Category Archives: Wines

Germany, Wines

Wines Notes: Franconian Steigerwald

 

What I Learned:

Kronsberg, Julius Echter Berg, and the Kuchenmeister are three well-known vineyards in the Iphofen-Roedelsee area, the most famous perhaps being the Julius Echter Berg, named after a 16th Century Wuerzburg Prince-Bishop. (He served as the ruler of a large area within the Holy Roman Empire in Franconia, which he managed rather well.) It was during his lifetime that the Silvaner vines entered Franconia (the first documented record of it locally being in the Castell archives), and some of its best expressions come from the mineral-rich Gipskeuper soils (components shale, gypsum, anhydrite and rock salt) unique to the area around the Schwanberg, around which the three vineyards lay. This geological component, along with the influence of a continental weather pattern, can result in outstanding white wines some years.

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France, Wines

Wine Notes: Grand Cru Praelatenberg

 

What I Learned

Alsace is a fascinating place. From a watery world filled with tributaries to the tributaries of the Rhine River, to the foothills covered with vines, to the tree-covered mountains of the Vosges, all lie within less than 18 kilometers/10 miles of each other. The valley area, sheltered from Atlantic weather to the west, and continental weather to the east, has optimal conditions for growing cool weather grapes.

Selestat was at one time one of the most important towns in Alsace. So, not surprisingly, monks founded the Abbey of Ebermunster on the Ill, less than 10 kilometers/6 miles downriver. But both places are in the water-rich plains of Alsace, where grapes will not grow. The monks therefore acquired lands for vineyards in the hills behind Selestat, and one of these plots became known as the Praelatenberg, or Prelate’s Hill.

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France, Wines

Wine Notes: Grignan Les Adhemar

 

What I Learned

There are many wine appellations along or near the Rhone River, as it drains much of central and south -eastern France.

The title appellation, Grignan les Adhemar, was formerly known as Coteaux du Tricastin. But negative associations arising from the nearby Tricastin Nuclear Power Plant disaster in July 2008, resulted in the local vintners applying for an appellation name change. Thus, by late 2010, the appellation forming a triangle from Grignan in the east, and Saint Paul Trois Chateaux and Montelimar in the west became known as Grignan les Adhemar.

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Germany, Wines

Wine Notes: Saale-Unstrut

 

What I Learned

Vineyards have grown along the Saale and Unstrut rivers for over 1000 years now, from a modest start at Memleben Abbey in 998 A.D.. Vines now cover about 770 hectares in the Saale-Unstrut Region. The vineyard landscape is characterized by hills of shell limestone and variegated sandstone soils, often terraced, contained in places by centuries-old dry-stone walls. Sited on the 51st degree of latitude, it is the northernmost designated quality wine region in Germany. In spite of its northerly position, it receives more sunshine than Trier, in the Moselle wine region but less than Freiburg, in the southern Baden wine region in the Rhine River Valley.

The Saale Unstrut region extends over three German states: Saxony-Anhalt (639 hectares), Thuringia (108 hectares), and a real northern outlier in Brandenburg (by Potsdam) (8.4 hectares).  No other German wine region covers such a number of German states.

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Germany, Wines

Wine Notes: Baden’s Kaiserstuhl

 

What I Learned

Within the German wine region of Baden lies the Kaiserstuhl wine district. With almost 4300 hectares (over 10,500 acres), it is the largest of all nine wine districts in Baden.

This district is the warmest site in Germany, with the highest average temperatures and the highest average hours of sunshine. In this district, the vines are planted mostly in terraces, mostly on south facing slopes of the Kaiserstuhl slopes.

The whole area looks and feels volcanic, as it was once one giant volcano. The volcano was active 16 to 19 million years ago, and since then, the terrain has eroded. Hence the underlying geology is volcanic. A layer of loess lies on top of what remains of the eruptions’ geological debris. The vines grow atop this geology in a series of terraces. The cuts in the terraces reveal the meters of depths (achieved over time) of this light-colored sediment. Two of Burkheim’s best known growth areas are Schlossgarten and Feuerberg (literally, “fire hill”).

