Plane was delayed two hours in Toronto ... for safety reasons, so I'm okay with that ... which kept my Aussie-cab-sharing companion waiting on the other end (at Frankfurt airport) almost 3 hours. The drive in was a slow one due to an accident and construction work, so it felt like I never left Toronto ... but upon arrival , with little to no sleep I stumble through my first beautiful day in Germany as I await to take part in the Best of Riesling competition taking place tomorrow ... but let's not jump ahead and take a look at what happened on Day 1 ...
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| Arrival at Panorama Hotel in Neustadt an de WienstraBe |
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| Took a walk down to the center of town and passed Heim Sekt Winery |
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| Display case at the front of Heim overlooking the street |
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| Looking for lunch along the cobble stone streets of Neustadt an der WeinstraBe |
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| Still searching for the place we had been told to try ... |
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| Scheffelhaus ... where I had my first glass of Riesling in Germany a Dr. Deinhard 2011 |
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| And schnitzel with potatoes and in-season white asparagus |
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| After lunch we met up with Ulrike Lenhardt who took us on a brief tour of the Pfalz region and it all started with an impromtu visit to Bassermann-Jordan winery, "a must visit since we are passing it" I am told |
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| We started with a tasting of Pierre Brut (a blend of Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir)- lovely white fruit and floral notes (*** 1/2) |
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| Next up the 2008 Jesuitengarten GG (Grosses Gewaechs - or first growth, of which their are 50 throughout Germany) - a lovely peachiness with great minerality and hint of petrol (*** 1/2+) |
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| One of the 13 basement areas or "cellars" at Bassermann-Jordan - all connected like catacombs |
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| Barrels are mainly for show as 95-98% of their production is white white and mainly Riesling |
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| The historical cellar area is behind bars, it holds bottles from as far back as 1811 |
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| Look carefully and you'll see racks of bottles from 1904 and 1905 |
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| The "Education Room" has various soil samples and vine samples - you can even see roots hanging from the ceiling and on the floor between the soil slabs (not pictured: maps and barrels on opposite wall). |
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| 2 of 6 ... behind these two gentlemen (Gunther Hauck (left)- managing director of Bassermann-Jordan & Ken Helm (right) Aussie owner/winemaker of Helm Wines) is one of three remaining massive oak presses, at one time their were six but the other three were burned for fuel after World War II. |
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| Sparkling racks and barrel room - the sparkling is hand riddled and these barrels are actually in use. |
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| We finished our tour back upstairs with a tasting of this 2011 Auslese - 20% botrytis affected: apple, charcoal, honeyed lavender on the nose with great acidity amongst the sweetness along with honeyed pineapple and peach pits (****+) |
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| Arrival at Weingut Pfeffingen, where we tasted 10 wines: 5 Riesling and 5 Scheurebe; and meet with Jan Eymael - winemaker and owner. |
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| The Kalkstein Riesling was wonderful - limestone soil has given it quite the appeal: apple and lemon peel on the nose, mineral-stoniness, dry citrus peel/pith and lemon notes - and an unperceived on the palate 14% alcohol (****+) |
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| The 2 Ungstein wines are quite comparable, though from two seperate grapes, the Scheurebe has a melon rind quality and the mineral shines on the Riesling (both: *** 1/2+) |
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| From red clay soil (pictured behind bottle) - only 2 sites in all of Germany has this kind of clay and very pretty Riesling (*** 1/2) |
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| This 2004 Weilberg Riesling GG shows amazing structure and barely hints at its age - only the colour gives it away. Complexity of aromas and flavours include spiced pear, apple core, talc and grapefruit rind and pith (****) |
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| The two dessert wines shown were like night and day. The Beernauslese Scheurebe 2011 (right) had canned peaches and pears with hints of floral, a nicely balanced wine (****) |
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| The Trockenbeerauslese was a different story. Some 30 years old (1982) this wine was brown in colour and was "found" in the Pfeffingen cellars. Caramel, coffee, raisinated, burnt toffee, and scorched earth - but the acidity was still quite lovely. This was not a wine for the feint of heart. |
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| Time for dinner ... now we find ourselves at the Vinicombe f Meininger publishing house (basically their basement - but a nice looking and elegant basement) |
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| Here we sit for a brief talk on how tomorrow (The Best of Riesling competition) will be judged |
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| The formal part of the evening over with we break out some bubbly - I am told that Germans drink a lot of sparkling wine the move on to ... |
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| Dinner - a buffet of cold items |
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| Breads and fish |
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| And of course a plethora of wines - from both Germany and around the world |
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| And did I mention the hot items too |
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| A wonderful Ad Aram 2009 Pinot Noir from Germany |
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| A Syrah Petit Sirah from Chile |
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| Something Spanish |
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| And a Tawny Port |
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| On the walk back I passed Heim again for an even better picture than the first |
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| And back to the Panorama - which I am leaving tonight. |
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