I make no apologies for returning to the subject of the dry Rieslings of the Rhienhessen region where you can see Klaus-Peter Keller of the Keller estate in Flörsheim-Dalsheim selectively harvesting Riesling grapes in the vineyards of Nierstein. Honestly, it’s not because I’m obsessed with the Germany’s largest wine growing region, just that so many exciting things happened there during the last years and so many great wines were made there, but have so far received such scant attention in the international media, including in the theoretically totally open-minded and utterly cosmopolitan New York-based media. To compensate for this I attach a link to a short film about the New Rheinhessen blind tasting I staged together with the American Association of Wine Economists (AAWE) at Trestle on Tenth restaurant on 10th Avenue at West 24th Street on the evening of November 28th (see my full report under Day 5). It was made by a talented young French filmmaker based in Brooklyn called Marcarthur Baralla (www.defendshh.com) who I met for the first time that evening.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GC0JSn-w_8&feature=plcp
By the way, Marcarthur Baralla’s favorite wine at the tasting was the 2012 “Rabenturm” Riesling from Christine Huff of the Fritz Ekkehard Huff estate of Nierstein-Schwabsburg, which was not well understood by every tasted although it comes from a stony “red slate” (geological name Rotliegendes, actually a type of finely-layered sandstone) and in the New York wine scene Rieslings from stony soils are definitely cool. Some tasters were irritated by the special aromas (for me a headily sweet floral note) which Rieslings from this kind of soils often develop. But as you can see from the video in spite of this the general mood at the tasting was extremely positive.
By the way, Katharina Wechsler of the eponymous estate in Westhofen/Rhienhessen about whom I reported two days ago, was one of untold dozens of young winemakers in the region who were once trainees at the Keller estate. She’s a perfect example of this group, for she never attempted to copy the Keller style, instead striking out in her own direction and thus enriching the region which is now the Dream Factory of dry white German wines.
Don’t worry about continuation of the story of the Riesling aromas getting put back a day or two. One of the secrets to aromatic and elegant Riesling is picking late when the grapes are fully ripe, and my story needs to ripen too!
