Yesterday at the David Bowler tasting of wines from Germany, Austria and Alsace yesterday afternoon I clocked this mighty vessel, which is possibly – to quote a wine magazine that will remain nameless – “the ultimate bottle of Riesling”. Fritz’s Riesling is produced by Fritz Haselbach of the Gunderloch estate in Nackenheim/Rheinhessen, and as you can see it is also available in 20 liter kegs which look like small submersibles. We won’t be cracking any of these at the launch of my book BEST WHITE WINE ON EARTH – The Riesling Story (aka #BWWOE), but there will be more than enough great Riesling to refresh and stimulate stimulate the minds and bodies of those who make it to Terroir Murray Hill (439 Third Avenue, between 30th and 31st Streets) between 2pm and 4pm on Saturday (if you are trade, then you can some one hour later. By sure not to miss the crowning of the first official Riesling Queen of New York at 3pm! There are no tickets and there is no admission price, but we are asking you for donations to the HIV/AIDS foundation HOPE in Cape Town, which I have supported for almost 20 years.
The Terroir Murray Hill event is a great chance to taste a slew of the best Rieslings from Germany and the USA, but the atmosphere will (of course!) be celebratory. For those of you seeking in-depth knowledge and Riesling enlightenment the tasting between 2pm and 4pm on Sunday, June 22nd at Hotel Delmano, 82 Berry Street in Williamsburg/Brooklyn (just a couple of blocks from Bedford Avenue subway on the L line) is a MUST. Steffen Christmann of the Christmann estate in the Pfalz, who is also the national president of the VDP, and Philipp Wittmann of the Wittmann estate in Rheinhessen, of which region he is the regional president of the VDP, are two of the leading producers of the new single-vineyard ‘Grosses Gewächs’ (GG) wines. They will not only be explaining exactly how this new high-end category of dry Riesling functions, but also showing their GG wines and those from the Rebholz estate in the Pfalz. The climax of this tasting will be the Idig GG from Christmann, the Morstein GG from Wittmann and the Kastanienbusch GG from Rebholz from the 2007 vintage. This is a UNIQUE chance to experience the finest GGs at optimum maturity (though they will surely keep another decade or more); 21st century German Riesling “Grand Crus”! There is no charge for this tasting either. However, you must show Alex Allan (alexthealan@gmail.com) that you are a member of the trade or otherwise have a good reason to attend. Please HURRY before all the maximum 17 seats are taken!
By the way, although the name and packaging may be a gimmicky ‘Fritz’s Riesling’ is a very pleasant medium-dry Riesling which has some real character from the Roter Hang or red slopes of Nackenheim and Nierstein in Rheinhessen. There are very few wines on Planet Riesling which actually taste gimmicky, which is quite a contrast to all the Bullshit Chardonnay, Industrial Pinot Grigio and Industrial Sauvignon Blanc sloshing around global markets, (although I must add that, of course, some lovely wines are also crafted from those so often bastardized grapes).
