Try fine German wine at fabulous Somerset House
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Eva Fricke’s wines are much sought-after, often going for as much as £3,000 per half-bottle at auction. Her Lorcher Krone Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese 2019 is the first wine to score 100 points from the respected American publication The Wine Advocate. Only eighteen bottles are in existence. Now you can sample some of her wares alongside those of other incredible, under-the-radar German producers.
Wines of Germany is holding its first table-top consumer tasting event since lockdown on Friday 17 September on the River Terrace of Somerset House. Wine retailers and importers including Waitrose, Co-op, Liberty Wines, Bancroft Wines, Swig, and Stannary Street Wine will all be plying their wares, with over 100 wines available to taste throughout the evening, which runs from 6.30pm to 9.30pm. Entry is £20.
“Germany was one of the historical wine treasures more than a hundred years ago, then we underwent the changes of industrialised farming.” Says Fricke. “We shouldn’t be making huge branded wines, we should create awareness for the treasures we have here.”
Humble Grape will be showcasing wines by its “hero producer” Von Winning. The 1907 estate was revived in 2007 by the late Achim Niederberger, whose wife Jana now runs the business. Its Weissburgunder 11 2019 (£29.79 from Deidesheim, is the German version of Pinot Blanc. Von Winning Dr Deinhard Grauer Burgunder is 2019 (£22.75) Germany’s answer to Pinot Grigio while its Forster Ungeheuer Riesling GG, 2016 recently won Grosses Gewächs classification – “Great Growth”: the highest classification for dry wines.
“Our range of wines from Germany showcase a variety of high quality single varietal food friendly wines” explains Marien Rodriguez, German Wine Buyer at Waitrose. “Our bestsellers include our own brand Waitrose Blueprint Dry Riesling, and Kendermann’s Pinot Noir is proving extremely popular. We have witnessed strong growth in German fine wines, with white wine sales volume up 15 per cent and reds up 30 per cent, compared to 2020”.
Swig will be presenting Weingut Winter and Weingut am Schlipf Schneider. “Burgundy may be known as the home of great Pinot, but we couldn’t be more impressed by those coming out of Baden in particular, and Weingut Schneider’s are a superb example”, says Swig’s Imogen Taylor. “They’re well worth seeking out, at a fraction of the price of their Burgundian counterparts, too. The labels may seem a little scary, but don’t be put off. After the catastrophic floods in Germany this year, the best thing to do is to support and buy their wines.”