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Mosel Fine Wines “The Independent Review of Mosel Riesling”

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Mosel Fine Wines “The Independent Review of Mosel Riesling” Mosel Fine Wines “The Independent Review of Mosel Riesling” By Jean Fisch and David Rayer Sekt – The Sparkling Joy of Riesling Mosel Perspective: Let’s Talk About Sekt – The Sparkling Joy of Riesling Sekt has a long tradition in Germany going back to the 18th century. The Germans crave for sparkling wine and drink more of it than any other nation. Riesling, with its acidity, is ideal for crisp and lively wines. So why is Sekt not all the rage internationally? Or is it about to happen? In this background article, we provide everything you ever wanted to know about Sekt but were too afraid to ask. We show how the specific historic and economic context led to the almost ruin of the German Sekt and how, in modern days, new enterprising and independent Sekt producers have emerged, pushing the boundaries of quality. We also provide the probably most comprehensive review of (Mosel) Sekt ever undertaken, with over 60 Sekt sampled over the last few weeks. There is quite some good Sekt out there, as you will read, and not only from the Mosel as you will see! Last but least, the vast majority of the Sekt on offer will not break the bank. After the dry wine revolution, we are convinced that a Sekt movement will soon follow suit. www.moselfinewines.com page 55 Issue No 30 - March 2016 Mosel Fine Wines “The Independent Review of Mosel Riesling” By Jean Fisch and David Rayer Sekt – A Roller-Coaster History Driven by Huge National Demand A FUNNY STORY TO START WITH : WHERE DOES THE WORD SEKT COME FROM ? Sekt stands for sparkling wine in German. If you now expect the word Sekt to be derived from some noble Celtic goddess of joy, you are probably wrong, if legend is to be believed. Its origin seems to be … English! The name is said to be derived from Sack, to be precise , the English term to describe the sweet sherry which was the rage in the 17th and 18th centuries in Britain. There is even a precise “invention date” linked to the word Sekt. How come? The story goes that, around 1825, the then well-known actor Ludwig Devrient was playing Sir John Falstaf f in Shakespeare’s Henri IV at the Berlin Theatre. In this piece, Sir John famou sly asks “Give me a cup of sack, boy” (Part 1, Act 2, Scene 4). For some obscure reason, this had been erroneously translated as “Bring er mir Sect, Schurke ” in German . The actor was said to be a regular at a well-known Berlin tavern of the day and a member of a little circle of intellectuals known to overindulge the latest craze: the fizzy wines of Champagne. Ludwig Devrient is said to have shouted to the Inn owner “Bring er mir Sect, Schurke ” one evening (our guess is that this did not happen at the beg inning of the evening … but this is purely speculative). Not knowing what he meant , the tavern owner simply brought him his regular, i.e. sparkling Champagne. The name was born (and if the story is not true, it is so good that it ought to be!). SEKT HAS A LONG TRADITION … GOING BACK TO THE 18 TH AND 19 TH CENTURIES ! The history of sparkling wine in Germany goes back earlier than the beginning of the 19th century. There are numerous records of German noble families having tests with wine (re)fermenting in the bottle, as was done in Champagne, already in the 18th century. This should not come as a surprise. There were close merchant ties between the two countries. In fact, many of the Champagne houses have German or Lorraine origins. We only want to mention Krug, Roederer or Mumm. However, the process of disgorgement invented in Champagne and which was key to stabilize the production of sparkling wine was a pretty well guarded secret. Much of what was produced in Germany in the 18th century was “hand -made”, artisanal and included numerous stories of injuries as bottles simply exploded. It is only after France annexed part of today’s Germany after the Napoleonic wars that the production of Sekt started in earnest in Germany. This came at the hand of Germans, who went to Champagne where they learned the trade at the big houses (notably at Veuve Clicquot) before coming back and set up shop in their home regions. German production of sparkling wines dates back to 1826, when Georg Christian Kessler (1787 –1842), a businessman from the Württemberg region who had worked at the Champagne house Veuve Clicquot from 1807 to 1826, founded his own G. C. Kessler & Co. winery in Esslingen am Neckar. Sekt in the Mosel started about a decade later, in 1836, again at the hands of a former employee of Veuve