An Evening with Monchhof's Robert Eymael, Part I

Yesterday afternoon, we had the privilege of hosting Mosel superstar Robert Eymael, owner of the estate Monchhof and now producer of the Joh. Jos. Christoffel wines. It was nothing short of wonderful.

It was a quiet day at The Wine Country, until 4:30 came and fans literally piled into the store to meet and re-meet Robert Eymael. It was a tasting to reveal the new 2007 Monchhof Estate and 2007 Monchhof Mosel Slate Spatlese, tasted right next to their 2006 counterparts. We ended with a 2006 Monchhof Urziger Wurzgarten Auslese which of course showed wonderfully, with that rich honeyed pineapply Botrytis goodness that so marked the 2006 vintage.

So many of our regular customers came in to say hi to Robert. Many knew him already from a big tasting we hosted with him last year, where we tasted 10 wines from Monchhof, including the 2002 Monchhof Erdener Treppchen Eiswein and the 2005 Monchhof Erdener Pralat Auslese, both of which we no longer have in stock. That tasting had been a sit-down seminar where Robert regaled stories of his storybook vineyards and rich history behind them. Yesterday, he had a different set-up where we had a stand-up tasting much more casual and personal in nature, where he had a chance to converse with many of our loyal customers.

In all, it was a huge success, with the 2007 vintage winning more fans than ever. Tasted side by side, the 2006 and 2007 showed such distinct differences that were fun and educational to experience - the 2006s rich and long and honeyed and frankly delicious, with some petrol development already showing in the 2006 Estate, while the 2006 Mosel Slate showed tons of Botrytis; in contrast, the 2007s were so fresh and clean as a whistle, with brighter acidity and clarity and focus.

Robert was signing bottles like crazy, with requests left, right, and center. He was definitely the rock star of the evening.

Stay tuned for Part II of this story when The Wine Country owner Randy Kemner takes us Robert, Rudi Wiest representative Allie Mitchell, my husband Johan and me out to dinner! An evening with Robert Eymael indeed!