It seems like they are not ready for us though. The owner Dr. Dirk Max Ferd. Richter comes and escorts us upstairs to the most incredible ornate small room. We don't think they get many visitors? They did not have a paper listing the wines to be tasted. Dirk had to head downstairs and lug the wine bottles up twice during our tasting and each time was huffing and puffing. Dirk was very informative and full of stories and history. We had lots of chats about subjects not related to the grapes. They are not VDP.
At the beginning of our wine tasting I asked him if he was the winemaker as when I was emailing this Weingut nobody ever identified themselves. Dirk indicated he is "not a winemaker" which to him would be making Coco-Cola. He doesn't have recipes. Then he clarified by saying he is a "grape grower" but then as he talked, he did say they are artisanal wine makers who grow grapes. He is not pretentious. The grow the grapes and hand pick each grape but the Riesling expresses itself through the process. In some vineyards they go through the grapes three different times when picking. "Riesling needs precision as it has so much variety." "Fruit is shown at a specific ripeness level and then into the bottle."
When I asked him about Riesling classifications he responded with "in Germany the wine classification is judged by the result in the bottle unlike France where the classification is guaranteed by the terroir rating."
A statement from Dirk: "The economy can flourish when the government is far away."
They have been a wine estate since 1680 and have exported their wines since then. They export 90% of their wines. They produce between 250,000 and 300,000 bottles per year so they are huge. They have some contracted fruit. When we asked about Icewine production he stated their first icewine was in 1961. Since 2012 they have not produced icewine. One year they were going to do icewine, but the wild boars ate most of the crop.
Another interesting statement about speaking Deutsch: "Germans pronounce the intonation at the start of the word not the end of the word." Good to know.
To show the aromatics in a wine "you need sugar or alcohol".
This Weingut uses natural fertilizers and fudder barrels. They own many Grand Cru vineyards. Natural or indigenous yeasts are used. Their most consumed wine is the Mulheimer Sonnelay bottles as it is a Kabinett Feinherb style. During our 70 minutes of wine tasting we drank 12 different wines and they were all very good. Some of their vines are over 100 years old and are ungrafted. Dirk believes the Mosel as a rule is fruitier than the other wine regions and has a lower Ph level in the soils. If you see "Juffer" on a German wine label it is an old german word that means young virgin girl who gets better with age.
Wine tasting room in a beautiful ancient Weingut from1700s? Check out the grape inspired wallpaper. Plus, the antique table and chairs. A little intimidating. ;-)
Dirk, the owner of Weingut Max Ferd. Richter. Very interesting, sophisticated, aristocratic-type gentleman whose family has been fairly rich since the mid-1600s. There are 10 generations of winemakers in their family! He has been to Vancouver at least 12 times and it has never rained once while he was there!
Yes, this is the chandelier in the wine tasting room.
Check out the label here. This label is inspired from the Graf Zeppelin, the famous German airship that went around the world. The Zeppelin served Max Fed.Richter Riesling wine when it crashed. So this art deco style label was created for this wine that they still make today at Mulheimer.
We drove to our next appointment at Weingut Fritz Haag located in nearby Brauneberg. We arrived about 15 minutes late, but that was OK with our host Mike. Their 2015 vintages were still for sale. A beautiful and modern tasting room with the top of a stainless steel tank in one corner. Plus, views from the front window of their vineyards across the Mosel river on the steep hill. We tasted 15 wines over an 80 minute period. We found their prices very reasonable especially considering their wines were exquisite.
Wild yeast used in the fermentation process. Some skin contact to create a more full-bodied Riesling. All wines are from across the river in the same vineyard. On the steeper sections of their vines it is between 60 - 80% grade! Blue slate with some iron. 20 Hectares produces 120,000 bottles of wine in an average year. All their grapes are Riesling. Most of their wines are exported and primarily to USA. Ontario imports their wines. North Americans still believe Riesling is sweet. Mike describes the 2015 Mosel vintage as smoother and fruitier than past vintages, but still great acidity and minerality. All their vineyards are Grand Cru.
We learned:
- wild yeast doesn't allow low residual sugar
- you can keep most Mosel Riesling wines in the fridge after opening for up to 2 weeks
- balance acid with minerals as a buffer - same part of tongue for both acid and minerals
- low PH levels in wine mean the wine is "more stable"
- PH level may determine longevity of the wine as lower PH can age wines longer
- wine acid lasts longer on the tongue and is more smooth than say apple acid
- wine acid makes the wine more smooth and the palate wetter
- serve GGs at 10 or 11 degrees as a little warmer is better
The current winemaker is Oliver Haag and he was named top Winemaker in Deutschland in 2008. This Weingut has been a going concern since the early 1600s. Another very enjoyable wine tasting experience with many comparison tasting of wines from different vineyards and same classification. Also, he had a 2013 Juffer Sonnenuhr GK Auslese opened so we tasted it.
A beautiful tasting room with so much natural light and excellent ambience.
