The location of the Rheinhessen wine tasting on Saturday at the Hyatt in Mainz, but especially the Mainz Wine Market on Sunday and Monday of the VDP offered in the Rheingoldhalle the opportunity to make a reasonably effective overview of the vintage 2011th
For several months, more than some commentators suggest, when it comes to bless the year. "Large" is already there the slightest attribute. Better still, however, attests to his same level of the century. After all: where frosts, hail and early onset of putrefaction, the quantities are not sensitive to some extent reduced, it is finally time to sell enough wine. After the loss of the previous year began to fear for some producer to have his existence and the bad weather of last year, made the situation for one or the other of them will be even more dicey.
In many parts of Germany, however, the amounts agree. Moreover, the weather conditions led to even income, without reducing measures were already too much, at least when it came to have a wine with substance and expression. This is one reason why the image that the Mainz Wine Market raises the volume, nor is likely to be a little skewed. Here, where he focused much of the German elite winemakers, are selective, resulting in profit measures the rule. In width, the high rate income and other adversities, such as the early Botrytis probably still have significant impact, as it was felt at this event.
Therefore, the euphoric statements about the vintage, as they can currently be heard everywhere, no doubt exaggerated, and so flat not tenable. However, for us wine lovers, there is no reason for concern. After all was where it all went well and what went zuwerke with enough care to make 2011 a lot of fun, because even the simple wines are reintönig, accessible and balanced, especially since the latter, where they were careful with the remaining sugar. For this is also one of the side effects of the volume: the wines are so good about that sugar is quickly tasted pretty clear, even without a push to the upper border of the for "dry" allowed.
That was 2011 for all the producers who want to get away from in Germany at nominally dry wines normal sugar level in order to get even more brilliant, more exciting and more expressive wine, a welcome opportunity for a further step towards a completely dry wine.
However, also included an area in which such considerations play a minor role, the clear winners of the vintage: the Moselle. Here you can buy at the better-known companies this year seem almost blind. The wines are bright as rare, whether dry or sweet, and to an elegance and playfulness that you want as a lover of Moselle wines, maybe more often than those given. The extent of the vintage has all the depth and complexity of great wines, it is true in the coming months during the tasting for wine guides to find out if we can take more time for them. Some wineries would single out, at this point, almost unfair, because even the not so reputable companies have to show very positive qualities.
Well, it seems to have hit this year, the middle Rhine, which in recent years was not always the winners of the respective vintage conditions. Many wines are surprisingly expressive, despite their perhaps slightly deceptive accessibility. Ratzenberger lasting impression, but otherwise the results are most convincing.
The proximity of this year seems to be a bit more mixed than usual, some wine was probably something simple, some nominally dry specimens also remarkably sweet. One of the big winners is Good Hermannsberg to present the most complete local dry wines are solid, complex and expressive. They were among the best Rieslings of the event. Diel Even though stylistically quite different, with tightly knit impressed, completely dry, extremely characterful Rieslings. Much leaner wines work with Emrich-Schoenleber, even the powerful and tightly knit Halenberg remains elegant and playful. In addition Dönnhoff falls on the sweet Rieslings of downright earthy Kahlenberg, Kruger-Rumpf at the fine, aromatic and mineral Pittersberg. Schäfer-Fröhlich also shows not only slim, yet fun-dry Riesling wines based mainly in the sweet range class.
In the Rheinhessen inconsistent vintage is even clearer. In addition to very positive, often already palatable and animating wines are also narrow and only nominally dry, lemony-sweet, often going into lemonade drops, which are consumed at best this spring - if you like something. Thoroughly convincing lines showed with characterful wines not all companies (Wagner-Stempel, Battenfeld Spaniards Kühling-Gillot and Gunderloch stood out), some had been little more than the baseline from 2011 show and could therefore succeed only partially, and still others besides quite exciting exhibitors drops were also strikingly simple examples. Many a producer has to contend with throughout this year, but also rather vague, sometimes thin or rustic wines. The local wine tasting, in which many companies were not organized in the VDP was present, the potential of young winemakers of the area significantly, some of which run the weaker companies VDP easily rank. However, here too the results were staggering, sometimes from company to company, but often within the range of producers. The Silvaner however, seem to be getting better in Rheinhessen besides many a lemony-sweet, more mundane Riesling was a remarkably good specimen of this variety.
