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German
Wines
- Wwe Dr. H. THANISCH (MÜLLER-BURGGRAEF)
 This
historic property was founded in the late 1700s by Dr. Hugo Thanisch and
it's still "in the family" today! Confusing is the fact
that there are two Thanisch estates on the same street and both use labels
which are nearly identical.
The label on the left is from the Müller-Burggraef side of the family,
while the label below is from the "other" Thanisch winery.
It's been fashionable, for the past decade or two, to denigrate the
Thanisch name and you might hear "they don't make wines like they
used to." Perhaps part of this dynamic is these days there are
many neighboring estates producing top quality wines, as well, whereas
decades ago Thanisch was, in fact, a leader. Now they're part of the
posse.
Barbara Rundquist-Müller runs the estate with her husband Erik.
They own a nice little parcel of the famous Bernkasteler (or is it
Berncasteler?) Doctor as well as other sites including Bernkasteler
Badstube and Lay, Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Graacher Himmelreich and
Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr.
The "Doctor" vineyard gets its name from the "legend"
whereby the Archbishop, back in the 1300s, was ill and not responding to
treatment. The Archbishop sent out a plea for help and a local
fellow who made wine from this particular hillside, found
"therapeutic" value in his vinous efforts. Gerhard Vogt
von Hunolstein brought some wine and the Archbishop is said to have
imbibed the wine and when he regained a measure of good health, he
supposedly said "your health-giving grape blood is the best doctor;
therefore wine and mountain shall be named “Doctor” for all
times." And so, a small plot is today known as Bernkasteler
Doctor...
But there's good Riesling coming from a nearby site called Bernkasteler
Lay ("lay" referring to the "slate" soil). We
have the 2007 Auslese Riesling from this patch of vines and it's
delicious. The wine has a lovely perfume showing notes of flowers,
Meyer lemons, a stony note and it's moderately sweet with nice acidity...
The 2010 Bernkasteler Badstube "Kabinett" is also worthy of a
place on the table. This wine is off-dry and lighter than the
Auslese, of course. But it's nicely fresh and bright, a good
cocktail wine, for example...
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Currently in stock: 2007
THANISCH BERNKASTELER LAY Auslese RIESLING SALE
$39.99
2010 THANISCH BERNKASTELER BADSTUBE Kabinett RIESLING SALE
$19.99
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- JOH. JOS. CHRISTOFFEL Erben
 Hilda and Hans Leo Christoffel own this tiny domaine of little more than 2
hectares, owning vineyards in both Ürzig and Erden. Hans is also
leasing a couple of hectares from his neighbor, Robert Eymael!
Hans reached retirement age, so he's leased the vineyards to Mr. Eymael, who
also owns the famed Mönchhof winery which is also in Ürzig.
The wines are matured in Eymael's winery, but with the advice of Hans
Leo.
I was enthralled with Christoffel's 2002 "Auslese *". That's
his Auslese with a single asterisk. Christoffel has also had two
asterisk and three asterisk wines! Anyway, this one is deep and
concentrated...lots of
peach-like fruit with a minerally and spicy quality. Hints of
lime, too. This is a wonderful wine and it will age handsomely for a
number of years. Sold out, now, though.
I also liked the Christoffel 2007 Ürziger Würzgarten Spätlese (no
punctuation marks, asterisks, catastrophes or apostrophes). This wine
is fruity, floral and has that citrusy/lime note we like from this
property. The balance here is very fine, too. -
- Currently in stock:
2007 ÜRZIGER WÜRZGARTEN RIESLING SPÄTLESE $37.99
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- HANS WIRSCHING
 This is one of my favorite wineries in
Germany. Located in the village of Iphöfen in the Franken region, wines of this area
typically come in flagons called "bocksbeutels." I was
dismayed to see some producers, including Wirsching, now using standard
"Burgundy" wine bottles for some wines.
The region is known for
Silvaner wines, especially those of the Julius-Echter-Berg. The really unusual wine
from Wirsching which captures our fancy is made of Scheurebe. The character varies
from vintage to vintage--some years it's like a Riesling blended with grassy Sauvignon
Blanc, other years it's more grapefruity and citrusy.
 We buy their
"Trocken" version, the wine being very fruity on the nose, but quite dry on the
palate. This shocks some people who think every German wine is sticky sweet.
T'ain't so!
The 2007, bottled in non-traditional bottles, is exceptional. It reminds us of a ripe peach sprinkled
with white pepper. Dry, as well.
- Currently available:
2007 Iphöfer Kronsberg Scheurebe Kabinett $24.99
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- MILZ-LAURENTIUSHOF
 The Milz family has
owned property in the Mosel since 1520, so there's a bit of history to this winery.
The estate is famed for its holdings near the winery in Trittenheim, a few zigs and zags
along the Mosel river south of Piesport. Trittenheim is not as well known as
Piesport or Bernkastel, a factor which is not lost on those of us who search for good
quality and a reasonable price tag. The Milz estate has most of its holdings in
Trittenheim, in addition to vineyards in Neumagen and Dhron Hofberg.
We had an
outstanding Trittenheimer Apotheke (the word "apotheke" translates to
"pharmacy," so perhaps there's some therapeutic benefits to drinking this wine!)
