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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Jun 02 2013
18 Comments
Sunday read

Sunday Read: Kiva wine lovers group

Browse great wines from around the world.

Disclaimer: I entered into a tentative agreement with the online wine retailer Wine Chateau under which they sponsor two of my posts per month. Wine Chateau has no influence on the topic I select for the post or its content. Opinions expressed are all mine.

This Sunday, some things are different. First of all, as I am sure you noticed, Wine Chateau has offered to sponsor two of my posts per month. I was going back and forth a bit on this one, but ultimately I liked that they were willing to give me some money for this without any influence on the content of my posts. Also, I had an idea on what to do with the money which I think could be a cool thing to do:

Some of you might know that I am an active lender on the micro lending platform Kiva.org. For those not familiar with Kiva or micro lending, just a few words: Micro lending emerged over the last decade as a form to assist entrepreneurs in developing countries by giving them access to small loans to help them improve their businesses. Muhammad Yunus, the man credited with “inventing” and expanding this movement, and his micro credit organization Grameen Bank received the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in 2006. Kiva was started in 2006 by two Americans and has since become the largest platform for people worldwide to engage in this field. It now also offers loans in the United States.

Micro finance institutions (MFI) that have been vetted by Kiva post loan profiles to its website and you can decide whom you want to support. The loan periods range from 4 months to over 36 months and there is a huge variety of activities you can support from brick manufacturers in Peru, to clowns in Indonesia to cattle farmers in Kenya, and and and. The minimum investment is $25, and other lenders from around the world chip in to fill the amount. The loan recipients repay the principal to their MFI which in turn wires the money to Kiva which then credits your account. While the MFI charges loan recipients interest, you pretty much give the MFI an interest free loan because you will only get the principal back.

Here is a video of how it works:

What drew me into this project in early 2007 is that for people with limited means (I was at the time in legal training and barely making any money), this is a great way to help because in all likelihood you can reuse the same money several times to help people. I have since made over 200 loans, the vast majority of which were repaid. There is a risk of losing your money if the lender cannot repay the debt or the MFI goes South, which has happened before. But in my six years on Kiva and with an average of $300 in the system, I have lent $5,500 to over 200 entrepreneurs in over 40 countries. Out of the $5,500 I only lost somewhere around $47. Which means the repayment rate on my loans has been an excellent 99.02%; on the whole site, the repayment rate has been 99.03%.

Kiva also lets you found and join lending teams in which people with similar interests or friends can pool their resources and join together funding loans. It is a nice community device.

Why am I telling you all this? As I told you, the activities of the people seeking money for their businesses are vast. And some of them are to people that are engaged in the wine trade, usually grape growers. So, this week I started a lending team for wine lovers to support entrepreneurs in developing countries in all aspects of the wine business: from grape growers to wine makers to wine sellers. And I will use the money I get from Wine Chateau to support loans through this group. I think it could be a fun exercise to try out…

So, if you are on Kiva already, why don’t you come and join my lending team “Wine Lovers Unite” here. If you are not yet on Kiva and want to give it a try, Kiva is giving you the first $25 to make a loan so you can check it out without any risk for you. The loan is repaid to Kiva, so you don’t actually get to keep the $25, but it’s still a good way to try it out. Please follow this link to get to the group and sign up for the free loan. I already made a loan to someone in Georgia (the country) who is a winemaker that wants to open a pub to diversify…feel free to join me!

Please come join me at Wine Lovers Unite. I’d love to see us connect in this way, too!

A few notes: Lending on Kiva can be done from anywhere in the world. It is not without risk of losing the principal. Micro lending has received mixed feedback and results on its goal to help reduce poverty. Some hate it, some love it. As with all attempts to help, there are pros and cons. But I believe it is one way of helping, not the only way for sure, but it can be used as a tool for good and I believe Kiva has so far done a decent job. Find out more about Kiva on their website: www.kiva.org.

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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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