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Looking Back on Germany

 

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As part of my ongoing meandering down memory lane, I can across a bunch of pictures from my last trip to Germany. I’ve been to Germany a handful of times since college. First on a summer study abroad learning German at the Sprachinstitut Deutschland in Tübingen. I’ve passed through a number of times since then but my last trip was a handful of years ago. I went to visit a friend who’d move to Bad Homburg, a suburb of Frankfurt.

In the midst of the multi-lingual trip (English, German, and very bad Serbian-on my part-in their home and German and Italian on the street) I not only had a wonderful reunion with a dear friend I hadn’t seen in years, but I also got to try and buy a lot of wine. My trip even coincided with a small wine festival in nearby Mainz. While I tried a lot of Sylvaner, Müller-Thurgau, Weiß, Grau, and Spätburgunder, and more. And in fact I know I bought and brought home a Müller-Thurgau, the only notes I could find were for that emperor of grapes, Riesling.

Dr. Loosen Blue Slate Riesling, 2016

Popular producer Dr. Loosen creates a wide range of Riesling wines in all styles and price categories. This is, in fact, one of the few German producers we can (semi) easily find in Turkey. The Blue Slate Riesling comes from some of the winery’s estate vineyards in the Mosel villages of Bernkastel, Graach, and Wehlen which, you might have guessed, contain blue slate. One of Dr. Loosen’s simplier wines, this Kabinett style Riesling is nonetheless a lovely example of the fruity character Riesling possesses.

Alcohol: 12% abv

Color: brilliant medium lemon

Nose: Mineral, lemon, grapefruit, apricot, nutmeg, ginger

Palate: Very reflective of the aromas sensed on the nose. A bright pop of citrussy acidity burst in my mouth leaving in its wake a dry  and clean sensation of grapefruit, ginger, and nutmeg. Light plus body with a medium finish. Very pleasant.

Geheimer Rat Dr. von Basserman-Jordan Hohenmorgen Grosses Gewächs Riesling, 2016

This wine with its oh so pretty and so very German label belongs to a winery whose name is as big of a mouthful as the wine itself: Geheimer Rat Dr. von Basserman Jordan. For 300 years this family has been making wine in Deidesheim in the Pfalz. Adhering to the VDP (Verbandt Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter) system, this particular Riesling, from their Deidesheim Hohenmorgen vineyards, is a Grosses Gewächs (think grand cru) wine. It is also organic.

Harvested in mid-October 2016, the wine remained sur lie after fermentation until May 2017.

Alcohol: 13% abv

Color: intense, bright lemon

Nose: A little shy at first, it opened to display delicate white peach and apricot with a sparkling citrus edge.

Palate: Crisp and every so slightly savory on the palate, with bright flavors of lemon, white peach, and mineral. A firm acidity was braced by just a touch of spritz. Rather austere actually (but no less lovely for it) this was a wine to age. Not that I did, obviously.

Geheimer Rat Dr. von Basserman-Jordan Kabinett Feinherb Riesling, 2017

I had two wines from Weingut Geheimer Rat Dr. von Basserman-Jordan. The dry, GG Hohenmorgen above, and a lovely Kabinett Feinherb. “Feinherb” is a funny term. Just when we’ve all finally got the hang of the various Prädikats terminology and suddenly there’s this new word!  It is not to be feared however, especially if you like sweet wines as I do. Feinherb is not a regulated term in Germany but in practice it sits somewhere around the same sweetness level as “halb-trocken” or “half-dry” wines. Neither dry nor very sweet, if you see this term then know the wine you’ll find inside is either medium-sweet or just a touch more so.

Alcohol: 10%

Color: starbright almost colorless platinum

Nose: Pronounced aromas of ripe stone fruits like peaches and nectarines, fruit blossom, and a hint of candied lemon peel.

Palate: Like the aromas, the flavor intensity was pronounced with juicy stone fruits, apricots, honey, and fresh lime. While it might technically be slightly more than half-dry, zesty acidity balanced the sweetness beautifully giving the impression of a wine only barely off-dry. An absolutely delightful wine. I drank this without food but would love to have this again with something spicy in the Thai, Indian, or Chinese food family.

Schloss Johannisberg Rotlack, 2017

Prior to finding this Rotlack (likely in the Frankfurt Duty Free), I’d tasted the Gelblack which I managed to find here in Turkey. Schloss Johannisberg is one of the oldest continuous Riesling producers in the world. 1200 years of history in fact (and Riesling only since 1720). This VDP producer in the Rheingau ingeniously color codes its wines. “Lack” in German means “paint”. Schloss Johannisberg uses a different color capsule for each of its wines to denote both the wine’s style and quality; from the golden Goldlack Trocken (the highest quality dry wine) to deep purple Violetlack Eiswein (an opulent wine produced only when conditions permit).

The Rotlack, or red capsule, is a kabinett style wine with just a smidge of sweetness perfectly balanced against Riesling’s high acidity.

Alcohol: 11%

Color: starbright pale lemon

Nose: Pronounced and glorious characteristic Riesling aromas of beeswax, honey, apricot, and a bare whiff of petrol.

Palate: I couldn’t find a tech sheet for this to see what was the amount of residual sugar but I imagine it wasn’t much. A beautiful expression of Riesling incorporating all the aromas sensed on the nose and adding an almost searing acidity to give the wine an overall light, elegant, and dry feeling.

Anselmann Spätlese Trocken Riesling, 2012

Until I encountered this wine from Weingut Anselmann, I was totally unaware that a spätlese (late harvest) wine could be dry! In fact, of the Prädikats wine categories, the first three (kabinett, spätlese, auslese) can all be vinified dry. Blew my mind.

Based in the Pfalz, Weingut Anselmann has been a family winery for over 450 years. While some 40% of the grapes they cultivate are red; Riesling still plays a huge role in their winery.

Alcohol: 12.5%

Color: brilliant medium lemon

Nose: Intense aromas of stone fruit, grapefruit citrus, beeswax, and lanolin.

Palate: This crisp, fruity wine followed the nose faithfully with peach, apricot, grapefruit, and beeswax with the additional expression of honey and citrus peel.

I love German Riesling in all its iterations so very, very much!