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Germany, Wines

Wine Notes: Lower Moselle

 

What I Learned:

As the Moselle flows through Germany, beginning at the French-Luxembourg border, and continuing to Koblenz downriver, it is divided into sections: Upper, Middle and Lower. The Lower Moselle section also known as the Terraced Moselle. It is without a doubt the most spectacular area visually: steep slopes rise from the river edge, as the Moselle twists and turns on its way to join the Rhine.

This area, downriver from the famous wine village of Cochem, to the river mouth at Koblenz, boasts some of the steepest vineyards in the world. Hence the need for the narrow terraces which dominate the landscape on the vine-bearing hills of this sector. Between the villages of Loef and Lehman, the Loefer Sonnenring Vineyard has a gradient of up to 50 percent! Because of the steepness and terraces, the vines in this sub-region are mostly all worked by hand, resulting in wines that generally are a bit more expensive than other regional wines.

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France, Wines

Wine Notes: Les Riceys Champagne

 

What I Learned:

Champagne can only come from Champagne, the wine region, about 90 miles from Paris. In spite of its proximity to “gay Paris,” champagne did not enjoy great fame until fairly recently. Although grapes were cultivated in the region as early as Roman times, the often cold, foggy climate worked to ensure that grape ripening was not consistent from year to year. Hence the wine was not always good, or available.

At the turn of the 20th century, what constituted the champagne producing area of Champagne was a contentious question. And in 1911, it provoked massive riots. At issue was the right of the wine-makers of the southern Champagne region, in the department of Aube, to use the champagne appellation for the sparkling wines made from their grapes. It wasn’t until 1927, that this district, known as the Cote des Bars, finally gained Champagne appellation status.

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Italy, Wines

Wine Notes: Bergamo

 

What I Learned

There isn’t a Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) named Bergamo, in honor of one of northern Italy’s large cities, rather the wines produced locally in and around the city are known as the Valcalepio Denomination. The Valcalepio DOC wines are produced from grapes grown mostly north of Bergamo, east of the Adda River (coming out of Lake Como), to west from the Oglio River (coming from Lake Iseo). (This last incidentally, is also the boundary which meets up with the Franciacorta DOC.) This denomination only has about 800 hectares of land under vine. The wines from these vineyards only gained appellation status in 1976, so in addition to being relatively small, this appellation is also relatively new.

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Germany, Wines

Wine Notes: Franconian Steigerwald

 

What I Learned:

There are three distinct wine districts in the Franconian Wine Region: The Mainviereck, the Maindreieck and the Steigerwald. Vineyards here can face more challenges than elsewhere in the region. While the first two districts follow along the Main River, the Steigerwald wine district does not. This means that the climate-moderating effects of a river do not apply. Additionally, the highest vineyards in the Franconian wine region lie in this district, some at almost 400 meters above sea level. Therefore, the elevation, as well as the distance from the Main River means that spring weather effects can come later, and fall weather effects can come earlier, and have more impact, than elsewhere in this wine region.

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France, Wines

Wine Notes: The Cahors Appellation

 

What I Learned

The Appellation Cahors Controlee is a small appellation in the Lot Department, in southwest France.  Specifically, it is in the Lot River Valley, a sinuous river valley leading to the Garonne River further west. Located mostly west of the small town of Cahors, the vineyards, like Cahors, are located on peninsulas created by the Lot’s often extreme bends, which over the millennia, deposited alluvial soils. Amounting to less than 5000 hectares in total, the vineyards are devoted to only three varietals.

This is a red varietal only appellation.  The main varietal is a grape of many names. Its most well-known name nowadays (thanks in part to its Argentinian success) is Malbec. In several regions of France, it may be known as Cot (with slight spelling variations), especially in the middle Loire, and in and around the Entre-Deux-Mers area of the Bordeaux wine region. In its home region, Quercy, it is also known as Auxerrois. (Not to be confused with the white varietal known as Auxerrois.)

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