I unfortunately had to miss francs in large part because the time was not enough. This is already in 2 weeks at a presentation in Nuremberg, where can complete the picture. For some of the recommendations Sampled enough anyway: Wirsching with an outstanding assortment of dry white wines and the winery in the town of Klingenberg, which apparently takes its place among Benedict Baltes just below the best red wine producers in Germany. Not to mention Hans Ruck, in which there is certainly nothing new to tell which one but if you like this unpretentious, but extremely characterful style can buy blindly, yes, because of its uniqueness must be almost.
The Rheingau was struggling with the difficulties of the vintage to the most comfortable with. Those who do not scrupulously selected, wines got with mushroomy-waxy notes decay or even fleeting shades. Often, well interventions were needed in the basement, which made the wines at the end of little use. The best producers lost due to the much needed selection, especially in the water-rich layers of this year much of a crowd, some of them brought but also first-class Rieslings on the bottle. Most of the companies that have won over the last few years came, and with the conditions of this vintage to good law, and there are a number of compelling product lines and excellent wines, but the weal and woe in the Rheingau are close to each other.
The wines of the Palatinate wine lovers should have plenty of joy this year. They are brilliant at his best and bring the character of their respective location so clearly how little - at least where we had the rest of sugar under control. After all, what does all this year, is here particularly to clear even a few grams of sugar, take the wine much of its brilliance and power, thus preventing a short distance, that wine can exploit the advantages of the vintage full. So it is no wonder that the Southern Palatinate, where most of the top companies use some time to bone-dry wines, very convincing. At the times after the soils on which they grow, designated Rieslings and Burgundy, which today form the category of the former dry Spätlese can be studied because of their exceptional transparency this year, the different influences of each substrate, as before in less than a year. This is also true for the Mittelhaardt who was losing the qualities perhaps not quite as uniform, where the best companies - and those are known to many - those of the south but not inferior in the least and the diversity of situations and characters are noticeably higher is. The list of wineries that stand out this year is positive, too long to present here, you can do with the well-known class operations this year, nothing wrong, is in the second row but here again, and since the problem with banal, lemony -limonadigen Rieslings from the Rhine-Hesse was also mentioned. Here, then, a careful selection is advised, especially in such cases, the 2010s were much better at times. Apparently misled the supposedly simple carelessness born here, some producers.
Swimming is too large, the styles and varieties too varied to even at this early stage to make a clear trend to vintage - if that is all. Many of Burgundy are drinking today with much pleasure, at the Rieslings, the results vary quite considerably. What was to try to, suggests that the Gewurztraminer deserve increased attention this year. In Württemberg, the results seem to follow a clearer line: the Rieslings of the reed sandstone and Keuper soils are completely independent and often gratifying, as Burgundies and not infrequently the Sauvignon, this is becoming more widespread.
The focus of interest was in the southern areas, but often the reds - and anyway in the Ahr in the north. Played here in 2011 naturally no serious role. 2010 was in many companies to forego production of premium wines, which were nominally the simpler wines benefit. The somewhat leaner and more pronounced acid-style wine is likely many friends but even so were particularly impressive, because elegance, liveliness and bite, this is clearly in front of strength and concentration. That would be so many of us want more during the peak years.
Copyright: AWM / Rauter Still, it has spread enough that Austria has in the past two decades developed into a serious source of premium wines. Still beat against a surprisingly often resentment, if the language of Austrian wines in general and in particular on its red wines comes. The former is probably still at the now ancient wine scandal that after almost 30 years ago was supposed to slowly fall into oblivion, the latter still remarkably stubborn prejudice, German-speaking countries were not able to produce world-class red wine.
