(A view of the Piesporter Goldtropfchen vineyard along the Mosel river)
I have just ended my tour of the Terry Theise portfolio of Germany producers and this has been the single most educational, heart warming, and amazing wine trip I have yet to experience. I was extremely fortunate to be with Hiram Simon of the Vienna/Winewise company of Berkeley, California. Hiram is the California distributor for this portfolio and has relationships spanning twenty plus years with many of the growers we saw. I cannot thank him enough for allowing me to tag along and learn from all of his experience. In five days Hiram and I tasted wines from thirty-one estates and visited twenty-seven in person. Each tasting was held in the kitchen, living room, or parlor of the actual family. The ability to taste with the growers themselves in their homes was amazing. Many of the estates have been in the same family from 250 to 500 years and the history is draped on the walls. As we sat and tasted generations of growers from the past watched us enjoy their family legacy continue. I will post more about each winery when I return to the states but in the meantime here are some photos of my trip.
A few liter bottles from the Rheinhessen....liters are where it is at!
The line up at Muller-Catoir...they may be a bit expensive but in reality they are a bargain for how good the wines are.
These three wines all made me cry like a little baby...not metaphorically but for real. Tears running down my face. I could not believe I swelled up as I finished the side by side tasting of these amazing wines. It is if I found religion.
Willi Shaefer's wines were some of the most pure, elegant, beautiful wines I have ever tasted. The estate is ridiculously small and the Estate Riesling 2008 should retail for ONLY $25 per bottle! This is wine that is grown on the side of a giant rock and people actually have died from picking the grapes...$25! If you do not rush out to find this wine then you should give up on life. If you think Riesling is just sweet juice you need to slam your head into the wall, wake up from your daze and run to a fine wine shop and get this wine. It is the most pure experience of wine you will find...absolutely amazing!
Yes, really! The vineyard is about 500 feet above the river and the cliffs drop straight down. This is the famous Urziger Wurzgarten vineyard.
On our last day we visited the Berg Schlossberg in Rudesheim. The castle below was built in the 11th century. Weingut Leitz makes an "Alte Reben" (which means "Old Vine") wine from this vineyard that is exquisite.
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