Vinoculation

Nahe and Mosel. For riesling lovers, these are two words synonymous with paradise, places every Riesling lover must visit in their lifetimes. Wines of refinement, delicacy and balance, laser like precision and fabulous ageing potential. Everything from bone dry to tooth rottingly sweet.

And in July I did visit. 2 producers in the Nahe, being Donnhoff an Schaefer Frohlich, and six in the Mosel: Andreas Schmitges, JJ Prum, Rienhold Haart, Willi Schaefer, Schloss Lieser and Fritz Haag.

Visitng the Nahe first, on a weekday this is one sleepy area. A few cyclists and pedestrians but that’s it. First stop was Donnhoff, which is a place you would only find if you were looking for it. We saw the much photographed Nahe river sign and crossed the cobbled bridge and took the turn to the right. . This must be something of a pilgrimage as you cannot find Donnhoff accidentally. And it’s a pilgrimage we made after meeting Helmut at a dinner in Australia in February 2010 (apologies for the shadowy photo).

Donnhoff has a wide range of vineyard holdings in the Nahe, all close to the river itself and with all sorts of different soils and microclimates.

This shows in their wines which vary quite a lot in flavour

profile. The range is significant, and only a few come into my home country of Australia. There is a tasting room at Donnhoff, and they receive about 5 visitors a day. Susannah hosts us as Helmut is overseas. She is great – knowledgeable at al levels, and her English is brilliant

The Nahe hasn’t seen a bad vintage for some time. 2009 returns to a bit of richness, ripeness and weight after a classical 2008. We taste a very wide range of mainly 09’s. The year has been particularly good to the trocken and Grosses Gewachs wines, which I like from beginning to end. The Oberhauser Liestenberg Kabinett is almost a house wine for me and once again a winner in 09. Even the entry level estate wine is lovely, and probably the best we taste on the entire trip. The Pradikat wines reflect their sites nicely, and yet somehow I find them on the whole slightly less convincing – a victim of extremely high expectations (and to prove a point we buy a bottle of the one I like the least and drink it two nights later – it is lovely). It’s also clear that Niederhauser Hermansholle is a special site – everything from this vineyard from GG to Auslese stands out for balance and serene beauty. The Grosses Gewachs from Dellchen and Felsenberg are also lovely. The 08 Eiswein is freaky – but I but two bottles to bring home anyway.

What a first up experience of wineries in Germany.

Then onto Schaefer Frohlich, whose facility is about 15km away in Bockenau. Tim Frohlich’s wines have come into Australia for two years now and based on the few bottles I’ve tried he is clearly a quality producer. He’s just been awarded range of the year in the 2010 Gault Millau guide, so he’s clearly doing a lot of things right.

Tim greets us and we are most embarrassed when we find out he is getting married the next day! While he has a range of vineyards, some in common with Donnhoff, but others at Monzigen and Bockenau, his approach appears different. Tim is looking for elegance, complexity and minerality, which has led him to slate based sites and more commonality of style across his range. This is a great – no - stunning - range of wines in a style I really like, with an elegance to his 09’s that we don’t see again anywhere else. The estate wine is a beauty, the kabinetts are juicy, the spatlesen are richer in weight but hold their line and show the minerally notes across their citrus fruits without straying too far into yellow fruit (or berry) territory. The 09 Felsneck Grosses Gewachs is an untamed thing of beauty and the Bockenauer Felsneck Spatlese is an absolute knockout.

Do not take Schaefer Frohlich lightly or walk past these bottles when you see them, this is serious wine, and worthy of a place in your collection.

So I expected Donhoff to be the King. Maybe he is – but Tim Frohlich is the crown prince.

After a stunning start we drive to our accommodation in the Mosel, attached to the Schmitges winemaking facility. But that’s for part 2.