This took me a little more time to post. The trip was the last week of May.
I just finished my 4th work trip to Germany since late 22’. I booked myself to arrive on a Sunday with Monday off so I could take the full day to wine taste. I usually fly in Sunday, wine taste late; work Monday AM and sneak in 1 tasting before flying back. As Monday was Memorial Day, I got to take the whole day to taste.
I reached out to several wineries, notably Keller who informed me of their open house on 5/30 however my flight was already booked and I couldn’t swap trip dates.
I was able to connect with Weingut Jakob Schneider, Donnhoff, Emrich-Schonleber and misconnected for a 4th straight trip with Shafer-Frohlich. Since I wanted 3 tastings on Monday, I snuck in Dr. Crusius for after Jakob Schneider since the distance is fairly close.
Sunday afternoon was spent in Bernkastel as I had a quick lunch at the Kloster Machern and then right up the dirt road to Markus Molitor. I had @Robert_Dentice tell me to drop his name when making the booking and was greeted by Daniel Kiowski, the export manager for Molitor. Daniel is a former sommelier and has a great palate. Daniel was there for a good chunk of the tasting and I will assume he pulled out some of his better stuff based on what we went through.
As I am a riesling rookie, I asked Daniel what are recommended timeframes to age the wines and proper serving temperatures. Here are my notes:
Kabinett- 5-10 years from vintage
Spatlese - 10-15 years for dry, 20+ for sweet
Auslese - 15 years dry, sweet longer
BA & TBA - can go 20-30+ or much longer but good with age
5 Celsius for sweet, 10-12 for white cap, 9-10 for green cap, 8 or colder for gold kapsule.
I asked to try some Spatburgunder as last time through I just focused on the Riesling.
We started with a glass of 2020 Einstern. This was an extremely light bodied wine. 1 star from Molitor, good vintage in the Mosel.
Next pour was the 2015, 3 star Brauneberger Klostergartem. Again, light bodied with an intriguing finish. This was unlike any Pinot I’ve tried and unfortunately it was a small pour so small sample size.
2018 3 star Graacher Himmelreich, great vintage for Mosel
Then the 2020 Graacher Himmelreich, just an outstanding wine. Daniel says it’s the best vintage they’ve ever made. Great flavor profile, however €129 direct at the winery.
We switched to Riesling and had he Wehlener Sonnenur Auslese trocken. I didn’t catch the vintage and no bottle pic for this wine.
Next up, 21 Wehlener Klosterberg Kabinett.
20’ Saarburger Rausch Spatlese
20’ Kinheimer Hubertuslay Auslese **
20’ Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese ***
21’ Scharzhofberger *** - Daniel says they share this vineyard with others, notably Egon Muller. The glass of this riesling was so mouth filling. The quality is there, but at $599 EUR per bottle it is not reasonbly priced to me. They only made something around 800 bottles.
20 Ockfener Bockstein Kabinett
18 Graacher Himmelreich Auslese *
05 Zeltinger Schlossberg Auslese ** - notably I bought a bottle of this. Went to add it into my app and found a duplicate. I bought a bottle of this at the winery last year as well. Guess I really did like the wine!
20’ Urziger Wurzgarten Kabinett
13’ Saarburger Ranch Spatlese
03 Wehlener Klosterberg Auslese ** - I took a bottle of this home.
06 Zeltinger Himmelreich BA - Reasonably priced at $57 EUR for a 375.
08 Bernkasteler Graben TBA - Would have loved to grab more TBA but tough buy at $152 EUR for a 375.
An epic tasting again at Markus Molitor.
Afterwards I drove up river and had a couple glasses of Martin Mullen at Die Mosel with a cheese plate.
Day 2 - The Nahe
Weingut Jakob Schneider - this is a family owned winery and they are 20+ generations into the wine business. Laura Schneider was our host for the tasting and we had some great conversations about their business, her history and then of course the Jakob Schneider portfolio.
We started with a taste of the 23’ Melaphyr Trocken. This is a nice entry level wine. Good acidity.
Next up as the 23’ Grauschieffer Trocken. Again a nice entry level wine.
We moved on to the 23’ Niederhauser Hermannshohle Trocken. The wines continue to improve in quality as we get deeper into the tasting.
Next up, 22’ Niederhauser Klamm Trocken. Again, a nice representation of dry riesling from the Nahe.
We did a side by side of the 23 Niederhauser Auf Der Kertz Feinherb and 22’ Niederhauser Rosenheck Kabinett. Again, the wines just got better and I am wondering why I can’t ship the wines home to myself.
We finished with the 23’ Niederhauser Hermannshohle Edith Elisabeth Spatslese and 23’ Niederhauser Hermannshohle Junior Auslese. these were both enjoyable. Not knowing how many bottles I would want from each winery, I took only bought two bottles here: the Edith Elisabeth and Niederhauser Klamm Trocken.
Weingut Dr. Crusius -
Hosted by Birgitta Crusius, 13th generation and the 14th generation is now in control. This was a little different setup than Jakob Schneider. I would say much more formal setting being hosted by an older generation. However that said, we had good conversations about the winery and their portfolio. Birgitta feels the 24’ vintage is a total loss as we discussed the freeze that came in. She said that is what insurance is for.
We started with a 23’ Burgunder & Auxerrois. Having never had this varietal before, it was light and not crisp like riesling. I would need to retaste it to give a better detail but I am not sure it is a wine I would purchase.