Clicquot. GERMAN SEKT | A HIGHLY REGARDED AND HIGHLY PRICED WINE In a matter of 20 years, from 1830 to 1850, Sekt wineries popped up throughout Germany. These include some of the big names still active today, including Kupferberg, Söhnlein, Henkell, Rotkäppchen, Deinhard, etc. These Sekt wineries rapidly grew to huge operations as the German public immediately fell in love with Sekt. By 1911, there were 12 million bottles of Sekt produced in Germany (compared to 28 million bottles at the same time in Champagne). This love of Sekt continues to this day, as the average German consumes a massive 4 bottles of Sekt per year (elderly and infants included!). The DWI, the German Wine Institute, reckons that every fifth bottle of sparkling wine opened in the world is done so in Germany! www.moselfinewines.com page 56 Issue No 30 - March 2016 Mosel Fine Wines “The Independent Review of Mosel Riesling” By Jean Fisch and David Rayer Despite its popularity, Sekt was far from being a lowly product. Price lists from around 1900 shows that Sekt was highly appreciated throughout the world. It was priced as much as that of the leading brands of Champagne of the day in the US and still about half the price of Champagne in Germany (where Champagne faced the additional costs of import and duties). The German public loved their Sekt and were ready to pay for it. Inland dem and was so robust that Sekt even got the ultimate accolade: Its very own special tax, introduced in 1902 … to finance the imp erial war fleet. Ironically (or was it to be expected?), this tax still exists today and is not unsubstantial: Every bottle of sparkling wine sold in Germany is taxed with €1.02 per bottle (however, we can reassure our readers here: the proceeds are no longer purpose bound). THE MOSEL (IN PARTICULAR THE SAAR ) WAS A MAJOR PROVIDER OF BASE WINE FOR SEKT The cooler Mosel, with its higher acidity and often unripe vintages, was predestined for the production of Sekt. Planting expanded hugely, in particular in the cooler Saar, after the 1880s as major houses set up shop and started the production of Sekt. One of the most iconic developments was that of Johann Heinrich Wagner, the great-grandfather of Christiane Wagner of Weingut Dr. Wagner in Saarburg. He cleared a massive 12 ha area for winemaking (Schloss Saarfels) and built a huge cellar with its dedicated railway station (much as in Champagne) to provide the country with Wagner Saar wines. But other grandees of the period were doing the same thing. The highly regarded von Schorlemer Estate built a new winemaking Estate in Serrig (today Weingut Dr. Siemens), with over 15 ha of vineyards to supply Sekt houses, in particular the Kupferberg winery. Sekt was hip and consumers were ready to pay for it: Investments followed as if there was no tomorrow. UNFORTUNATELY , SEKT BECAME A LOW END SWEET SPARKLER IN THE 1950 S-1960 S After World War II, the Sekt industry took unfortunately a turn for the worse. The insatiable demand for sparkling wine paired with the love of anything sweet led to the development of cheaper methods for producing Sekt. In addition, next to Deutscher Sekt (which can only be made from German wine), a category simply called Sekt was introduced, which could be produced from any imported wine. Innovation in the production of sparkling wine, in particular the production in large tanks (called transfer method) transformed Sekt from an aspirational quality product at the turn of the 20th century into a synonym for cheap bubbling plonk by the 1970s. The big names of around the century expanded their production and drastically lowered their prices in a battle to win the price-point war at the national supermarkets. Just to give you an idea of the abysmal hole in which Sekt has fallen: During the Holidays season 2015, there were special offers for these mass- marketed Sekt for €2.49 per bottle in some German supermarkets … and remember, this price includes €1.02 Sekt tax, the price of bottle and cork and logistics! A RENOUVEAU AS WINZERSEKT AS OF THE 1970 S This drift towards “cheap and not so cheerful ” was also aided by the fact that the production of Sekt was tightly regulated by the State. Over the years, an almost monopoly situation had been created around a few large mass-market Sekt wineries. It is only after a court rule put an end to this monopoly in 1976 that Germany saw a quality-minded Sekt industry being reborn under the banner of Winzersekt, which would be the equivalent of the Grower Champagne. Throughout Germany, different small-scale wineries were set up with the objective of producing quality Sekt made from German grapes and wines.
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