Another awesome day in Deutschland with temperatures up to 30 degrees Celsius. The Airbnb is fairly quiet at night. Lana had a long sleep and my sleep wasn't too bad for the first day. Our first wine tasting appointment is at 11:00 am. You need to make appointments for the vast majority of the Weinguts. We have three appointments for the day; 11:00, 14:00 and 15:30. All Weinguts located within the Saar region.
Before I get to our Weingut visits, we will cover our lunch in the town of Saarburg which is the centre of the Saar. We needed lunch between our first appointment and the second appointment. We drove into Saarburg and it was smoking hot. We stopped at Café Zur Leule to eat outside and enjoy the warmth from the shade in the small street. Very informal and casual café with authentic Deutsch food. We make a rookie mistake with ordering water. You can't really order tap water at a restaurant in Deutschland. You order bottled water. We ordered two Mineralwasser (Mineral water) 0.21 litre glasses for 2.30 Euro each -> ridiculous for a glass of water when you consider the price of a large bottle is .50 less. Lana ordered a salad: "Salate Großer gemischter salatteller kit Schinken, Käse und Ei daze Jaghurt-Senf-Dressing" at 8.50 Euros. A typical German salad.
Tourist tram operating in Saarburg. Amazing how this navigates around the narrow streets of this town. Tons of tourists circulating walking and driving.
Town of Saarburg. Small stream winds it way thru the town. Lots of beautiful flowers and outdoor restaurants. Plus, well appointed old buildings.
Randy's lunch of "Bratkartoffleln mit Speck, Zwiebeln und 2 Spiegeleiern" for 8.20 Euro. I would say it tasted like a good breakfast should. :-)
An example of just how steep the vineyards are in the Saar region. Basically, very steep hillsides are where the majority of grapes are grown. The amount of work involved in planting these vines and then the maintenance is incredible.
General observations re Saar Wine region & Riesling:
- wines are less alcoholic than the Mosel Riesling wines
- wines are less sweeter than average Mosel wine
- usual range of wines is from the very dry (GG) trocken to the very sweet of TBA (Trockenbeerenauslese)
- one classification of wine is Feinherb which is "not dry or sweet" but found somewhere in the middle. It is not fixed in law for amount of residual left like Halbtrocken designation which is fixed by law at a residual sugar level less than 10.
- this region gets cooler weather than the Mosel thus producing more ripe acids in the grapes
- receive more westerly winds than the Mosel
- slightly higher elevation than the Mosel
- the wine classification known in Germany as "Kabinett" was described as "not dry nor sweet with a range of residual sugar from 40 - 50 grams of sugar in the bottle. Low alcohol and easy drinking."
It is about a 25 minute drive from our apartment in Trier to Weingut Peter Lauer located in Ayl. This Weingut is followed by Lars Carlberg and listed in Stuart Pigott's top 20 for medium-dry Riesling list. It has been family-owned since 1830. The youngish girl (Kate pronounced Katy) doing our wine tasting was the fifth generation wine person. We spent almost 90 minutes with Kate. No charge for the wine tasting and we sampled close to ten wines. We were provided with a paper outlining the wines in their catalogue and which wines were already sold out. A number of their wines were sold out.
Weingut Peter Lauer represents their different wine classifications by colour. Grey coloured label for entry level wines, then Green colours for next step up, then Gold line for their highest quality wine. They are a member of the prestigious VDP group. Their Grosse Gewächse (GG) is their Grand Cru top level wines. Prices are more expensive as these wines come from the very best parcels and the grapes are hand-picked with quality as the desired outcome. Also, we learned in terms of the hierarchy of wines that Icewine is the same level as the TBA (Trockenbeerenauslese).
Our wine flight was excellent with each Riesling being delicious in its own way. We sampled from the driest of wines at 3.9 grams of residual sugar to 180 grams of residual sugar BA (Beerenauslese). Kate took the time to educate us on the Saar wine system and in particular their vineyards and grape production. Our notes of the tasting ranged with floral notes, mineral notes, elegance in the wine, salty elements and acid present on the taste, fruity tastes/nose. Kate indicated that the nose of Petrol comes from the grape skins getting burnt in the sunshine. Very interesting as some German Riesling have the nose and sometimes the taste of Petrol. You like it or you don't.
