I reconciled our remaining wine skins against the number of Weingut appointments we have. I counted eight remaining wine tastings against nine available wine skins. That is good news. We have restricted ourselves to one bottle purchase per Weingut. It is guaranteed at each Weingut there are so many choices for the one bottle purchase so it is always a dilemma. Sometimes I make the choice and sometimes Lana makes the choice. You can't go wrong anyways. We check on the types of Riesling we purchase so we have a balance in our inventory of dry, off-dry, medium-dry and sweet to very sweet. These are the kinds of choices you like to have. ;-)
Panoramic view from our balcony this morning overlooking the Mosel, high school athletic oval/field and the vineyards on the hill. BTW the field is not curved.
Our first wine tasting is at Weingut Willi Schaefer located in Graach an der Mosel about 10 minutes drive across the river. This Weingut's vineyards were started in 1121 apparently. It is another family-run business which is common to the Mosel. They are known for excellent dessert/sweet wines "stunning Auslese-styled wines under Spätlese labels." We arrived a little early and found three people at the table. A couple from Chicago and a German fellow. Our first experience tasting with other people. Most of their 2015 vintage is sold out. They produce only 34,000 bottles in an average year. 4.2 Hectares of vineyards over 100 different parcels and a low yield. All wooden barrels and some stainless steel in case of a large harvest. All wines spend time in wood. They are VDP and employed only 12 pickers last year. We learned more about Riesling wine.
The minimum must (freshly pressed grape juice) weighs at time of picking determines whether it is classified as Cabinet,Spätlese or Auslese and is based on the sugar content. As well, the taste sample. The winemaker checks on ripeness of grape seeds, acidity levels and maturity of the grape at time of picking. At the conclusion of the wine tasting Andrea treated four of us to a tour of their cellar on both levels. Total time at the Weingut was 75 minutes. Excellent wines. We tasted seven wines. We purchased a 2015 Graacher Himmelreich Spätlese for 18 Euro. Only four of the wines we tasted were available for sale. They sold two wines at the recent VDP auction; 2015 Spätlese for 70 Euro/bottle and a 2015 Auslese for 250 Euro/bottle (but this was a magnum size!).
Taller lady is our wine tasting host Andrea. The other young woman was at our tasting and is from Chicago. She was with her German boyfriend. As you can see on the table there is a jar for pouring what you don't drink from your wine glass. Also, my notepad is in front of me as well as my file.
Andrea showing their stainless steel press and tank. They will use this first to settle the wine and then into the wooden barrels.
Glass chandelier in Weingut Willi Schaefer tasting room.
Fudder wooden (German oak) barrels in the cellar of Weingut Willi Schaefer. The darker barrel is around sixty years old while the other barrels are relatively new.
Cellar area at Weingut Willi Schaefer where many different vintages are stored and not for sale. The oldest vintage they have is from 1921. The cellar was built in 1955.
Photo from webpage of Willi Schaefer: vineyard picker. Check out the steep hill comprised of slate.
Another photo from webpage Willi Schaefer of a picker.
After our wine tasting we drove to the village of Piesport located right on the Mosel river. We lucked into finding this very casual place along the main road. Cheap, quick and delicious is always a great combo! I made sure to start a review on Trip Advisor. We noticed lots of city workers stopping for food here so figured it must be good and reasonably priced.
Metzgerei Bösun Georg where we had an excellent cheap lunch in Piesport.
When you enter the small shop you encounter the counter and some foods you can order. These were all kinds of roasted meats: roasted pork shoulder, crispy roasted pork, frikadelle pork patties, liebekase, etc.
We both ate Krustenbraten, Pommes und Kohlrabigenūse for only 5.80 Euro each. Basically, our lunch was crispy roasted pork with fries or potato salad and some kohlrabi vegetables in sauce.
Randy loving a cherry strudel cake we bought in a local bakery down a side street. Wow, this was delicious and yet not too sugary. Earlier, Lana had ordered two scoops of gelato at a local gelato restaurant.
This is a very famous Mosel vineyard: Piesport Goldtröpfchen.
We had time between lunch and our appointment at Weingut Reinhold Haart in Piesport so we went for a walk along the river and over the bridge. Our first walk over the Mosel. We found a stork(?) standing motionless in the shallows waiting for a small fish to wander by. Very patient bird and no fish came close while we watched. So warm and sunny today as you can see from the picture above.
Johannes of Weingut Reinhold Haart in Piesport. These are the Riesling wines we tasted. 
