Rudi was a mentor of mine, I was so lucky to have met and worked with him over the years. RIP Rudi - you were one of a kind.
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Oh wow. Sad news. A real pioneer.
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He had a great portfolio. It was a shame he kept cycling through East Coast distributors, so his wines were hard to find in the East. Therry Theise’s producers completely dominated the shelves in the NY area, save for Prum and a couple of other top wineries.
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Anybody who knew Rudi knew he was an ornery, fiesty, cantankerous son of a bitch. He switched wholesalers endlessly all over the country. He reminded me of my father, which is why we got along so well. It was a wonderful catalog. I still have some 1983 Fritz Haag Ausleses from when I first started working with him. When Rudi talked, you listened.
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Rudi was certainly a legend and before Terry. A number of articles seem to have forgotten about Frank Schoonmaker who preceded Rudi.
Also @Thomas_Keim do you remember when Rudi worked with Egon Müller? I don’t seem to remember that.
It is great that his portfolio is in good hands with the The German Wine Collection.
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Schoonmaker’s books were my early bibles. Bob Haas was an early disciple of his. I still have his Encyclopia in pure beat up form (and still quote from it today).
Rudi didn’t have Egon Muller’s wines very long, I believe they were one of the first estates Wiest represented. Fritz Haag’s wines were his pride and joy, as were the Pfeffingen wines from the Pfalz. Pfeffingen’s Scheurebe was another of his treasures, and it showed me Scheurebe was far from a pedestrian grape.
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And it always seemed strange to me that Terry Theise rarely changed wholesalers (he had a great talent for picking great wholesalers) and Rudi was constantly changing wholesalers. Rudi often went with up and comers (who often times couldn’t pay their bills) and pounded on them relentlessly to sell wine. They were complete opposites.
Which reminds me, I would love to see his German book again. I think I had it memorized at one time. Haven’t seen it in 30+ years.
Pfeffingen made my second favorite Scheurebe for a very long time.
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Your first David?
Muller-Catoir of course! Now it would be Keller for me.
Catoir as made by Hans Gunter Schwarz.