At least outside of the country itself is still little known fact that Austria, Burgenland around Lake Neusiedl and the Carnuntum that south of the Slovakian border along the Danube to the gates of Vienna and in the south until the Leitha Mountains, extends over Two major European wine regions has.
As elsewhere in Europe, there were some in the past, a period in which the wines were not thick, soft and strong woody enough. For several years, remembers it, however, more and more on its own strengths: the favorable climate and varied geological Gege type characteristics, enabling a broad range of styles and characters and allow it to extract the best from many different varieties. More and more we make a move to be more self-expression of the home and generally finesse.
Just recently we presented in a "Best of" in front of the best Blaufränkisch Austria. At the same time, however, we tried a lot of other red wines from other varieties. Here, therefore, an overview of all in recent months from both areas sampled reds.
The red wines of the Burgenland The red wines of Carnuntum
The family
Inama now operates in more than 40 years in the hills of Soave wine. Many of the vines of the 25-acre farm are as old as the winery itself, or even older. You can tell the best wines of the estate to clear, which are among the most complex and profound of the area. With about 30% fermented in new barriques
Vigneto you solder the leads well, the list of the best of us so far tried to Soave, but also fermented in used barrels
Vigneti Tues Foscarino is top notch and should still be able to develop a good long while. If you prefer a Soave in a light, early access version will be the normal
Soave Classico one of the best wines of its type
The Inama winery in Wine Guide Homepage of Inama
The ancient species, the floral, often rose and rosewood-like tone, and a typical Litschiaromen to kumquats and bitter are reminiscent dried orange peel, must be treated with sensitivity, so that their wines turn out not pushy and loud. Simultaneously, the Traminer is an unusual amount of sugar on the way to full maturity, while the already rather low acidity threatens to slide into the cellar. Again, it requires the hand of an experienced rounder, to bring the wine into balance.
In Germany, leaving you to cry like a little residual sugar, so they do not already become too powerful. Despite its low acidity, the sweetness is a good Gewurztraminer won because he can oppose their substance, and its characteristic bitter flavor, taste, only the results in Germany, unfortunately, often banal and sweet-scented. The same holds true for the really dry specimens, but it seems to us, as would many of the producers who produce exclusively or even dry Gewurztraminer, inflict upon the variety often more care. Some of them do always amazing delicate, complex and expressive wines in the bottle, and often without too powerful alcohol.
In South Tyrol, one of the most important sources for excellent Gewurztraminer, the high alcohol is a problem, however slowly. Although it is possible for many producers, with a lot of ground, cool mineral elements and solid structure to counteract, and taste many wines with alcohol levels well above 14% is not too heavy, but more often are also schnapsig-gangrenous sounds, even in otherwise excellent copies. However, where everything is just right, you get in South Tyrol - and also the difference in the Trentino - Dry Gewurztraminer impressive: strong and equally cool, complex, expressive, but not loud, and with its own distinctive flavor and minerality.
In Austria, the diversity of styles is great. The most important role Traminer and Gewürztraminer in Styria, where to find fine spicy and elegant specimens, but also powerful, often very long-lived in dry and sweet versions. In the thermal region makes it more likely to Traminer and occasionally in other areas of Lower Austria. Anywhere dry and sweet versions are produced, are in excellent sparkling wine in the Kamp Valley to Burgenland him almost exclusively sweet, usually blended with other varieties.
Considerable importance has certainly Gewurztraminer in Alsace, where usually a more powerful and more or less sweet style is favored. In recent years, we sampled only a few Alsatian wines for our wine guide. The Luxembourg Gewurztraminer are more like those from Alsace, but are usually somewhat less powerful.
All in the past months tried Traminer wine guide
