Where can I drink or buy Rudi Wiest Selection German wines?

Okay, finally, hopefully, here is the map I created on Google to show you all the fine establishment in my territory that carry the wonderful German wines from the Rudi Wiest portfolio.


View Where can I find Rudi Wiest German wines? in a larger map

The wine experience that will make me buy more red Burgundy

Last evening, the stars were aligned for me to feel strongly for a beautiful, unmistakable, delectable red Burgundy.

I don't often drink red Burgundy - and I don't have nearly enough experience with high end red Burgundy, nor do I know enough about it....... but I knew enough to tell myself I needed to experience more of what Volnay is...... and I knew enough to not believe in the concept of "not great vintages" and I knew enough to know that Comtes Lafon is a great producer.

And finally, I knew enough to ask Samantha Dugan at The Wine Country for advice when it comes to choosing a red Burgundy.

The 2004 Domaine des Comtes Lafon Volnay pictured above is a bottle that initially purchased last year, close to Christmastime when I was working my last few days at The Wine Country - the plan was to bring this and a few other bottles to Canada and share with my in-laws who are really into red Burgundy, especially my mother-in-law who doesn't particularly love Italian reds or Bordeaux or other such heavier reds, but loves red Burgundy. Well, I can understand her palate and I thought this wine would be perfect to share with her and the father-in-law and the hubby.

This bottle also happened to be on sale at the time, if I recall correctly, and I thought, oh, what a bargain.... and I also loved how it was an 04 vintage, but I knew that the 2005 vintage was being heralded as the perfect vintage, and though I like wines from perfect vintages, I often love wines from less than perfect vintages. They are like the pound puppies I plan to adopt, so loveable and cute and surprisingly great, compared to the perfect purebreds that will give you exactly what you asked for at a hefty, premium price.

As an aside, earlier in the year when I went to a special restaurant and tried to order a 2004 Burgundy, I was steered by the sommelier to the 2005 of the same wine.... I always wondered if I should have stuck to my guns and gotten the 2004, but of course the 2005 was perfect, and everyone at the table loved the wine....... but last night, I got my personal justification that there is nothing wrong with 2004 red Burgundy. Nothing!

The 2004 Comte Lafon Volnay was one of those wines that took my breath away at the first inhale..... the first inhale told me that this is a Burgundy, unmatched by Pinot Noir produced anywhere else, though still with the characteristic qualities of the grape...ie some similarity to Pinot Noir elsewhere but not the same. Does that make sense? This aroma was captivating and the flavor on the palate fantastic, not too fleshy, not too thin, not to oaky, not anything too anything, just perfect.

This was a wine that went well with all our dinners at Marche Moderne, a wine that followed our Champagne wonderfully, a wine that thankfully we did not gulp too quickly such that after we finished our food, we still had a full glass each to enjoy on its own.

Now that this bottle is just a memory for me, my plan is to go back to The Wine Country, peruse the Burgundy section, and the sale bin, and pick up what might possibly be left of vintage 2004..... this is what wine loving is about.

It's Fourth of July, and the livin' is easy

Happy Fourth of July everyone!

Earlier this week I celebrated Canada Day on Wednesday July 1st - Canada is the nation of my citizenship and where my immediate family resides - I celebrated with a simple semi-day off which ended up rich in work on the phone and a local visit to a nearby account. It ended up being a very productive day.

Yesterday, Friday July 3, a holiday for many folks, I spent the day working at a couple of different Whole Foods stores helping out on the retail floor, a skill I am not unfamiliar with.... Whole Foods was and is having a big wine sale this weekend - 20% off all wines when you purchase 6 bottles or more.

Today, July 4, I'll also be out at Whole Foods, the Torrance location, where my friend and former co-worker Yvonne is the Wine Specialist... I'll be pouring some of my German wines, namely 2007 Becker Pinot Noir, 2007 Schnaitmann Evoe Rose, 2007 Rhein River Riesling, and 2007 Pfeffingen Dry Riesling.

