This report, written by Ulrich Langguth, will be continued 1 – 2 times per month and will inform you about market situations, the development n the vineyards, on the outlook on the coming vintage as well as on political changes related to wine laws.
May, 2010
Sunday, March 22, 2009
The 2008 Riesling wines
You have certainly taken note of the Ulrich Langguth's vintage report on the latest harvest 2008. At that time we could only have a guess on the outlook of the quality of this latest vintage. The fermenation as well as the fining and filtering process having finished we are more than surprised to taste 2008 wines of great flavour and substance. In fact, the acidity which seemed to be pretty high before the fermenation process has decreased to such an extent that the dry wines present themselves almost soft. However, as it happens with RIESLING these young wines must mature and the consumer will enjoy - for the next 6 months to go – the 2007 and 2006 wines much more. Connaisseur's should still consider some excellent 2003 Riesling wines the flavour and balance of which is now superb. They are now on the height of development which makes them enjoy so much.
PINOT NOIR - the discovery in Germany!
Had you asked me 10 or 15 years ago about German red wines I would have waved this question off the table. Today, you find some amazing red wines in the different wine growing areas. Of course, the DORNFELDER red wine, a very Germany discovery, remains the No. 1 grape in quantity, hélàs PINOT NOIR overtakes the Dornfelder in finesse and charme. You may be surprised to hear that some growers finshed up with places under the first 5 best in Pinot competitions in France and elsewhere. Hans Lang / Rheingau is certainly known for HIS great Pinots but one should also look at some of Thomas Losen's Pinots, especially the 2005 one.WEISSER BURGUNDER = PINOT BLANC, a grape varietal which is not so known out of Germany but which yields wines of great flavour. These wines can be – in contrary to Riesling – early consumed. Thomas Geil / Rheinhessen and Anselmann/ Pfalz produce some charming ones.
GERMAN WINE MATCHING FOOD
Here again I must tell you the story which I experienced some 5-7 years ago. I was standing behind my little table promoting 6 of our wines at an international wine show at the MARRIOT at Times Square in New York. Two people came up to my table and I said with a mocking smile: What leads you to my humble RIESLING wines? Ha, Ha, retorted one of them , 'humble' Riesling, you know what we believe? The upgraded consumer in the US will soon be tired of all these Chardonnays as they taste almost all very much alike. They will first of all discover a lively Sauvignon Blanc but afterwards they will find out that there is NO other WHITE grape varietal which IS as VERSATILE as RIESLING.
And, indeed, we can supply you with great DRY Riesling wines which will match outstanding fish dishes, we can supply excellent, elegant semi-dry and fruity wines which will match American cuisine and Asian dishes and, last but not least, RIESLING is also know for its outstanding dessert wines such as B.A., T.B.A. and Icewines. Which other white grape varietal can do this?
WHO else reports on RIESLING?
Read the excellent reports from Jancis Robinson, the well-known wine writer of London Financial Times. In her opinion German RIESLING wines belong to the very best white wines which exist
Wine Promotion in St. Petersburg / RUSSIA April 22, 2009
The German General Consulate in St. Petersburg organizes every year a ' German week '. The program comprises all sorts of events which should convey German culture, German technical efficency, German fashion etc. to the Russians. THIS time a promotion for high class German wines was included in this program. The German General Consul, Herr Schaller and his right hand, Vice Gen.Consul, Herr Brunner were aware of the fact that German wines do not yet enjoy the reputation they serve due to the fact that most German exporters only export EEC blended table wine and generics such as Liebfraumilch. Hans Lang, the reknowened wine producer from the Rheingau and I got together, sponsored 11 types of wines for this promotion, from DRY-style 1. Gewächs via Riesling dry from the Mosel, to some great semi-sweet wines and also 3 excellent PINOT NOIRS. 100 VIP guests from Horeca an d trade were expected but more than 150 visitors turned up, including the press and were impressed by the outstanding quality of the wines presented. The question was often to be heard: WHERE can we buy those wines? Unfortunately the present, economical situation, prevailing in Russia has brought the sale to wines above 500 to 800 Rubels to a standstill and we all need time until the Russian consumer will be in the position to afford ourt top class wines in the price category between 1.000 and 2.000 Rubels per bottle. The wine estates grouped by MO-RHE-NA are grateful to the German General Consulate for this great exposure which took place in the ball room of the 5 star hotel ASTORIA and which was linked to excellent, organic food. It is out hope that the reputation of German RIESLING and PINOT NOIRS will find many new wine lovers.
The above photos show the German General Consul holding his welcome speach in the presence of Hans Lang and Ulrich Langguth as well as Mr. Brunner, Vice General Consul. The following picture show the ball room in preparation, the crowd gathering around the buffet and the gate and the Katharinen castle.
We report with pride about a mayor RIESLING and PINOT NOIR promotion having taken place in April at the ' Leela ' Kempinski Hotel in Mumbai / India
FineWinesnMore organised a four-course dinner at the Hotel Leela Kempinski, Mumbai where fine wines from Germany, with special emphasis on the Rieslings, were paired with fine Indian cuisine at the Jamavar speciality restaurant. Sonal Holland reports.