Riesling Spätlese.
In my last look at their wines, I was knocked out by a Trittenheim wine from
their Leiterchen vineyard. The soil of this site is pure slate, so
it's no wonder you can sense a stony, minerally tone to the wine underneath
its mass of fruit and floral notes. The wine comes from the 2004
vintage and features some nice peach/apricot fruit with some minerally
notes underneath. The wine is fresh and fruity with a crisp, tangy finish. It
will probably live another 10 years, well-stored.
- Currently available: Trittenheimer Leiterchen Riesling Spätlese
2004 $26.99
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GUNDERLOCH
 The Gunderloch
estate is one of the elite properties in the Rheinhessen, taking its name
from the late banker Carl Gunderloch who bought the place in 1890.
Ownership was transferred to Gunderloch's grand-daughter, Elizabeth Usinger
and her husband. They ran the place until 1965 after which time their
son, Carl Otto, managed the property.
Today Carl O's eldest daughter, Agnes and her husband, Fritz Hasselbach,
runs the estate and makes superb wines. Hasselbach is a
"viticultural engineer" and his wines reflect great attention to
detail. Together they have 9 hectares in Nackenheim and a few in
nearby Nierstein.
Hasselbach is intrigued with the newly acquired vineyards and told us about
some work they're doing with respect to organically farmed vines. We
expect this to potentially elevate the Gunderloch wines to even greater
heights.
- Fritz shows off some steep vines in Nackenheim.
Healthy vines can make healthy wines.
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Fritz shows off the cellar.
They have started bottling their wines with screw-caps to avoid
the problem of "corked" bottles (a small percentage of wines
stoppered with corks develop a musty character--screw caps avoid this
problem).
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- One of the secrets of Gunderloch wines is that Fritz often picks grapes
at maturity levels significantly higher than those required by law.
This means the Spätlese Riesling is close to Auslese ripeness, for
example.
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- We've routinely have been enchanted by Gunderloch's Nackenheimer
Rothenberg, especially the Auslese wines. These seem to capture an
amazingly fruity and often peachy character.
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Currently in stock: GUNDERLOCH 2002 NACKENHEIMER
ROTHENBERG "Auslese" Sold Out
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TONI JOST
 This little
estate is located in the Mittelrhein (mostly) and it's run by Peter
Jost. But they still call the place "Toni Jost," since
Peter's father, Toni, did such a great job in really establishing the
property as the leading light in the region.
The estate is located in the town of Bacharach and they own
virtually the entire site of Hahn, so the winery is also known as
Hahnenhof. What's particularly curious of this winery is that about
one-third of their vineyards are in the nearby Rheingau.
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- Riesling is their main interest, of course, but Peter has a few vines of
Spätburgunder, Weissburgunder and a relatively new red wine variety
called Dunkelfelder.
While Peter is, quite clearly, a very good winemaker, he's quick
to point out that it's really his viticultural efforts which
"make" the estate's wines as good as they are. The Toni
Jost estate also cultivates in an ecologically responsible fashion.
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Peter Jost proudly explains his wines, though they
routinely speak for themselves. Eloquently, too.
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 We tasted
a particularly good off-dry Riesling. It's a 2009 Kabinett wine and the
wine is quite nicely balanced, crisp and dry. You'll find a
nicely floral aroma with hints of the slate-like, minerally notes in the
background. The wine finishes quite crisply, so it's a good match
for seafood, especially Asian-styled dishes.
It's lovely now and will remain in good condition for a number of
years.
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Currently in stock: 2009 TONI JOST
"Bacharacher" Riesling Kabinett "Feinherb" (that means
it has a bit of sweetness) $19.99
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WEINGUT
FREIHERR LANGWERTH VON SIMMERN
 I can
recall some grand Rieslings from this wonderful Rheingau estate from back
in the 1960s and 1970s. These were mildly sweet and intensely
fruity...a Rauenthaler Baiken of Auslese quality left an indelible
impression!
The estate has undergone some changes and it seems improvements have been
made in the vineyards and cellar and we are again tasting some good wines.
The history of the property can be easily traced back to the 1460s.
Columbus had yet to set sail and yet a Von Simmern had vineyard land in
Hattenheim. Some people can't remember what they had for breakfast
or what they did last weekend and these folks know their predecessors were
farming Riesling in the 1400s!
Today the cellars are in nearby Eltville and they have about 26 hectares
of vineyards. Some of their most well-known sites include Erbacher
Marcobrunn, Rauenthaler Baiken, Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen and Wisselbrunnen.
Keep these in mind in case there's a quiz later...
We tasted some very fine bottlings from Von Simmern and selected a lovely
"Trocken" Riesling. It's a Hattenheimer Riesling that's
quite dry. The wine is fragrant and floral on the nose, with
nice, crisp acidity on the palate. You can pair this with all sorts
of seafood, from spicy crab-cakes to deep-fried calamari...sushi...smoked
fish...chicken...turkey...ham...etc.
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Currently in stock: 2007
VON SIMMERN Hattenheimer Riesling Kabinett Trocken Sold Out
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