Monthly Musings of a Wine Lover – June

It’s been very quiet here on the blog these past months – so much so that I should probably rename these ‘monthly musings’ to ‘bi-annual musings’…. But it was for all the right reasons, I promise!
As the days lengthened and got warmer, the month of April started off with an amazing trip to the German wine regions of Rheinhessen and Pfalz. I’m still processing all the wonders we saw, felt, heard, learnt and tasted there, and I will be sharing much of it here in the coming weeks.

No Rest for the Wicked

During this remarkably warm and sunny spring, I’ve been teaching a number of workshops too, with those on wine aromas and food & wine pairing rapidly becoming the most popular ones. We also tasted the 2013 and 2014 vintages of a range of Saint-Emilion Grands Crus Classés, discovered the wonderful Rioja Alavesa wines of Bodegas BAIGORRI, followed masterclasses on the wines of Pommard by the inimitable Anne Parent of Domaine Parent, and on the current challenges and changes in Bordeaux by the equally fabulous insider Fiona Morrison MW. On top of that, I’ve been writing and editing for our beloved Ken Wijn magazine, ánd crossed the 2000 and 2100 reviews mark on Vivino; not to mention getting our urban garden ready for a new season full of freshly-grown fruit, herbs and veg. Good times!

Our urban garden in June, featuring Queen Cleo.

Unfortunately this meant that, besides all the wine activities and my fab day job, there was very little time left for the blog, but I am going to make up for that in the months to come, especially with the summer holidays ahead. The travel bug will take us to Germany again, but I have a strong suspicion that there will be plenty of other wines on the menu as well. After all, what would life be without champagne, to name but one. 😉

German Wine Academy in Rheinhessen/Pfalz

But first, in order to whet your appetite for articles to come: an overview of the wineries and winemakers we visited in Rheinhessen and the Pfalz, and the topics we were treated to:

• Sekthaus Raumland
• Facts & Figures on German Wine, by Steffen Schindler of the German Wine Institute
• German Riesling Styles: Impact of Terroir and Winemaking, by Prof. Dr. Ulrich Fischer of the DLR Rheinpfalz
• Organic and Biodynamic Wine in Germany, by Nina Weis (Demeter)
• Winzergenossenschaft Weinbiet
• Weingut Josef Köhr
• Winemakers’ association: ‘Wine Changes‘
• ‘Indigenous Heroes’ by Romana Echensperger MW
• ‘Pinot Trio’ by Romana Echensperger MW
• Weingut Siben
• Krack Sekthaus
• Chateau Schembs
• Weingut Pfannebecker

Allow me to extend a big thank you to Katja Heffner and Carola Keller of the Deutsches Weininstitut / German Wine Institute for the flawless and professional organisation!

Vineyard walk at Weingut Josef Koehr in Ruppertsberg

Where will your holidays lead you this year?