If you’ve read anything we’ve written, you know we’ve been screaming about the beautiful, complex and delicious diversity of German wines for many, many years. Today’s print copy of The New York Times (online here) puts the spotlight on the amazing breadth of German wines interviewing us and, more importantly, featuring no fewer than five of our growers. This has inspired us to present The New York Times / vom Boden “summer experience” 6-pack! For $160, you’ll receive three wines featured in The Times and we’ll add to this “beyond Riesling” study three more wines showcasing the profound breadth of German wine. We’ll include growers (and grapes) like Beuerer (Trollinger), Brand (Chardonnay), Enderle & Moll (Pinot Noir), Hild (Elbling), Roterfaden (Lemberger) and Wasenhaus (Gutedel). Don’t know these growers or these grapes? Perfect – that’s the point! See below for more details on the distinct wines in this six-pack. Email us at orders@vomboden.com to order! We’re also here to help you find any of our wines in The Times piece. Bear with us – these are all relatively rare wines and we may not be able to find all the wines for you at one store, but we will be able to help. More on the “summer experience” below and thank you so much for all the support through these crazy times. Email us with any questions and we hope you’re all well! The New York Times / vom Boden “summer experience” 6-pack Wine #1 2019 Beurer Trollinger We begin with a light, chillable red, the one and only old-vine Trollinger (in Italy they call the grape Schiava) from the BMX-biodynamic-guru Jochen Beurer. Obviously grapes don’t care about the borders of countries and this grape has a long history in Germany. This is a culty, beautiful red that is perfect for summer or autumn. Asimov writes, “light and graceful, it has plenty of spicy red fruit flavor with an underlying note of refreshing, stony bitterness that send you back for more. Wine #2 2019 Brand Chardonnay “Electric Chardonnay Acid Test” The young Brand brothers have quickly become some of the most talked about growers in Germany. Farming a cool, limestone-riddled area in the northern Pfalz, the soil and climate is perfect for the Burgundian varieties (which have been in Germany for about 700 years) including Pinot Blanc, Pinot Noir and today’s hero Chardonnay. Yet this Chardonnay comes with a lightning bolt of acidity – this is electric, Chardonnay doing its best cool-climate impersonation of Riesling. Wine #3 2018 Enderle & Moll Pinot Noir “Liaison” Enderle & Moll were among the first growers in Germany to really focus on vine-age and not just ripeness. While their style is about as transparent as it gets, there is no denying the fireworks and depth of fruit from the great, great 2018 red-wine vintage in Germany. Profound juice. Cult producers and to my palate, one of the best vintages they’ve ever made. Wine #4 2019 Hild Elbling An admission: my heart was broken when the Hild family was not included in the Asimov piece. They make what must be considered the benchmark expression of the grape *and* the family farms the last remaining terraced vineyards of Elbling. This ancient indigenous grape has been in Europe since before the Romans and produces a wine that is bone dry, crisp, floral, mineral and über-refreshing. Wine #5 2018 Roterfaden Lemberger (Blaufränkisch) The husband-and-wife team at Roterfaden work some of the most amazing, ancient terraced vineyards in a place you’ve likely never heard much about: Swabia. About an hour north of Stuttgart, in southern Germany, the couple makes Lemberger that is nervous and pure, with amazing minerality and lightness. This is a ballerina of a wine compared to the buxom and full Blaufränkisch (same grape) you may know from Austria. Wine #6 2019 Wasenhaus Gutedel (Chasselas) We end with one of the most overlooked grapes, both in Burgundy and in Germany – Gutedel, otherwise known as Chasselas. Friends Christoph and Alex (both German) actually met in Burgundy where they both worked for many years. They make Pinot Noirs and Pinot Blancs of incredible finesse, a trait that flows down to the more “simple” grapes like Chasselas. Think of this as Chardonnay light – less weight and heft, more minerality, more energy and refreshment. It won’t age in the cellar like your Rieslings, but that’s not the point – the point is to enjoy its youthful vigor… NOW! |