Travel Report: Germany: In Progress

gavin.f · May 31, 2025, 7:12am

Last minute good luck has allowed me to head to Germany. I’ll be posting notes as I go.

Will also share upcoming appointments, so if folks have specific questions, I can try to work them in.

Big thanks to @Robert_Dentice, @Lars_Carlberg, @Rodrigo_B, @collinwagner, and a bunch of none Wb friends for helpful pre-trip notes.

Important notes for those following along:

This trip is truly last minute so the plan continues to develop as I go
I don’t speak German and this is my first trip in the country, so expect some bungling
I wouldn’t put much stock, if I were you, in my impressions of young dry German wine. In general, my palate prefers wine that prioritize balance and are in the transition point where primary notes exist, but secondary development is at the table. Normally, this means I wouldn’t touch this stuff for 3-5yrs, but I’ll be tasting a lot of '23 and '24 bc that’s what folks will pour on site. Will probably refrain from feedback at young bottle level unless asked or particularly good.
I’ll add photos on delay bc lazy

gavin.f · May 31, 2025, 7:22am

Oh, and though I’m not the biggest social media fan - I’ll be trying it on for this trip.

If that’s your medium: https://www.instagram.com/forrest.and.vine/

gavin.f · May 31, 2025, 7:29am

Flew from Jerez to Frankfurt on Weds. German pilots sure do give lots of inflight information. Very well apprised of air speed and altitude. Confusing to find rental car counter, you’re kind of funneled to the lot. Lesson learned.

To the Rheingau!

Drove directly to Robert Weil
Beautiful place. Gorgeous old house. Recently redone tasting room. It’s open and for 1 person you don’t need a reservation. you can taste the whole line-up except for BA/TBA.

Julias (tasting room fella) had just gotten back from trip to the US on marketing side. Nice chat about mid-west.

Mostly '23 and '24s here and needing time. The '23 Weingut Robert Weil Kiedricher Turmberg Riesling Trocken was a stand out here. 60% slope. heavy slate. In a drinkable state now with some ripe lime, but still very mineral and energy driven. Good future here. Was invited to walk cellar with another group. Big neutral oak everywhere.

Dinner at Zum Krug
Could not more highly recommend this place. Karolina was such a friendly host. Put my order firmly in her hands after tasting her by the glass recommendation. White asparagus with a local herb sauce that doesn’t translate, smoked fish (touch candied?) and rhubarb sauce. Main was Sauerbraten. Never had that before. Yes please!
Wine was 2004 August Kesseler Kabinett. Was nice at dinner, but after 2 hours really threw open the doors into a delicious mélange of peaches and cream.

Slept 4 doors down at Adler Wirtschaft bc I booked my winery and dinner before my hotel (priorities people) and they had room. No amex? Post dinner walk to atm. Turns out there’s a river here, folks! One of the hotel guys is quite jovial. The other quite…German? Fun pairing. Nice place. Beautiful shaded courtyard. Free parking.

day 1 done

Clemens_H · May 31, 2025, 8:30am

Robert Weil winery is very posh (for a German winery) but the wine making is very serious there. Spontaniously fermented and quality driven. Your impression of the Turmberg tracks. It is almost always the wine most enjoyable young. The GG (Gräfenberg) really needs time and is often underestimated when very young, because of its fruity aromas (gummy bears and the like).

Dan_A · May 31, 2025, 9:49am

Happy to follow along this journey through your notes and IG acct, wish I could be off from work for a big chunk of time, all the best and enjoy!

Robert_Dentice · May 31, 2025, 11:02am

If you are still in the Rheningau go to JB Becker and the coffee / pastry shop around the corner!

Rahsaan_M · May 31, 2025, 1:11pm

If it’s the local Frankfurter/Hessian Grüne Soße then it translates pretty easily as green sauce!

