I’m glad to hear that. It was nice.
Terrasen Mosel next. This is the area suffering worst from vineyard neglect. It’s visually stunning, but yea - that looks tough to work. It’s also impossible to take a picture that captures the steepness. Oh well
Tasted with Rob at Madame Flock. Incredible space going back pre-WWI. He does art exhibits and underground concerts in it. WB offline?
Rob is like a 1000 volt battery. American who came to Germany to intern at a winery. Ended up marrying the wine maker. Efficiency people. Efficiency. He farms the steeps in a natural fashion and puts in the hard work. Wines are quite natural, so if you like that, you’ll like them.
Over to the Pflaz. I had tasted some Dr. Burklin-Wolf wines at the Donnhoff release party (notes back in the thread) and was really pleased with the sparkling so wanted to revisit.
I stopped by the winery. Pretty old building, large backyard (garden) for dirnking the wine. More commercial feel. Most people I spoke to in the Pfalz regarded them as the best producer, but tasting through more of the line-up, I found the recent vintage to be good, but not great. Even the back vintages felt more ho-hum than what I had been tasting in the Mosel. YMMV shrug
Stayed at Hotel Deidesheimer Convenient location. Free parking. Nice folks. Not a mind-blowing place, but everything in order. Dinner at Schwarzer Hahn. Hospitality great. Food Yum. Touch expensive. Strange decor. Not the best wine list, but serviceable.
Vineyards outside town aren’t step at all and made for a nice night run
Von Buhl
The wines are bad. Let me start there.
It’s an open tasting room and on my bingo card was to visit one place I knew nothing about and randomly walk in. I did accomplish that much.
I know they have been around and imagine they employ a lot of people, but ay ya!
Tasting the Von Buhl line-up is the sensory equivalent of living in a medieval painting recounting the suffering of Christ. Let’s move on.
The Blanc de Noir tastes like chocolate coco puffs – where the fuck is the fruit?
Apparently the same ex-bollinger wine maker who now afflicts Karthauserhof bottling program used to be full-time here and since has left.
The trockens taste fake and over-elevaged. The Sweets taste thin. It’s a blood bath people!
The employee pouring for me tells me “The Mosel is too cold to grow grapes.”
That part was actually funny and all the regions tease each other very well. Rob, from Madame Flock, got permission to quote him, said, “The Pflaz is potato country!”
Given a choice between those statements, I know which I’m backing…
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Interesting notes. I’ve always liked the profile of the Karthäuserhof wines for many of the same reasons I like Grunhaus, similar structurally, but with different personalities and very unique because they’re monopoles. But I haven’t drunk Karthäuserhof as extensively, they often seem to get lost in my shuffle.
At Rieslingfeier, I sat next to the woman from GWC who represents them and there did seem to be quite a push. We had some younger bottles that were delicious, but I forget the details.
I still remember that 09 Spätlese rocking and rolling last year, glad to hear it’s still doing well.
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Just want to say a fantastic travelogue!
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Schnitzel looks good1
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Makes sense. I def see a structural similarity there.
As for German Wine Collective, two separate people have messaged me saying Albert Behler also owns that company so… the push goes deep!
Thanks, Alan! I have much more respect and empathy for wine writers as I muddle through here 
The bear necesities!
Rebholz
Beautiful home/winery in the middle of town. Hanging flowers everywhere. Distinct stytle. Some less common grapes for germany.
Best Pinot Blanc I’ve had outside Alsace. Completely different style. Still Pinot blanc, but gone is the over floral over fruit basic. These Rieslings seems like they need a ton of time, but clearly well made
Sparkling
5% of production is sparkling. They used to do production at Raumland, but as of last year moved it over (needed time to upgrade their own infrastructure).
pi XI - Barique for a year. Then 4yrs lees. Easy drinking, but not simple. Lots of tasty ripe yellow apple. Very good. 2018 grapes
Pi No 2014 Pinot gold - 9 yrs on the lees. More biorche. Brighter fruit than entry. More energy more zip than entry. Nicer finish. Very good with upside.
Village entry levels
Second choice gapes from GG sites. Hand picked. De stemmed. Little crush 24hr skin contact. Soft gentle press 24 to settle. Then rack to SS. 10-12 day fermentation. Lees for 6-8 months.
2024 Siebeldingen - Ripe nose, much calmer palate, little bitter at the end. Good.
2024 Birkeweiler vom Rotliegenden - Red slate not come in pfalz. More savory
Burrweiler 2024 - Slate. Wet rock. Faint yellow peach and white peach. Wet rock. Straighter wine. Nice mineral notes on the finish.
2024 Siebeldingen - Limestone . More stolen fruit. Little smoother. Lovely. Easy
2018 Kastanienbusch - Little Smokey lil petrol. Savory herby rocky. Very different. Long finish. Ghost of fruit at the end. Again. Not austere.
Pinot blanc 2024 - Not a fruity over the top Pinot blanc. Terroir driven. Would love to see this in 5 yrs. Type of clay soil.
Village Pinot blanc 2024 - Limestone soil. More lifted. Hint of bubble fruit, but great mineral influence with acid in place. Great PB. Good trending very good with potential for excellence. What a lovely surprise!
Moskateller - You don’t see a lot of it, but they have made it for 60yr. Totally lose on me.
Black labels are barrique. White labels are SS
2022 Chardonnay - Barrique. 30yr old vines (illegal when planted). Nose is salted butter popcorn, some oak, lemon. Not a fruit driven Chardonnay. Mineral, but not sharp.
Pi No 2022 - Chardonnay and Pinot blanc. Pure field blend harvest together ferment together. Little flavors less for me, but texturally interesting**.**
Pinot Noir
All Pinot Noir is from GG vineyards. They pick by quality. Barrel separately. Then taste every barrel and decide which goes to which level.
2022 Spatburgunder - Light color. Nose is light. Some rose. Light cherry. Great mineral prescence for an entry level wine.
2020 Spatburgunder Vom Muschelkalk - More expressive nose. Some baking chocolate darker fruit. Mouth follows with plum and spice and some darkness. Serious stuff. Plenty of time here.
Back vintage white
Burrweiler 2023 - Got a lot of rain in August in 2023. Slate soil. Strange nose. Maybe bitrytous. Strange mouth. Green Herb finish. Never had somthing like this.
2018 Spatlese Kastanienbusch - Some red slate feel. Little thick. A little muddled? Mineral drive. Big old stone energy. Super unique. Not too my taste. Mineral and sweetness create confusion at the moment. This might also just need more time?
2020 Auslese Gewurztraminer albersweiler Latt - 60yr old vines. Rose nose with some mineral. Mouth still has the mineral notes, but married with the typicity. Finishes with papaya and grape salt. Yum! I love good Gewurztraminer and that’s a grape the takes real skill to do excellently. Super unique. Already excellent with big potential.
After this, I needed to work and take some time. So I stayed and hiked. The forests that border the Pfalz are inceadible here and very easy to access. Foxgloves and lupins were in bloom so even in the darkest green draws had vertical lines of bright pink and purple peeking out.
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Try the bringing wine thing. Started a couple years ago and has been a game changer for me!
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Yes, I’ve done bringing wine from the US, novelty and all. But it’s not always easy with logistics and your idea of even just bringing interesting wines from down the road is a clever way of demonstrating good will!
Seems like you visited a lot of great places. Glad you enjoyed Rebholz. Another of my favorites. Not sure I would say their Weissburgunder is the best, as there are lots of good ones in the area (also see their buddy/neighbor Wehrheim). But yes, it’s a grape that can show some very nice faces in Germany.
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