Dharti Desai, Founder and CEO along with Craig Wedge, Senior VP for Business Development for FineWinesnMore welcomed guests with a glass of Weingut Ulrich Langguth Riesling 2006, which to me seemed like the perfect way to start the evening after an hour long drive to the hotel. The wine displayed youthful refreshing aromas of lemon and floral with an off-dry palate, crisp acidity and some mineral characteristics on the finish. A good wine to have either on its own or balance well with delicately spiced dishes like tandoori grilled paneer and fine minced lamb kebabs, as were served during the first course of the meal.
The next wine was a Weingut Ulrich Langguth Riesling Kabinett Piesporter Goldtropchen 2003 and although the word Kabinett should indicate young and dry, this wine was sweeter with ripe nectarine, peach flavours and a honeyed nose. The faint whiff of petrol indicated the typical nose of a Riesling when aged. The richness of stuffed Kashmiri morels in saffron sauce and a succulent prawn curry seemed to balance the sweetness and flavours of this wine with much ease, although leaving a shorter finish on the palate.
These Rieslings were from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer region of Germany, the best of which come from the steep slatey, mineral rich slopes showing the perfect balance of grapey sweetness and acidity which is crisp but never cloying. A Riesling grape performs best when minimally interfered with or manipulated at the time of winemaking. It's a style that is unique and typical, both when drunk young or aged. The thing about Rieslings that pairs best with Indian food is the off-dry or sweet palate, as well as the crisp mouth watering acidity that helps counter the spice level in the dish.
The wine we were served next was Weingut Hans Lang Spatburgunder Trocken made from Pinot Noir in Germany which is not traditionally known for this grape varietal. It was a rather subdued expression of raspberry and cherries on the nose, with easy tannins and a light-bodied structure to complement the duck roulade and saffron scented Awadhi vegetable biryani with which it was paired. The combination worked to the extent that it helped bring out the fruit in the Spatburgunder (which by the way means Pinot Noir in Germany).
I loved the Kesar Pista Kulfi with fresh mango and longed for a glass of the much famed sweet dessert wine from Germany, but alas, there was none on the menu. However, I was altogether delighted to have tasted some very interesting Rieslings.
The restaurant looked luxuriously royal with soft chandelier lights and the table was well laid with fine crockery and glassware. Craig Wedge who presented the wines engaged the guests with his own passioned perspective on each one of them weaving interestingly stories from the start of his career as a successful wine consultant. Full marks to Surender Mohan, Corporate Sous Chef for laying out a sumptuous spread of flavours and textures in Indian cuisine that seems to be re-invented a-new each time with an innovative chef.
The German Sunday newspaper ' Die Welt am Sonntag ' printed in its
issue on June 14th an interview with the ' Patriarch ' of all
international wine journalists, the well-known writer Hugh Johnson. We take the liberty to recite Mr. Johnson from of one of the paragraphs
in this interview as follows:
" I tell everybody that I judge German Riesling
as being the best white wine in the world.
It was first of all the time when everybody
ordered Chardonnay.
Afterwards it was SauvignonBlanc – which
nowhere can come near to a
topRiesling. "
We are proud to report on his judgement because who would
be in a better position to judge than the independent and
well respected wine journalist Hugh Johnson ???
Now we are off to Bordeaux to attend the world's largest
wine exhibition, VINEXPO, with an own stand. We shall report
more in a short while.
VINEXPO/ Bordeaux proved to be a great succes for our 16qm large stand.
We could welcome visitors from many countries whether it was Israel,
MALTA, Russia, India etc. We surprised about the visit of over 10 Spanish
wholesalers who were interested in tasting RIESLING.
in the meantime you can find our wines in BARCELONA, something almost
unheard 5 or 10 years ago.
Until soon! Stay with RIESLING and PINOT NOIR out of Germany,
it will be to your advantage!
The MO-RHE-NA Wine Export Association has changed ownership!
PATRICK Gero Ulrich LANGGUTH, the son of Ulrich Langguth sen.
has taken over the majority of this company and has become Joint
General Manager the company together with his father Ulrich.
Patrick Langguth had started as a lawyer, but quickly joined the banking
business where he was working in sales of corporate loans for more
than 10 years.
The MO-RHE-NA Company was founded in 1982 and has been owned
jointly by Ulrich Langguth ( 90% ) and Hans Lang, wine estate owner
in the Rheingau.
We are happy to announce that the business policy of the MO-RHE-NA GmbH
will be continued by PATRICK Langguth who is most interested in expanding
this successful business. He will travel a lot to visit the customers of the
MO-RHE-NA company and to learn what is needed on the market-.
The first business trip lead Patrick and his father to
Dubai, Oman and India where they attended TASTE,
a wine exhibition taking place in Mumai ( Bombay).
Following the exhhibition our importer in Mumbia,
Fine Wines & More, had arranged a marketing tour
which lead Patrick and his father to Bangore and Delhi.
Here is a report on one tasting event in th exciting
city of Bangalore.