one that a pity It’s wine. stroke cannot Kurt Tucholsky IMPRINT PUBLISHER Deutsches Weininstitut GmbH Gutenbergplatz 3-5 55116 Mainz www.deutscheweine.de TEXT www.genuesslich.com LAYOUT www.conceptfrankfurt.de PRINT www.kunze-und-partner.de FirST Edition August 2011 Definition of Oechsle: The riper the grape, the more sugar the juice contains. Measuring the must weight enables the vintner to make an inference about the ripeness of the grapes. The measurement is expressed in degrees Oechsle in Germany (see page 58). CONT E NT S 365 Contents Welcome to wine country Germany 6 German wine history in fast 12 motion An overview of all grape varieties17 German wine 22 growing regions The biography of wine 50 Wine means 52 work The label56 Germany 60 sparkles Enjoy with pleasure Actively 66 experience wine62 German wines and 70 international cuisine 356 WEL com E to W in E C O U ntry G E RMANY Welcome to Zeitgeist then and now: Lubentiushof winery in Niederfell, Mosel WEL com E to W in E C O U ntry G E RMANY 367 wine country Germany 358 WEL com E to W in E C O U ntry G E RMANY 1_ 2_ 3_ 4_ 5_ 1_ Weingut Schloss Wackerbarth, Radebeul, Sachsen WG, Veitshöchheim WG, 2_ Winzerkeller Sommerach, Sommerach, Franken L 3_ Vinothek Divino, Nordheim, Franken hristiane Jeromin hristiane C eistner, © eistner, 4_ Weingut am Stein, Würzburg, Franken L 5_ Weingut Horcher, Kallstadt, Pfalz 6_ Weingut Carl Koch Erben, Oppenheim, Rheinhessen eistner 6_ L 7_ Weingut Julius, Gundheim, Rheinhessen 8_ Weingut Meintzinger, Frickenhausen, Franken Photo 2, 3, 4, 8 and 9: Dieter 9: Dieter 8 and 2, 3, 4, Photo 9_ Weingut Rebhof, Nonnenhorn, Württemberg 6: Dieter Photo + Architektur © Raum 7: Photo 8_ 9_ 7_ WEL com E to W in E C O U ntry G E RMANY 369 offer a set menu with it. There were no clas- sical food combinations associated with the 200 years ago the vintners in Germany did not have an easy German grape varieties. time. During a trip on the Rhine, the world traveller Georg Forster A lot has changed since then. When travelling – who had sailed around the world with Captain James Cook – to foreign countries the Germans learned wrote about the German wine-growers: how closely related wine is to the Mediter- ranean lifestyle and food culture. Just as in “For six years he gets by miserably or anticipates the purchase France or Italy they wanted to enjoy wine with dinner at home. The winemakers in- price of the good grape harvest which usually happens every creasingly made their wines dry, and many seven or eight years; when the wine is drinkable and available pioneers were initially ridiculed for this by in good quantity, he will indulge himself in the profit for a while their colleagues! With a young generation [...] and the following year will be a beggar again as before.” of chefs a refined regional cuisine develo- ped. Since the 1990s, cookery shows have Views of the Lower Rhine, 1790, Chapter I had a boom on television. Cocooning – the life in a comfortably designed home, which Thankfully much has changed since then, and today, the includes a high-quality kitchen designed for “green” job of vintner is more in demand than ever. cooking together with friends – has been a trend for years. Dry German wine is part of this new lifestyle. Kissed awake from slumber wines in television cooking shows. And, at a Modern dynamism time when the Germans like to spend their The wines and their appearance have changed holidays in their own country anyway, a ho- over several generations. The young, highly liday at a wine estate is in fashion. The wine trained winemakers from Germany have tra- For about 30 years, the German wine scene has growing regions have recognised the tourism velled the world and gathered experience in been characterised by increasing dynamism. potential of their landscapes and products. France, California, Australia and elsewhere. Until the 1980s, football and cars “made in Many came home and started clearing out Germany” were two fundamental things the New restaurant culture, new wines the cellar. Modern stainless steel tanks and quality of which even the most critical Ger- barrique barrels were purchased, and the yield mans themselves were convinced of. Since was reduced by green harvest – the thinning-out then, German wine has gained an equally What has happened? In the 1980s, a grow- of unripe berries to concentrate the strength of worthy image on home soil. You need to ing interest in fine cuisine – especially in the vine on the few remaining grapes. Fathers understand that for a long time only wines French and Italian style – started up in and grandfathers would look on in horror as from other countries such as France and Italy Germany. Gourmet magazines proclaimed the junior generation simply cut off healthy were deemed to be great by wine enthusiasts the doctrine of dry wine with meals. Italian grapes in the vineyard! But the wines were in Germany. The fact that Rheingau Riesling and French gourmet restaurants in Germany of a new and better quality. Many young wines had sold at higher prices than many a offered a large selection of wines from these vintners introduced a completely changed Bordeaux wine in the past, had been forgotten. countries. German wines at that time were range of wine, planted new varieties of grapes, mainly made in a sweet style: “Too sweet”, designed modern labels and presented their Today, wines from German wine regions as most gourmets said. It was not surprising wines in chic new wine shops. are typically represented again on the wine that local wines had not managed to find a lists of top restaurants. Success in national place on gourmet tables. Furthermore, of- and international wine competitions create fering meals was only a secondary objective maximum attention, every bookshop offers of the traditional wine bar. In good German books and guides on German wines. Know- tradition you would have a bottle of wine in ledgeable sommeliers recommend German the company of friends but not necessarily 3510 WEL com E to W in E C O U ntry G E RMANY Strength in unity The German winegrowers’ cooperatives have developed very dynami- cally in recent years. They all invested heavily in quality management, investments which have paid off and can be detected in the taste of HOW DO YOU BECOME A VINTNER? the wines. You can see this for yourself, particularly in the regions where the co-operatives have the greatest economic importance What is the best job in the world? Vintner, of course! This is de- and market about 80 percent of the wines: the regions Baden and monstrated by numerous celebrities, who one day fulfil their dream Württemberg. Nationwide around one third of Germany’s vineyard and buy a vineyard. But that is not enough to be able to produce areas are farmed by cooperative members. good wines, as the incredibly versatile craft of winemaking must first be learned. Also the number of female winegrowers has been New winegrowers in the country increasing for years. The profession is no longer a male domain! German universities enjoy a high reputation worldwide. A “Geisen- heimer” (graduate from the Viticultural Institute Geisenheim) is This new approach can be seen today in many wines. For example, a term known throughout the winemaking world. Another well- in addition to the classic Weißherbst (rosé) there is now the Blanc de known educational institution is the University of Heilbronn. The Noir, a white wine made from red grapes, which was immediately colleges of Bingen, Kaiserslautern and Ludwigshafen together with successful in the market. Barrique wines, which had once been re- the Dienstleistungszentrum Ländlicher Raum (Service Centre for jected by the wine commissions during the testing of quality wines Rural Areas) in Neustadt an der Weinstraße offer a course in Viti- because of their lack of typicity, have long since been on the lists culture and Enology.