Germany has the third largest amount of pinot noir planted, trailing only France and the United States. In fact their total acreage eclipses both Australia and New Zealand’s pinot noir plantings combined. (The local name for the grape is Spätburgunder.)
Such is a factoid that I learned yesterday at ProWein, the annual wine trade megashow in Düsseldorf. The seminar was entitled “Germany’s Pinot Noir Miracle,†which probably could have been an awesome German compound word “Spätburgunderwunder†if it only existed. Anne Krebiehl, originally from Baden and now living in England led the session in full cry. “If you cut me, I will probably bleed Spätburgunder,†she said pinning her colors to the mast early. Read more…
Thomas Haag of Schloss-Lieser, Andreas Adam of A.J. Adam, and Dorothee Zilliken of Zilliken.
Confronting a warming climate was one of the main topics at a panel discussion at the recent Rieslingfeier. Historically, Germany has been at the northern limits of wine production where the grapes struggled for ripeness. Now, warmer vintages are becoming more frequent as 2003, 2006, 2007, and the current releases from 20011 show.
David Schildknecht, perhaps the leading German wine critic in America, led the panel of four producers at Bar Boulud that included Florian Lauer, Dorothee Ziliken (Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken), Andreas Adam (A.J. Adam), and Thomas Haag (Schloss Lieser). Mosel Riesling has historically had a reputation as a light, juicy, drinkable yet filigreed wine. The challenge with global warming is that rather than struggle for ripeness and sugar, the grapes can effortlessly tack on sugar, which can lead to higher alcohol wines, richer wines or elevated residual sugar in the wines–in the worst case, wines that might lose the élan of the cooler times. The producers spoke of different tools in the toolkit of vineyard management and winemaking that they use to adjust to global warming. Read more…