Category Archives: Mosel

Jun 20 2013
32 Comments
Germany, Mosel

Monthly Wine Challenge #1: Transportation

My fellow blogger The Drunken Cyclist has put up a nice challenge on his blog the other day. In it, he pretty much encourages us other bloggers to write a themed post to be published by the first week of July around the topic of “transportation”. And, naturally, the post has to be somewhat connected to wine…duh.

The first thing that popped to my mind was the Mosel valley. I have told you many times (and trust me, those who have met me in person suffer even more from that!) how, at times, insanely steep the vineyards at the Mosel can be. How steep, you ask? Well, the Mosel vineyard Bremmer Calmont, which Wikipedia names as one of the steepest vineyards in the world (yes, and that actually means the world and not just America because it is not the “World Series”…), has up to a 68 degrees incline (for the record: 45 degrees is 100% for those who measure it that way). Just sayin’. An article on About.com speaks of “typical inclines between 40 and 60 degrees” along the Mosel. Are you beginning to understand why I am telling you that Mosel wines are seriously under priced? Think of all the hard work that goes into maintainng a vineyard like this…

So how do winemakers transport themselves into these hills to do pruning, and assessing grape quality? And even more importantly, how do they transport the grapes out?

Well, this guy has found the answer:

When you drive down the Mosel on your bike, in your car or on a train, you will notice these metal lines sloping up into the steepest parts. They are necessary to power a piece of machinery that was – I believe – invented in Switzerland: A so called monorack train. The monorack’s track is made of a steel square tube to which a tooth bar is attached on the bottom. The tubes are firmly attached to the ground on poles. The winemakers then hook a monorack train to these rails, complementing the tooth bar. The train is powered by either Diesel, gasoline or even electricity. The tracks use extremely little space and can climb inclines of up to 100%; they even can perform horizontal or vertical curves in a radius of up to four meters. Besides the engine, the train is comprised of a seat or more and a cart-like space to put tools in – or even boxes of grapes at harvest time.

Many steep vineyards still are not using the monorack, or cannot be reached by it because they are too steep. But even with the monorack, harvesting is extremely hard work, getting the grapes from grape pickers and getting them to the waiting monorack tractors. If there are no monoracks, that is even more work. Transportation and labor therefore form very high cost factors in producing these wines – monorack or not.

And what if I tell you that you can still find wines from these winemakers that sell for around $20 to $25. You would call that insane? Well, that is one way. Others call it buyer’s luck…

The monorack is a unique feature in unique landscapes. Keep your eyes open next time you wander the vineyards along Mosel or Neckar in Germany. And admire the guts of the winemakers riding these, or imagine how much fun it would be sitting on one…Monoracks have made transportation in an almost impossible world a tiny bit easier, and at least some more fun.

To me, my love for these wines has in part stemmed from an appreciation for what these vineyards demand from a dedicated winemaker. You can’t use harvesting machinery really, you have to climb slatey soil to reach the steepest outreaches. The prize is clear: Producing some of the proudest, most beautiful and deepest white wines this world knows. I wish we wine drinkers could merit that a bit more…

Please, please watch at least parts of these two videos to see what I mean by gutsy and fun…

First it’s uphill…

And then it’s downhill…

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Jun 05 2013
18 Comments
2010, Germany, Mosel

2010 Kurt Hain Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling Spätlese Grauschiefer

2010 Kurt Hain Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Spätlese Grauschiefer

2010 Kurt Hain Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Spätlese Grauschiefer

The second and final German wine we tried after our Finger Lakes Tasting was this Spätlese by Kurt Hain. Regular readers should by now be familiar with this winery, despite the fact that the wines are practically impossible to find in the US. At one point, Gernot Hain, the winemaker and current owner, told me that he saw no need to export because he was able to sell all his wines in Germany…

Let me give you some background (cobbled together from earlier posts):

The winery is located in Piesport, home of the Goldtröpfchen (literally “Gold droplets”). People in the United States mostly know the ubiquitous Piesporter Michelsberg, a cheap and sweet wine. That, unfortunately, is the least appealing vineyard in Piesport. Unlike the other Piesport vineyards Goldtröpfchen, Domherr and Falkenberg, it is not located on the Northern side of the Mosel, where it would get full sun exposure all day, but on the South bank of the river, in flat terrain that used to be farmland and was not used for growing wines until a couple of decades ago. The Goldtröpfchen, in contrast, features steep vineyards and some of the best wineries all have holdings there. Another thing one should know is that the Goldtröpfchen used to be much smaller and was extended significantly under the German Wine Act of 1971 (as happened to most well known vineyard sites in Germany).

Steep vineyards in the Goldtröpfchen

Steep vineyards in the Goldtröpfchen

The winery Kurt Hain has been one of my favorite wineries in the Mosel village of Piesport. Gernot Hain, the winemaker (follow the link for a photo and his philosophy), has been making high quality wines for quite a bit now, and they rarely fail to impress me. They have a balance and sophistication about them that just draws you in. There is someone who knows exactly what he is doing…and he is doing it remarkably well. Whenever I want to really impress friends that are not very familiar with German wines, I pull out one of his bottles. They hardly ever fail to make their point.