Mike the wine tasting host holding the bottle of "2015 Brauneberger Juffer Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel" we purchased for only 17.50 Euro.
This is a German wine book that rates all of the wineries--it is about 4 inches thick!
We are in the town of Brauneberg and there annual wine festival "Brauneberger Wein-Straßenfest in der längsten Nussbaumallee an der Mosel" is starting today. It is a small town and we managed to find their wine festival down beside the Mosel river. A great setting and many of the Weinguts are represented as their buildings have the river behind them. Very warm in the early afternoon although some shade where the wine festival was taking place. Many people attending and it is early. We bought some lunch at one of the kiosks and ate it at a table under a huge tree so lots of shade. Each kiosk is a Weingut with food. We enjoyed our time at the wine festival and the food of course. We had more than enough wine though during our two wine tastings. Drive back to Bernkastel-Kues.
Schmalzbrot for 2 Euro which is basically bacon grease/pork fat spread on bread with bits of caramelized crunchy bits like what is leftover in the pan after you fry pork chops. Yes, so bad for you but so good!
Randy's order of "Römerteller mit Bratkartoffeln" and in a peppercorn sauce for 8.50 Euro! Huge portion and very cheap. It was delicious. Plus, they give you a real plate and silverware!
Flammkuchen ovens being set up.
Lana with her lunch order of "Römersteak" on bread for 3.50 Euro. Two slices of pork loin were too thick for Lana so she took one patty out.
Plank salmon--when it's ready, you simply turn the plank over and serve it directly from the wood on which it was cooked. Very clever.
Spiessbraten in the making--roasted pork shoulder that gets sliced and served in a bun (im brotchem) or on it's own with a side dish. Very tasty.
We hear pipe organ music playing!! It's this fellow in this picture who has a mini music box. Never seen one of these ever. But clearly in the olden days you had a live monkey to go around and collect money. This performer had a mechanical one :)
All the music happens when you turn the crank handle. The crank controls gears and plays the wind pipes, a wooden block and a xylophone that you see in front. On top of that, the artificial monkey on is controlled by moving gears with this left hand--the monkey lifts the top had off his head, puts his hand out and even sprays water as if he was peeing!! Lana said these music boxes are engineering works of art because of how they are built to play many songs with various instruments all from one hand crank that you see below in the right hand.
This was just one section of German recreational vehicles. There were hundreds in this one spot. There are so many cyclists in the Mosel and this explains where they come from. Lana says it's like an episode of the Twilight Zone where all the inhabitants live in rectangular boxes on wheels and only leave to transport themselves on bicycles when needed.
Lana liked this poster which depicts all of the flavours and aromatics that can be found in spectrum of Riesling wines.
From a few days ago Lana recalls seeing a Thai massage place so we stop and she checks it out. They can see her in a few minutes for a two hour treatment so I leave her and drive to our hotel room. I can update our blog for today. Lana returned to our room with a smile on her face. She really enjoyed her massage and the walk back to our hotel. She had a hot stone massage and at the end, the women did a couple of stretches with her that involved lots of cracking noises :)
Lana did some research for a dinner destination using Trip Advisor. We will be walking to Alter Moselbahnof located in Bernkastel and about 25 minutes walk. This is a restaurant located in the old train station along the water that has been converted to a restaurant. Still beautiful, warm and sunny here. We reached the restaurant around 18:30 so good timing as we arrive before the larger crowds. We got a table beside the open window overlooking the Mosel. Great spot. Food was OK for a tourist place and our server was efficient but not overly friendly. Food came quickly though and we were hungry.
Lana's order of the Salate der Saison: Knackig Frische Gartensalate mit Balsamic Dressing mit Thunfisch (tuna)
Randy's order of Flammkuchen des Monats mit Schinken, Tomaten, Ruccola und Parmesan cheese.
Lana's panoramic shot taken from the bridge over the Mosel from Kues to Bernkastel. Check out the setting sun against the tourist boats moored on the Bernkastel side.
Lana was trying to find a shoe store in Bernkastel that we saw our first night here after dinner so we tried to re-trace our steps. Like a bloodhound, Lana finds the store, but it was closed. She will return tomorrow to check out a pair of shoes she fell in love with. After we walked across the bridge to the Kues side we decided to walk on the path that runs right beside the Mosel. Scenic walk home although at various points we were attacked by swarms of small flies. We knew that eventually we could find a path back up to the main road and then to our hotel. Well, it wasn't that easy... We found a path up to the high school across from our hotel but any access to the road was blocked by a thick hedge. We decided to walk toward the gas station and voila, there was a place we could jump over and we were close to the hotel. Lana has been taking full advantage of the jacuzzi tub in our room and really likes that aromatic bath salts provided. She asks at the front desk if she can buy some and they tell her to go to the REWE store about 2 blocks away. It is dark, but we find the store and Lana busy two jars to take home to Vancouver.
This is the water section at the REWE store--it's huge with every possible type of water you could imagine and in all different flavours as well.
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