Very typical and served all over, one of the more palatable elements of Hessian food for me, but that may be a flame war detour you don’t need in this thread…

Marc_Hanes · May 31, 2025, 2:08pm

When I was first getting into wine Weil had a decent sized presence in my part of the US market (NY/NJ). Pretty sure they were in Rudi’s book. Expensive but great wines, rarely a dud. Their marketing rep then was great, she was lots of fun. I got a holiday greeting from the winery for like a decade after I last had any contact. In the US, Solano Cellars in California seems to be the only one with any meaningful Weil stock. May very well be gray market or DI. Guess Weil is focusing on other markets, can’t blame them. But would like to now and then try some more of their wine.

Clemens_H · May 31, 2025, 4:49pm

Interesting! Here in Germany you can find the wines plenty and therefore sometimes they get a little bit overlooked. As you wrote the wines are somewhat pricey, probably because of its worldwide distribution, but the wines are very consistent. Even though the Japanese conglomerat Suntory is owning the winery the Weil family is heavily involved in the winemaking and marketing.

gavin.f · June 1, 2025, 9:48pm

This is perfectly said. Thanks, Clemens. The wine making ain’t messing around.

The Grafenberg was one of these wines where my note reads, “This is that combination of nothing special now and clearly special in the future…” I’ve had this wine twice, but never at it’s maturity point. One day.

Thanks for the suggestion and appreciate that pairing. They have a “call 24 hrs before” scheduling system which didn’t fit with my first couple of days. Love the wines though. Maybe on the way out!

Maybe? The lady, who was awesome, told me it was a local green herb sauce, but the name didn’t translate. I told her we actually have the name for it in english, “Delicious.” Smile points.

Lol. I don’t have enough of an opinion. Will endeavor to develop one so I can bring my own armaments.

I think they said winebow was bringing in, but can’t find my note. I’ll ask their export guy. He did my tasting and was awesome.

I don’t know the inner workings there, but seems like they have done a good job with their scotch portfolio (Bowmore and Lafroaig), so guess they are doing something right

gavin.f · June 1, 2025, 10:09pm

Have Hermann Ludes and Martin Müllen tomorrow. Happy to field any specific questions if folks have.

Robert_Dentice · June 1, 2025, 10:32pm

BOOM! What a day.

Tell Julian I said hello! Make sure you meet uncle Herm. And tell Jonas Mullen I said hello and make sure you taste his Pinot! I just saw him on the mean streets of Traben-Trarbach last Friday.

gavin.f · June 2, 2025, 6:33am

Busy next day.

Morning at George Buerer. In town. I went through a minor battle with the public parking payment system. The Parking police tried to ticket my car WHILE I was paying. Not today Fräulein! Not today. All needless bc you can park at the winery, I just didn’t see it on my dive by. Someone replace this guy.

Stylish joint. Clean lines. Natural materials. Little modern art, but tasteful not eye roll.

Spoke with Teresa briefly. We’ve met before, but neither of us can remember when. Great vibes. Genuine Cares deeply about what she does. Down to earth. Fun energy.

Went through with Hannah who brought the same energy.

Tasted a lot here. All quality, but many are in that spot of “need some time” for my palate. Stand-outs include:

'24 GB Charm (entry level off dry) does not come across at 24rs. Great acid and energy. orchard fruit. At 13 euros, this is an increidble value. The best risling I’ve ever had under $20 and better than many I’ve had at any price point. Well fucking done.
Of the upper tier, the '20 Berg Roseneck was my favorite, nose keeps coming back with some more. It enthralls. Riper, but not ripe apple, something herbal. Good now and lots of development left.
The entry level red in '22 was open for biz ~lovely and light with some oak influence. Simpler, but solid textured with cherry structure. I don’t have much experience with German red and what I do is either too young and oaky or too young and tart red fruity. I know, I know, color me goldilocks. Anyways, this was a good value under 30euro.

At the end, I asked where else I should go, she said I must go to Peter Jakob Kuhn. Jawohl, Hannah, jawohl.

Drove up to Schloss Johannisberg. This place is GORGEOUS. One of the prettiest churches I’ve ever seen, but in a completely different style, very minimal. Glorious roses in full bloom climb all the way around an dandy yellow mansion. The view is incredible. But, this is a total operation at this point. I didn’t want to deal with the zoo to taste the wines and so took a long walk around and dipped. I would highly recommend doing a picnic up here (many folks were) grabbing a glass from their hut, but many bringing your own bottle.

