This was one of the central questions behind a press trip to the Rhine Valley organised by the German Wine Institute for an international party of journalists. Winemakers in the Rheingau, Rheinessen and Pfalz regions believe the answer may lie in a three-pronged approach: low-alcohol products, low-intervention wines and new environment-friendly varieties of grapes. Victor Smart joined the tour to see progress and highlight interesting wines.
Good wine sells itself, declares an old German proverb. And, when you have a native variety of the sheer quality of Riesling to work with, that should be enough. Riesling makes geographically expressive and long-lived wines, from sweet to bone dry.
But in these days of a dramatic shift in consumer tastes, the Rhine Valley’s winemakers know they need to be canny too. The successful recent drive for quality across the board is one component, certainly. But there’s a need for more lateral thinking too.
A good place to start is the Rheinhessen region, the largest and one of the most historic areas with 27,700 ha of vines under cultivation.
Weingut Leitz will be a familiar name to many consumers. I’m a big fan of the Rüdesheimer Magdalenenkreuz Riesling Kabinett earning 92 points in a recent tasting yet ludicrously underpriced in the UK at less than £15.
At its elegant visitors’ centre, Leitz is proud to proffer up its Grosses Gewächs (pronounded ‘guh-vex’). These are the finest dry wines, designated by the VDP growers’ association. They display everything you would expect from some of the world’s best Rieslings. Like the grand crus of Burgundy, these wines take the name of the vineyard and not the village. Up a truly vertiginous slope, the Kaiser Steermfeld (translated as “imperial stone field”) can trace its provenance directly back to 817 CE and an edict by Emperor Charlemagne.
Click HERE to read the full article.