e uropean Fine wine magazineextract of Fine 4/2010 Deutschland · Österreich · S c h w e i z · Skandinavien · G rossbritannien · U S a · A u s t r a l i e n 4 / 2010 Deutschland € 15 Österreich € 16,90 i ta l i e n € 18,50 Schweiz chf 30,00 Foto: Rui Camilo, Wiesbaden, für Tre Torri Foto: Rui Camilo, Wiesbaden, für Tre Können Rezepte D a S w e i n m a g a z i n Geschichten erzählen? Dies ist die zentrale Frage, die sich der Tre Torri Verlag bei jeder Buchidee stellt, egal, ob es sich um Bücher von Spitzenköchen, um Themen-, Marken- oder Weinbücher handelt. Für Tre Torri sind Kochbücher mehr als Rezeptsammlungen. Das Team ist überzeugt: Nur wenn der Inhalt eine Geschichte erzählt, lebt der Genuss in der Erinnerung fort. Tre Torri. Der Verlag für Essen, Trinken und Genuss. Frauen im Wein: Corinne Mentzelopoulos Stuart Pigott: Der Rang des deutschen Weins Armin Diel in der Bourgogne Schott Zwiesel Weingut Dr. Heger 25 Weihnachts-Champagner Günther Jauchs Weingut von Othegraven Deutschlands Weinelite Harmonie der Aromen Château Mouton Rothschild Die 1000 besten Weine 50 Jahrgänge Bernkasteler Doctor VDP. Die Prädikatsweingüter Hans Stefan Steinheuer Weinprobe & Kunst 432 Seiten · € 29,90 (D) 512 Seiten · € 100,00 (D) 256 Seiten · € 49,90 (D) 288 Seiten · € 99,00 (D) SÜ ss wein-ikonen ...überall, wo es gute Bücher gibt oder unter www.tretorri.de The Doctor’s Treasure Mosel, vineyard and time Text: Till Ehrlich Photos: AlEx HabErmEhl if wine is a cultural asset and if one appreciates the unique, the specific and the historical in wine — then the writing and the speaking arts have a problem: the more stories that are told, the more we get entangled in them and the more we lose sight of the most important thing: the wine itself­ — a treasure that can hardly be expressed in language. To talk about the wines that grow in the bernkastler Doctor vineyard, is not to get embroiled in historicized tales, but to unwind the cocoon­ — spun by gods as a thread of fortune around the Doctor wine. What has happened to the wine over time? And what has happened to the vineyard site and what is the story of the people who have grown vines there? Noble bank at the moselle: The Doctorberg above bernkastel 28 29 F i n e 4 / 2010 F i n e m o S e l The estates Wegeler and Dr. Thanisch held the value proposition of the vineyard over a hundred years up today. Wegeler Estates his place is affecting­ — even when viewed tied in a circle on a pole, and whose fruit-bear- years. They have sustained and developed the tra- if one perceives wine growing as part of agri- Tfrom afar. it is situated at the bend of a river, ing shoots grow upwards. This typical mosel vine dition of finestr ieslings, which was started by the culture then it is about the balance between man at the foot of a steep, moderately high mountain. training goes back to roman times; it appears electors of Trier in the 17th century. This conti- and cultivated nature. if nature is too strong the in the north and east the mountain is protected ancient; each plant is manually cared for in every nuity in time is the real treasure of the Doctor. it vineyard transforms itself back to wilderness. if by woods and in the south the light of the sun is aspect. Each one is an individual and has always has to do with ethos, with attitude. man dominates a product of eno-industry can reflected and enhanced by the mosel river. Very had its price in the Doctorberg. On hundred gold it is a challenging task, not only to produce a emerge. man fails and weather and climate as part special however, is the mountain’s black soil. This mark was the sum that Geheimrat (privy coun- fine wine, but also to safeguard high quality for of nature are unpredictable. Despite this, conti- non-colour absorbs the light of the sun in the most cilor) Julius Wegeler paid in November 1900 for several generations. The fact that the Wegeler and nuity prevails in the Doctorberg. it is rewarding perfect way. it is slate from the Devonian age, one vine, when he took the opportunity to buy Thanisch-Erben müller-burggraef wineries suc- to manually produce extraordinary wine in this made poriferous and brittle by time. its layers and about a third of the Doctorberg. it is a sum that is ceeded since the late 19th century in defending extremely steep slope with low yields, since for lamina store the heat and retain such an amount equivalent now to about eight times that value in and re-creating the value of the Doctor for each centuries the Doctorwine has been intricately con- of humidity