Finally was Weingut Peter Jakob Kühn.

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This is a special place. It's their real home. Like you park on the street and there are kids under 10 playing in the driveway. Victoria (wife) is managing 5 tables in 3 languages explaining 15 different wines while her daughter rides a tricycle and brings the squash flower she accidently pulled up for mommy's consideration. There is a Beautiful focus of family and terroir here. The vineyards are right out the back door.

The wines are very much wines of the SOIL. Pure and unadulturated. So, most aren’t right for me for half a decade However, even for yak palate like mine, it’s very clear that these are made at the highest caliber and wowza. Rock on.

I stayed in Mainz for the evening. Had a glass of 2023 Moritz Kissinger 0 Ohm with apps. Little lightning in a bottle this one. Very good today and I think excellent in the future. I had emailed Moritz for an appointment, alas he’s out of town at the moment, given this glass I’ll have to take a second shot.

Mainz is great vibes. Chill. Everyone is happy. German youth are so well behaved. There they are, sitting next to their beautiful river, drinking, playing cards together. Le Sigh. Came across some sort of pop up concert. Germans of all ages singing and dancing along to a Green Day cover song. Strange place this, but lovely. A day here is very well spent.

Marc_Hanes · June 2, 2025, 4:42pm

FWIW, just looked at the Winebow website and didn’t find Weil. But who knows.

Matthew_King · June 2, 2025, 5:39pm

Love these free form posts. Your curiosity, enthusiasm and gratitude shine through.

The Germans are a serious lot … they even take their fun seriously!

Rodrigo_B · June 2, 2025, 6:19pm

Loosen imports it and Winebow distributes

Marc_Hanes · June 3, 2025, 12:48am

Interesting. So Winebow would only put on their website their own imports? Not what they distribute? Seems provincial. I see the listing on the Loosen website. Robert Weil | Loosen Bros USA Oddly, the Winebow link on the Loosen website goes to http://www.thewinebowgroup.com/ which times out for me (not www.winebow.com). I type in “Loosen” on the Winebow website and no Weil appears (actually very little appears). Our Brands | Winebow

Looks like someone else distributes Weil in California. I didn’t check every state. Chambers & Chambers

In any event, if Wine-Searcher Pro is any indication the wines are very difficult to find. So Loosen, Winebow, et. al. don’t seem to be doing much with the brand. Unless the game is just on-premise placements. Who knows.

Zachary_Pearson · June 3, 2025, 3:14am

Marc,

Weil is with Loosen Bros USA - I think Wilhelm and Erni are brothers in law. I can probably figure out who to talk to in your state if you’re looking for something.

Thanks,

Zachary

gavin.f · June 3, 2025, 10:47am

Thanks, Matthew. Happy bird over here

gavin.f · June 4, 2025, 7:40am

Woke and drove to to the Nahe, pulling into Donnhoff.

A Donnhoff Riesling was the Riesling that got me into Riesling. Their Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Spatlese is the first wine N and I drank together (I’ve been secretly building a vertical since then). So I was looking forward to this. Just so happens they were having their release party the day I was coming though. What luck!

They make… a lot of wine. I tasted the whole line up, 27 wines. BUT, bc they shared grapes with two other wineries last year (frost decimated 75%-80% of the crop in some vineyards) they invited those two as well to show at the party. So, it was more like 45 wines by the end of the day. It’s hard work folks. It’s hard work. Anyways, back to Donnhoff.

Very pretty location. There was a crowd that day because of the release. Random learning - Germans don’t really spit wine. There is dumping, though a much smaller amount than pouring to be sure. Alas, this trip I’m both Miss Daisy and her driver.

Overall: 2024 is good here. It’s true to the house style and the Nahe, but not short on acid and the ones not together feel like a product of their age rather than genetics.