Next up was the 23’ Riesling trocken. This was the entry level riesling.
Next up the Vom Fels and Vom Stein, both trockens. Sorry for lack of specifics on notes, but again these continue to improve as you move up the portfolio at each winery.
Our next two wines were the 23’ Traiser Rotenfels and 23’ Top of the Rock, both trockens. Top of the Rock stood out to me and is one I should have bought at this visit.
Birgitta was kind enough to crack open an 18’ Muhlberg GG. Its just incredible to think how inexpensive these wines are considering most of my buying and on site tasting experiences are from Napa.
Last 2 wines were a 21 Felsenberg Auslese and by special request a 20’ Muhlberg Eiswein. As the climate warms, its harder for each winery to make these Eisweins. Apparently they still attempt to make Eiswein each vintage but rarely get it as it just doesn’t get cold enough before they can’t use the grapes.
I took home the 21 Felsenberg Auslese, the 20 Eiswein and an 18 Muhlberg GG. 
Weingut Donnhoff -
We were hosted by Sascha Schomel, who is a host extraordinaire. Part of the Donnhoff family and a great ambassador for Riesling. Sascha is a straight shooter and very off the cuff. I would love to get back and do another tasting here with him.
We started with a sip of their bubbly. 19 Blancs de Blancs. Something different and enjoyable.
Next up was the 23’ Stuckfass Chardonnay trocken. Again quite enjoyable, different than what I am accustomed to in California. This is another wine I would like to try again down the road.
And then onto the Riesling’s. 23 Tonschiefer trocken. Another close to entry level trocken. Donnhoff’s rieslings are a bigger style than anything else I have tasted. I probably should have asked about the house style v other producers but was too busy enjoying the wine and conversation with Sascha.
From there, 23’ Schlossbockelheimer trocken & 23’ Roxheimer Hollenpfad trocken. What gets me about tasting each label is the variation from vineyard to vineyard. Yes you get the same thing with red wine, but with the rieslings I feel the contrast is sharper in white wine location.
And then Sascha pulled out the big guns. 13 Felsenberg GG. Me to Sascha, when do the GG’s go on sale? Not til 1 September. Ugh… Great wine, just impeccable quality.
Of course we couldn’t stop there, Sascha has a shit eating grin on his face and pulls a 10’ Hermannshohle GG out.
More agony from me, can’t buy these and the new release isn’t until September. The Hermannshohle is the most expensive GG on the weinkarte at $68 EUR.
Sascha the poured the 23 Niederhauser Klamm Kabinett. Fortunately this one was for sale and I took a bottle home. I also took home the 23 Niederhauser Klamm Kabinett and the 18’ Niederhauser Hermannshohle R.
Last two pours, just to torture us and close out the day: 03’ Sclossbockelheimer Felsenberg Spatlese. A beautiful long finish. Yes sweet, but I think I tend to like the sweet more than the dry. I am still a riesling rookie. The color on these older rieslings!!
And finally, the 07 Niederhauser Hermannshohle Auslese
Donnhoff was prepping for their annual presentation weekend event. A very festive winery and Sascha introduced us to his uncle on the way out.
Sascha, does this winery have a library? No - not really. We are farmers and we make too many labels each vintage to store them all. We sell what we make to survive. That is the way in Germany.
Obviously they do have some wines they hold back or store for later tastings and it was a treat to get these older Donnhoff’s in the glass. I don’t know where they rate amongst their peers for top quality in the country, but for me this is the best top to bottom for my trip.
After work tasting next day-
Weingut Emrich-Schonleber. I had been emailing with Marvin trying to get a tasting for about a year and a half, but to my surprise I was hosted by Frank. It took me until most of the way through my tasting to actually realize that Frank is also the winemaker. DOH! Total egg on my face and this was unfortunately a rushed tasting as it was Frank’s daughter’s birthday and I am pretty sure he just didn’t want to be there. Not the greatest experience as I like to take my time and ask as many questions as possible to learn, however the wines are clearly amongst the best. I hope to be able to revisit and have more time together in the future. They clearly have special wine!
I started with the 23’ Mineral trocken. Great started wine. Fresh and crisp. Upon the first taste I know I am drinking high quality wine, much like the stop at Donnhoff.
Frank then poured the 23’ Weissburgunder trocken. Sharp, crisp, high quality. These wines are so easy to drink and you just want another glass every time you finish.
I did not get pictures of all the bottles Frank poured during the tasting as again it was rushed so I am drawing blanks on some of the wines on the weinkarte we went over.
I had the 23’ Fruhtau Monzinger trocken. Again just a stunning display of riesling. I bought one of these.
The 23’ Fruhlingsplatzchen Spatlese, another sweet wine I bought a bottle of.
I believe the last wine he poured for me was the 18 Halenberg Auslese, I took a bottle of this home as well.
Just amazing value looking at the winery direct pricing. Having to haul the wine back means I am severely limited and can’t load up. US Customs waived me through with no issues.
If I had to rate the tastings:
Donnhoff - Sascha as a host was an unforgettable experience, the wine is pretty good too!!
Markus Molitor - the quality and quantity of wine poured here is high. Thanks to Daniel!
Jakob Schneider - good conversation with Laura and high quality wines.
Emrich-Schonleber - impeccable wine, just a very rushed tasting. Need a do over for a better experience
Dr Crusius - a more traditional tasting. Nothing wrong with the host or what we were poured, someone had to be last on the list
Next stop for me in my travels, Tuscany and Montalcino.