Hanging out with Gernot Hain

Hanging out with Gernot Hain

2010 was what many people called the crazy vintage along the Mosel: Lots of acidity and lots of sugar led to levels of each that were puzzling to many winemakers. It wasn’t easy to make great wines in that vintage but those who succeeded made wines that are to die for. They have all the beauty of ripe grapes, but then take you away with their rather racy acidity. It is unclear how they will age, but they are still drinking phenomenally right now!

But to the wine, one of two of Kurt Hain Spätlesen from the Goldtröpfchen. Gernot selects the grapes from different holdings in the vineyard that have different soil types, namely grey and red slate (Grauschiefer and Rotschiefer). He used to give them numbers to distinguish but as of late has started just putting Grauschiefer or Rotschiefer on the label which helps a lot (I am numerically illiterate). This wine was a Grauschiefer, so grey slate soils. In the glass, it had a great, light yellow color. In the nose, there was a combination of citrus and honey, with underlying white peach aroma. Just as gorgeous as a Mosel Riesling can be. On the palate, it was a classic, exciting 2010: light to medium-bodied, sweet. But boy was the sweetness carried by wonderful acidity that kept it fresh and enticing. The acidity never dominated the wine, just gave it structure. Stunning in its balance and fruit. Very long, lingering finish. Just an excellent piece of work.

I tried a 2007 vintage of this wine last year, the review is here.

The best thing, though, was the reaction by The Drunken Cyclist, whose Twitter post I am sharing here:

You’re welcome! :)

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May 30 2013
8 Comments
2011, Germany, Mosel

2011 von Hövel Scharzhofberg Riesling Kabinett

2011 von Hoevel Scharzhofberg Riesling Kabinett

2011 von Hövel Scharzhofberg Riesling Kabinett

After the Finger Lakes Virtual Tasting last Saturday, we opened another bottle from my beloved Scharzhofberg. For those unfamiliar with the vineyard, let me use the explanation I gave in my review of the Bischöfliche Weingüter Scharzhofberger:

The Scharzhofberg is a vineyard along the Saar, a tributary to the Mosel. The Saar meets the Mosel just south of Trier, in the town of Konz. It springs in France and then flows into Germany. It is a mere 246 km (152 miles) long, but only the final parts in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate are used for growing wine, mostly Riesling. The Saar is known to produce more mineralic, somewhat tarter Rieslings than the middle Mosel. The micro climate tends to be cooler than at the Mosel, so the grapes usually ripen later and can reach acidity levels without the higher sugar levels you can find on the Mosel, which gives them a distinct character. Most of the vineyards belonged to the church, but in the course of the secularization in the 19th century, many private investors bought plots and began wine making. Rich families began to settle later in the 19th century which led to the term “Saarbarone” (baronets of the Saar, a term derived from “Ruhrbarone” which was used for the industrialists in the Ruhr area that made a fortune when the industrial revolution took off). A lot of the estates on the Saar are very grandiose, unlike most Mosel estates.

The Saar boasts many prime vineyards that you might have heard of: Kanzemer Altenberg, Ockfener Bockstein, Ayler Kupp and also, the most prominent among them, the Scharzhofberg. Technically belonging to the village of Wiltingen, the vineyard is so prominent that the wineries do not have to list the village name on their labels. They proudly just use “Scharzhofberger”. The vineyard stretches over 28 hectares (around 70 acres) in steep slopes (30 to 60 degrees) facing south, the soil consisting of slate and rocky soil with high amounts of iron and clay. Only Riesling is grown here by a few producers that read like the who is who: Egon Müller-Scharzhof, van Volxem, Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, Bischöfliche Weingüter, Vereinigte Hospitien, Johannes Peters, Weingut Resch and also the winery that produced this wine: von Hövel. The wines from this vineyard are prized and it is easily the most famous vineyard of the Saar.

Weingut von Hövel has been owned by the von Hövel family since 1803 (just in time for secularization). It is a member of the prestigious German association of quality winemakers, VDP, and owns a total of 11 hectares (27 acres) in the Saar valley which are planted with Riesling only. Its annual production is around 60,000 bottles. Since 2010 Max von Kunow has been the owner of the estate. Besides holdings in the legendary Scharzhofberg, the winery exclusively owns the vineyards Kanzember Hörecker and Oberemmeler Hütte.

But on to the wine: In the glass, we found a very pale, light yellow color. The nose showed floral and herbal aromas, with some overlying fruit (apple maybe?). But all in all it was a rather restrained nose, clean and focused. On the palate, the wine was light-bodied and luckily a typical Kabinett style sweet wine. When I say Kabinett style I mostly refer to its lightness and how refreshing and clear it was, despite it being a sweet wine. I just really like that combination of lightness and sweetness. However, I always struggle with describing these wines from vineyards that are especially dear to me. There was something that made me think it reflected the terroir quite well. I believe I would recognize a Scharzhofberger in a blind tasting (don’t dare me, though). I do believe the wine could have used a bit more acidity, but then again it was a 2011 where a lot of the grapes suffered from low acidity levels. The finish was very nice, with decent length.

In my view, this is a very good wine for someone interested in trying a Scharzhofberger without breaking the bank and at the same time finding out what all the fuss is about the Kabinett wines. This von Hövel also showcased the 2011 vintage nicely, which is already where drinkable and accessible for the wine drinker.

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