2024 Weissburgunder trocken - cute, baby gewurztraminer energy
2024 Grauburgunder - Step up from Weissburgunder in togetherness
2024 Doppelstuck - Strange almost dish soap nose, mouth follows very differently with broad ripe apple and some underripe tropical fruit bits
2024 Stuckfass - shy nose of banana and apple. Meh
2024 Weissburgunder S - Banana nose, touch laffy taffy. light mineral line. Needs 2 years
2024 Chardonnay S - More of a firm spin. Wood. Malo. Needs 2 years to settle down
2020 Riesling Sekt - Strange note on nose that that I sometimes get with sparkling Riesling. Almost pinot blanc-y? Fresh in the mouth with a riper fruit profile. Med - acid. long finish. Didn’t love, but there’s nothing bad about it.

—Trocken—

2024 Donnhoff Riesling - Even this level is so good. Fruit basket of mixed ripeness. Acid to balance. Great 13.5euro wine.
2024 Tonschiefer - More squeaky than the entry level. Let this settle down, but stuffing for a very good wine.
2024 Schlofbockelheimer - Also some squeak. Another year here. Great acid to work with
2024 Westhofener - citrus and Apple lead. Some Ox notes. More together than the squeaky Tonschiefer and Schlofbockelheimer. Potential to just hit that line of excellence.
2024 Kreuznacher Kahlenberg 1G - Here we go. This is open for business. Already an excellent wine. Ripe fruit on the nose that carries forward and meets some savory elements. Stuffing to go on.
2024 Roxheimer Hollenpfad 1g - More restrained than Kahlenberg. Feels very balanced. Potential for excellence here, but already very good.
2024 Krotenpfuhl GG - No nose. Steely mineral structure. This should sleep for another 3.
2024 Hollenpfad im Muhlenberg GG - Barrel sample. Brighter than Krotenpfuhl, but holding some secrets
2024 Dellchen GG - Barrel sample. Nose hids some soft fruit / soft mango. Smoother. My favorite of the barral samples, but probably just bc it’s more open.
2024 Hermannshohle GG - Barrel sample. shut down

—Off dry—

First 4 wines all at 40rs

2024 Reisling Feinherb - restrained nose. More lively flavors. Will be very good in a year.
2024 Krotenpful Kabinett - Picked first. banana runt nose. Deep and savory mid palate. Lots of potential here
2024 Oberhauser Leistenberg Kabinett - Grey slate. most balanced of this, Feinherb, Krotenpful, and Klamm
2024 Klamm Kabinett - Ampitheater shape creates a thermal bubble. Fruitest vineyard , but good acid here
2024 Norheimer Krschheck - white pepper. ripe apple. Some tropics. Good acidity. Potential to be excellent.
2024 Oberhauser Brucke - Monopol. Big nose. Huge Flower. Lots of dried fruit character. Cherry gateau? Famous vineyard for them that I strolled, little buttle right next to river. Famous for eiswein.
2024 Niederhauser Hermannshohle - Shy nose, classic. They picked '23 1.5weeks earlier. Very fine textured.

Two Sauv blancs, one made by a staff wine maker from NZ, another from (I think Cornelis?) top family guy. THey do it as a competition with each other.

Maram Sauvignon Blanc 2024 - Bubblegum and tropics. Mouth is taunt. Green and flint. Totally reduced winemaking. Wild. Lol, this is pretty great actually.
Maram Black 2024 - Med intensity nose. bubblegum front with oak smoothing. Not as good as the stainless steel one.

—Wittmann Winery—
Haven’t had much of their wines, but know folks think highly of them. The estate trocken was a real stand out here.

2024 Rose trocken (estate) - Chill. not Provance with its salt, nor CA with its fruit. Fresher fruit, but with body and supporting acid. Good.
'24 Grauer Burgunder trocken (estate) - Easy going. Lacked some duration. Needs time
'24 Weisser burgunder trocken - Milder nose, but nice aromatic balance than I get in many pinot Blancs. The mouth follows with a paralleling of fruit and mineral notes. This will grow into something quite nice.
'23 Weisser Burgunder reserve - 225L oak barrel. Not too much at all, but 5yrs out this will be very good to lightly excellent. Not sure it’s much better than the regular though.
'24 Riesling Estate Trocken - Rounder nose then clearly saw some Ox during elevage. This is done in large oak. Intense fruit and Strong acid finish. Very good today and big potential. After the '24 Robert Weil, this is my favorite Trocken of '24 for the current moment.
'24 Riesling Vom KalkStein trocken - Very good today. Elegant. Complex some oranger fruit and peche, but with a mineral core. Has the potential to be excellent “earlier” drinking
2023 Westhofener Riesling - More integrated (juicy and mineral) and put together than the Vom Kalkstein (though it is a year older so there). Good now, potential for excellence later