Another interesting presentation was jars of the different soils/slates/rocks that make up their parcels of vineyards. Quite different and this will produce different tastes and nose in the Riesling. Kate described a classic Saar Riesling as fruity with a long finish and fruity taste left on the tongue. Their cool climate produces lots of ripe acids. We loved their BA Feils, but unfortunately this wine is only sold in auction. Rats! We equally loved the sweeter 2014er Stirn Spätlese with 80 grams of residual sugar. Clean, sweet and good balance. Great price at 19.50 Euro. We purchased a bottle for our collection.
The famous auction for all VDP Weinguts is The Grosser Ring Auction. While you can sample these wines at the Weingut you can't buy them as they are only available at the auction and not for buyers like us. Oh well, that is the system in Deutschland for those VDP-aligned wineries. In regards to the potential 2016 Saar vintage they were hit by fungus in the summer due to rain in the spring and early summer so yields will be smaller.
Wine tasting room at Weingut Peter Lauer. Very modern room with clean lines. You sit at a table for a wine tasting. This picture is of the variety of wines they produce and almost all come from a single vintage year. Map behind the bottles is of their particular area of the Saar. This Weingut produced 50,000 bottles for their 2015 vintages. Most of their 2015 vintage is already sold out. :-(
Our next Weingut was Hofgut Falkenstein located in Konz-Niedermennig. I discovered this Weingut through Lars Carlberg and this article. What a find! Incredible experience with the father Erich Weber and his son Johannes. While it isn't the easiest Weingut to find it is well worth the effort. Very sincere welcome on our arrival. Very informal tasting and lots to learn from both gentlemen. Both are extremely passionate about their wine and very extroverted. They are known for using the old style Fudder casks for their Riesling wine. They produce about 30,000 bottles each year.
Most of their 2015 vintage has been sold. We started our tasting with a sparkling Riesling wine known in Deutschland as a Sekt. This had 11 % alcohol volume and was crisp and pure. Only 3 mg of residual sugar. Their Kabinett Trocken was a dry wine with a salty inner core and cleansing to the palate. This wine comes from a south-facing very steep and slate/quartz ground. They don't produce icewine as the weather has not been accommodating the last many years. In fact, across the German wine areas Icewine is being produced at a very low number. In addition we tasted the 2015eer Spätlese Herringer with 30 grams residual sugar and 9% alcohol content. The last and best tasting was their 2015er Hofgut Falkenstein Krettnacher Euchariusberg Riesling Spätlese. Wow! This wine comes from another south-facing slope with tiny pieces of slate and deep soil. This could be aged for up to 20 years. Some of the vines were 75 years old. 7.5% alcohol level. This wine was delicious and not cloyingly sweet. Perfectly balanced with the acid level. We sampled four different wines and each wine was delicious. Plus, lower alcohol so you can drink more and enjoy it without feeling the alcohol effects.
For the final phase of our visit they took us to their wine cellar. We needed to get to the next Weingut for 15:30 so time was of the essence. We learned very quickly how passionate they are about ensuring there is no interference with their winemaking. The vineyards are all organic, hand-picked and absolutely nothing goes into their wines that is artificial. The grapes determine the wine. In terms of the picking of the grapes they only take the grapes from the bottom of the vine. They indicated that in a good year there will be two more growths/bunches of grapes above the lower level. They never pick these grapes as they are not up to quality. They stress lower yields as ensuring superior quality wine.
Our wine tasting took place under a quince tree. Wine poured generously and with great pride and zeal. While it was hot outside the shade of the tree and interesting dialogue kept us occupied. How informal could you get and in a good way!
Johannes standing beside a full sized fudder cask containing up to 1,000 litres of wine. This cask/barrel is made from German oak taken from the local area. They will keep their wine in these barrels between 6 and 10 months before bottling. The cellar is six metres below ground and was very cool despite the outside temperatures in the low 30s. The walls and ceiling are made of stone. Everything with the wine making process taking place is gravity fed. The wine is pressed in a huge stainless steel tank that is gravity fed. The wine is then gravity fed to the casks below in the cellar.
A quince from the quince tree located beside their vineyard.
Erich showing some grapes. I asked them about visiting during harvesting season so I could do some grape picking and then watch the pressing and fermentation processes. They were receptive. Difficulty is determining the picking dates as it is totally dependent on weather conditions.