on their cool face, that is turned away euros. it was not a spontaneous buy, but an oper- vintage is a stroke of luck for the German wine nected with the promise of great quality, which is from the light, so that microorganism grow which ation considered for many years. Until today it is growing culture, which has had its own trials and treasured and appreciated as a fundamental value. enliven the mineral rich soil and prepare nourish- the highest sum ever paid for a German vineyard. tribulations in the 20th century and which very Which other site can raise such a claim? World- ment and fertility for the roots of the vines which The fortunes of the wineries founded by Julius nearly has destroyed its own tradition. wide there are certainly only a few in this league. grow deep. They work in the airless depth of the Wegeler — and therefore also for the property in The danger came, in legislative form, with the This was confirmed by the Fine tasting of fifty mountain and create a plethora of nutrients and the Doctorberg — are still in the hands of the 1971 German wine law. Overnight the Doctorberg vintages from the berkasteler Doctor. minerals which allow an enduring plant such as the Wegeler family. For today, Dr. Tom Drieseberg, was bigger by two hectares. The Doctorberg was The range of this tasting comprised vintages vine to prosper and enable a wine growing tradi- who jointly with his wife Anja Wegeler- Drieseberg redesigned on the drawing board and the shady between 2009 and 1921. The tasting did not take tion to emerge. bears the responsibility, the acquisition by Julius east and south east plots were added that are place under the spell of a competitive spirit; it was Such are the preconditions of nature for the Wegeler was more than just a smart commercial situated in the Vee of the valley between the also not its aim to find out which of the wineries growing of vines at the Doctorberg. however, decision. The Geheimrat was a well known con- Doctor berg and the castle. The ordinary was produces the better wines. Though, it became very what is the nature of this tradition? Old planta- noisseur and patron of the arts and culture. he diluting the extraordinary. however, both families clear, how strong the shaping influence of time is tion boards, etchings and photographs show how has set the seal on this vineyard as a cultural asset stood up against this. rolf Wegeler battled for for the Doctor’s riesling. before the great turn- densely the vines were planted. One is almost through the price and the value expressed by it. the winery Geheimrat »J« Wegeler and Walter ing point, the Second World War, wines were shocked and asks where the nutrients should come Since then no other opportunity for buying land ­Müller for the winery Thanisch-Erben müller- not vinified significantly differently than today. from that are necessary for such dense plantations. in this 3.2 hectare-sized steep slope has come up. burggraef. They fought a tough fifteen–year-long Whether it is the unique Trockenbeerenaus- And if one sees the heart shape training of the vines indeed the two main owners of the Doctor- battle against the German Federal Government lese from 1921, the youthful; 1937 Spätlese, the on wooden poles, the astonishment is even big- berg site, the wineries Wegeler and Thanisch- opposing the enlargement of the sites. And in the refined 1921 Auslese by Thanisch or the untamed ger. What is done in other places with long shoots Erben müller-burggraef, have preserved the end they won. Since then the Doctorberg is back Wegeler 2009 Trockenbeerenauslese — yet all the in a wire frame is realized here with two shoots, promise of value of this site over the last hundred to its traditional dimensions. wines had something in common, despite their 30 31 F i n e 4 / 2010 F i n e m o S e l Steep hill went the doctor’s wines, steep downhill going down to Bernkastel. differences: a complex, vital acidity and a deep quick effects, not at least because these wines are the production of wine in a moderate way, so that firm fruity quintessence — present in each of them mainly marketed three years following the harvest. the sensitive structure of the wine was not surren- and different at any point in time. his aging abil- To this day the two main important producers in dered to the force of technology. ity is a characteristic of the Doctor. the Doctorberg vineyard have resisted this mar- The great Fine tasting ended in the great art The 1937 Spätlese by Thanisch with its vital ket pressure.