Weingut Reinhold Haart is located in Piesport and right on the Mosel river. What a great location. We arrive just before 15:00 and are welcomed by Johannes Haart. They produce about 50,000 bottles per year from 8.2 Hectares. 70% of their product is exported around the world. They are VDP and sold a 2015 Auslese at the auction for 115 Euros. Johannes believes they are "getting riper grapes these days in the Mosel. The 2015 vintage was not the most classic although acidity was good, but now rich and concentrated wines. Powerful vintage with heavy ripeness." When I asked about how he sees the Mosel he though it is warmer and more soil shifting from slate found in other regions. Mosel wines richer, softer, more elegant and more body. Other wine areas cooler climate and more acid. Higher citrus and herbal notes. Mosel wines more fruit driven.
All grapes are hand picked. They use Polish pickers. In Piesport they have softer slate. Their 2015 vintage are mostly sold out. The 2015 GGs were just released about two weeks ago. The Weingut was started by the grandfather in 1921 and has been in the family for 700 years. 100% Riesling wines. Some of their vines reach 30-40 years old, but Johannes believes that given the deep roots of the Riesling vines that young vines are equally good. We bought a 2015 Ohligsberg Auslese that was incredible and cheap at 28 Euro. We tasted 13 wines over a 75 minute period.
Johannes stated ..."dessert wine should always be sweeter than the dessert pairing"
Front entrance to the wine tasting room of Weingut Reinhold Haart. Their wine tasting room was designed two years ago and is very modern and lots of natural light through the front windows.
Just around the corner from the Weingut was this site that we could not enter. The lady hosting a small group inside let us inside for a couple of minutes though. Very kind of her.
Ancient Roman wooden wine press exhibit in Piesport very near to the Weingut. There is a side area where they first crush the grapes by foot. Then gather everything and place it into these larger square baskets. Then they place pieces of flat wood on top to weight it all down and use the large wooden beam that has a counter weight to add on even more pressure to extract all the juice.
After pressing the grapes with their wooden press the must drained into this large receptacle.
Roman wooden wine press about 2,000 years old. Some pieces have been reconstructed because once a year they re-enact a grape pressing dressing up in roman style clothes, using this press and then carting the juice to the river then carrying it to the old Roman capitol by boat. A video described this process.
The town of Neumagen-Dhron nestled in the woods and bordered by the Dhron river which drains into the Mosel.
Weingut A.J. Adam is located in Neumagen-Dhron and is located in the town and right beside the Dhron river. Andreas was a little shy to start, but he became more friendly and informative as our wine tasting evolved. Much of his 2015 vintage is sold out. Most of his business is export and he has a good customer in Calgary: Crimson and they have some of his 2003 Spätlese! We will be contacting them. The Weingut produces 23,000 to 26,000 litres of wine each year from 5 Hectares. Not much frost damage in this part of the Mosel. All grapes hand-picked from steep slope vineyards. He is not VDP. They ferment in stainless steel and use wild yeasts (basic wine in stainless steel). The yeasts stop by themselves.
He described the 2013/2014 as harder wines to farm given the weather conditions. We tasted a 2013 Hofberg Trocken and it was very light with lots of acidity. 700 bottles produced with 9 grams of residual sugar. The Hofberg vineyard lies along the Dhron river. He sells Magnums to restaurants and some private sales. He confirmed the wine ages better in Magnums. The famous Goldtrōpfchen site was replanted in the 1990s, but they have some older vines there. We bought a 2015 Holberg Kabinett for 13 Euro and we can drink this anytime, but if we wanted to store it could be up to 10 years. Our tasting was about 90 minutes and 11 wines. Many comparison tastings.
Andreas Adam owner and winemaker of Weingut A.J. Adam with his one year old son Ludwig. Ludwig has a twin sister.
We drove to Zeltingen-Rachtig based on a recommendation from Andreas Adam. The GPS was off for a little while, but we found it located among very narrow old streets. Parking was another effort though as nothing was available. The main restaurant in the hotel was all booked up, but they found us a small area across the street. Two other tables occupied as well. We arrived around 18:45. Their wine card was 33 double-sided pages long! Incredible....
Zeltinger Hof restaurant located in Zeltingen-Rachtig and part of the same named hotel.
I love this way of showing this restaurant's wines with the lamps behind the bottles on the shelves.
Randy's order of Veal Schnitzel with Bratkartofflen. It was as yummy as it looks.
Lana's order of Pork Schnitzel with Mushroom cream sauce.
Lana is a fantastic parallel parking guru and never has a problem parking any car. The evidence is in this picture after her first try.
We mentioned in a earlier blog about the traffic signs that tell you your speed. If you're going too fast, you get the number and an unhappy face. Randy sees a lot of these!!
However, if you are driving at the proper speed limit, you get a happy face. Lana got not one, but TWO of these today. Hmmmm, . . . . . !!!
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