A quick tutorial by Lana about the fudders used--Jahannes told us that unlike what other modern wineries do, the fudders here get used over and over for many years. They have some dating back to the 1950's. They also prefer using the older style fodder and not the newer ones as the shape is slightly different and they are not designed well for easy movement. While the fudders are black on the outside from the humidity in the wine cellar reacting with the wood, the inside of the barrel is natural wood color. This family sources their fudders from other wineries that are giving them away because they are no longer needed. Each fodder is marked with its capacity, year of origin, winery of ownership and a government stamp of registration.
As we were leaving they asked which bottle we preferred and we picked the Spätlese identified above. Johannes labelled it and then offered it to us for free! Incredible and unexpected. These two really are special.
Within about 10 minutes we arrived at Weingut Van Volxem for our 15:30 appointment. Very impressive building and grounds located in the middle of the town of Wiltingen. This is another Weingut identified by Stuart Pigott as one of the very best at medium-dry Riesling wineries. Known for harmonic dry and off-dry Riesling wines. Style and methodology of spontaneous fermentation, low yield and strict selection of grapes. As an aside they have some palm trees in their garden!
Our wine tasting leader was informative, articulate and knowledgeable. 90% of their grapes are Riesling. The Weingut was purchased in 2000 by the current owner who is Polish. They describe their wines as traditional Saar style. They own many older Riesling vines ranging from 30 - 50 years old. Some vines are up to 120 years old and with their original rooting systems!
Their GG wines are sold out early each year. Given their wines are natural and fermented old style they require a reasonable time in the bottle. All their wines use natural cork except for one wine which comes from parcels produced by growers. We were provided a piece of paper with all their wines listed and another with a press release so lots of information shared. Plus, we were showed a huge map that demonstrated where their vineyards were placed around the valley in the lower and higher areas. Van Volxem is the largest privately-owned winery in the Saar. with 70 hectares owned. They have around 30 employees full-time most of the year and during the busy season hire another 30 employees. Mostly eastern Europeans pick the grapes.
Quite a refined ambience in the large dining room for the wine tasting. Very classy. Eight (8) wines were sampled so that was very generous. Some of their wines could not be purchased as they were sold out. One of the very special aspects of this wine tasting was being poured wines that were not listed and used as a comparison. We tasted some older GGs to compare with the 2015 vintages to see how they age. Different colour, nose and a creamier taste! We enjoyed all of the wine tasted, but decided to purchase the 2015 Goldberg Riesling GG at 23.00 Euro. This wine was delicious, balanced and creamy. The two Kabinetts were both incredible, but we are limited to one bottle per Weingut due to space and weight restrictions. We left the Weingut around 16:40 so a little more than an hour of wine tasting.
These were the bottles poured for our tasting at Weingut Van Volxem.
Beautiful and stately room where the tasting took place. Check out the stained glass windows. Quite the dining room built at the turn of the 20th Century by the rich Flemish owner at the time.
Our three wine purchased today (although the middle wine was a freebie)! Two sweeter wines and one GG dry wine.
When we returned to our apartment Lana was pretty tired so she had a good long nap while I started on today's blog. Around 19:00 Lana awoke and off to Das Weinhaus we went for dinner. It was highly recommended by one of the Weinguts I had contacted. It took us about 3 minutes to walk there. Nice ambience for a wine bar/restaurant. Wooden tables, nice appointments and a gigantic collection of wine. Decent food menu and a huge booklet of wine choices. The only challenge was getting a server to take our order. It was pretty busy though.
Randy's order of Wremer Krabbenbrot of Roggenbrot kit Omelette costing 15 Euro. The brown stuff is baby shrimp. All around good tastes and arrived warm and ready to eat. In addition, I ordered a 0.15 litre glass of J.J. Rum (Wehlen) Riesling Kabinett for 4.90 Euro and loved it.
Lana's order of International Köstlichkeiten. A variety of meats like a charcuterie. Fresh and tasty meat and delicious bread for 8.50 Euros.
While driving these small, narrow and winding country roads there are various places where they have a speed check. If you are driving under the speed limit then you get a happy face showing. If you are over the speed limit you get an unhappy face. I have not seen a happy face yet despite the slow traffic/trucks that can keep my speeding down. **Lana here--Randy says to me "why don't you take a picture of the unhappy face that comes up?" My response? "Well, I would darling, IF you were driving SLOW ENOUGH for me to take a picture". LOL.
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