—Dr. Burklin Wolf Winery—

Export manager was there. Very nice chap. Great line-up

Cuvee Brut 2019 - Wow. Lees nose strawberry and raspberry follow. Excellent sparkling 60/40 PN/Chard. Get this. 26euro?!?! Get out of here. Best sparkling I’ve had in Outside of France in a minute.

2023 Estate Riesling - Great nose. sharp mouth. Already at the very good line.
2023 Ruppertsberger - More clay southfacing pit fruit medium + ripenessalchool. Good body is smoother not textured
2020 Wachenheim R - Light petrol and ghosts of lime. 1 yr on oak. 3 yrs stainless steel. Then a year in bottle. Very good and still coming into it’s own - probably punch drunk by all the aging vessels ;p
2023 Gerumpel"House nose" little ho hum midde and restraint at the end. Just needs time.
2023 GaisBohl - Long long road ahead here. Quite the stuffing though
2023 Pechstein - Volcanic soil. “list only.” Yellow fruit and apples and mineral hump. Needs another 5yrs to get going.

I enjoyed the lawn for a long time. Two observations. One, it’s pretty here. Two, German winemaker wives don’t get enough credit. I saw Anne doing everything from pouring, to vendor management, staff check-ins, tasting guest wineries, chatting with guests/buyers/friends, even jumping in to clean a bathroom that didn’t rise to her standard. Mad respect. An illustrative case, but not an isolated one.

After this I drove to my hotel. I like to stay at a range of places when I’m traveling somewhere new. Helps round out the perspective. Zur Krone in Feilbingert is 75Euro a night. It ain’t fancy. It’s honest and true. I walked in, bid hellow to ye fair innkeeper (bedazzled jeans, sun weathered and cigarette accented face), the told her I had a reservation.

That was what they call, the beginning of a beautiful friendship. A torrent of angry sounding (insert joke here ~doesn’t it all sound…) german erupted. Idk, I don’t speak German, but probably some combination of: you’re late, I don’t understand you, what’s going on, I can’t find the reservation blah blah. Luckily, I speak the universal language “Smile and point” quite fluently. We came to a mutual understanding. She got a key. Took me upstairs. Showed me the room. I said thanks. She stood there. And some more pointing and smiling and German got us to “I pay now?” “Ya!”

I drove to a hirking area near by. It has a nice simple name “Vitaltour Geheimnisvoller Lemberg - Startpunkt.” There is a hill that overlooks Hermannshohle.

A note that seems random now, but will be funnier a couple posts from now. On my drive up, I passed a hiker who looked like she was struggling. Gave her a lift. She said she went for a 1 hour hike and it was now hour 4. Told her “I’m in that relationship!” Humor really is tough to translate. We had a lovely chat. Anyways, Achievement Unlocked: pick up German hitch hiker. Dropped her in the lot. Parked the car. Started hiking up.

Took a wrong turn and ended up at a pit mine that had flooded and become a swimming hole. Most tadpoles I’ve ever seen. I went to walk around and sitting in front of me was a buck naked man. I looked at him. He looked at me. Guess who blinked first. Finally got back on track and made the summit. Beautiful. Beautiful. If you come here, this is the perfect hike to really see the topography of the area.

There is a nice restaurant at the top so I went to get a beer and dinner. They closed 10 minutes ago. Turns out when things close here, they really close. Lady was not having it. So it goes.

Hiked back. Drove back. Ordered beer from my new best friend. The chef came out. Ye old innkeeper is is rail thin. Her partner… well he’s the Hardy to her Laurel. I took one look at him and thought - that man makes good schnitzel. And I’ll tell you. He does.