With nothing in my armoury of German vocabulary other than ‘Auf Weidersehen, Pet’ I set off for Frankfurt and a tour of some of the German wine regions care of the generous Reh Kendermann MW scholarship bursary. Picking up the car I was faced with driving on the wrong side of the road (for the first time in my life) at night in torrential rain while the black skies were split in two by savage lightning. Talk about a baptism of fire. Driving with my nose glued to the windscreen my terrified passenger and I arrived shaken, not stirred at our destination.
The clouds did little to dampen our spirits as we headed out into the glorious Mosel valley to visit Markus Molitor. Staring out at vineyards that hung precariously over the Mosel River it was a wonder that anyone managed to work the vines at all. Tasting through Molitor’s extensive range you could only sit in awe at the sheer variety of styles that Riesling can produce, from bone dry mineral driven power to lusciously sweet and vibrant. It was a tasting that could have continued all day... as it was it left us two hours late for our next appointment with biodynamic guru Clemens Busch.
Our tasting with Busch really highlighted how difficult the 2012 vintage is proving for everyone, whether conventionally farmed or biodynamic. Incessant rain and humid conditions were taking their toll on fruit set and the disease pressure was sky high. As soon as a fennel tea or other preparation has been applied to combat botrytis and mildew then another rain storm washed away the protection. That, combined with hail cutting swathes through the vineyards, was making for a stressful time. Nonetheless we joyously tucked into the range of wines from 2011 and 2010. The dry wines were profound to taste, rather like reading Shakespeare you had the feeling that every time you took a sip you would discover something new. As with the majority of premium producers in the Mosel their cuvees were based on soil types with red, grey and blue schist all producing dramatically different wines.
As we made our way back through the Mosel valley, the heavens opened once again and we all felt a pang for the poor farmers who had spent the day fighting the good fight against mildew. One step forward, two steps back sprang to mind. To hide from the worst of the weather we took refuge in an old fashioned restaurant, where the English translation of the menu was an endless source of entertainment.
The next day showed a little more meteorological promise with a splash of blue sky, perfect for exploring the Rheingau, an area of fairy tale beauty. The banks of the Rhine are alternatively covered in forest and vineyard, studded with beautiful castles and impressive churches. You can still see the scars of disused terraces where winegrowing had simply proved too uneconomical with the lack of value attached to these exceptional and age worthy wines, or where growers had discovered that the aspect or soil were not quite right for the high quality demanded from such inaccessible sites.
Sunday being a day of rest meant most wineries were closed, however a tour to the Rheingau is not complete without a visit to Schloss Johannisberg, the home of the Spätlese. They were hosting an open air concert so the doors were open wide and welcoming. The wines of the Rheingau are distinct from their Mosel cousins for where the wines of the Mosel are searingly fresh and linear with lime, white blossom and flinty minerality dancing across the palate, the Rheingau displays a power and breadth to them, richly endowed with pear, quince and golden stone fruits. The extreme versatility and adaptability of the grape was once again being clearly demonstrated. It was not long before I was wandering the vineyards as if they were my own... one can but dream.
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