And to celebrate the Fourth, the national holiday of my chosen land, provider of great opportunities to individuals of all colors, shapes, sizes, and origins, where even a gal like me born in Hong Kong, raised in Canada, can march right in (well, drive down the I-5 interstate) and work in the hospital business for almost a decade then eck out a living in the wine biz...... tonight we celebrate with a bottle of American wine!

The chosen wine is pictured above: 2007 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel Blanc - a Rhone-style, or specifically Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc-style wine from Paso Robles. Sure, its history suggests something of half-French origins, but this wine's chosen home is 100% California. Maybe a little like me. :)

So while we drink it tonight, I'll think about what I love about the United States of America:

* It's fun here

* I like the people

* People here love running and wine

* People are friendly, open, and generous

* It's a big and interesting and beautiful geography (did you know that the Chinese translation for the name America is "Beautiful Country"? Now you do!

* You can have fun, exciting careers here

* There's so much to do!

* There is diversity and complexity, and always more things to learn

* I met my hubby here!

* It's close to Canada!

Want a food and wine pairing this week?

Check this out - The Wine Country's weekly Wine and Food pairing suggestion - in a blog!

http://thewinecountry.wordpress.com/

This week, there's a terrific farmer's market recipe for salad rolls and dipping sauce, to be paired with one of the wines I have been selling like hotcakes: 2003 Von Hovel Oberemmeler Hutte Riesling Spatlese ($19.99).

Check it out!

German winemakers: Bert Selbach, Eberhard von Kunow, & Fritz Becker in Los Angeles

I had one of those busy weeks last week, where every moment was packed with something. Much of that had to do with hosting 3 German winemakers who were in town: Bert Selbach of Dr. F. Weins-Prum, Eberhard von Kunow from Von Hovel, and Fritz Becker from Friedrich Becker Estate.

When one has winemakers in town to do what some people call "work-withs," the standard procedure is to schedule interesting accounts for them to visit. This has the purpose of improving relationships both ways - for our customers, it is very fun to meet the actual people and see the actual hands that make the wines they know and love. It is also a bit of an honor, I think, to have the winemakers personally visit their establishment, be it a restaurant or a retail store, to establish the relationship all the way around the world.

And for the winemaker, it is a bonus also, to meet the customers that buy their wine, to get their reactions to the end products of their vines, to see how German wines are received in the marketplace, and get first hand what people really think. Its the feel that they can't get just looking at a spreadsheet. My hope is that first hand information actually helps them know what people want from wine.

While the winemakers were in town, we had quite a few consumer tastings as well, where the real end users had direct contact with the winemakers, such as at this tasting pictured below at The Wine Country:

On the left is the very humorous and extroverted Eberhard von Kunow (who likes to be called "Adt" for short), and the more reserved, introverted Bert Selbach, both who make incredible Rieslings from the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer.

Adt's Rieslings at Von Hovel express that beautiful Saar acidity, along with plenty of beautiful plump ripe fruit, a delicious salinity, and satiny gorgeous body, from his basic 2007 Von Hovel Balduin Estate Riesling up to his 2007 Von Hovel Oberemmeler Hutte Riesling Auslese One Star. Though for many tasters, his 2003 Von Hovel Oberemmeler Hutte Riesling Spatlese stole the show, because 2003 is such a maligned vintage, and this wine, six years after the vintage, is showing the uniqueness of German Riesling with time in the bottle - succulent peach cobbler fruit with a dash of petrol and a length that goes on forever - honey, but Eberhard says no botrytis in this wine, just clean ripe fruit and ripe acids - this is a wine that can age for decades, and is tasting really good right now, putting into serious question the naysayers of the 2003 vintage. This is a wine that has to be tasted!

Bert Selbach is a genius with the Dr. F. Weins-Prum Estate. With only a 4,000 case annual production, Bert is a one-man show. That means he is the owner of the estate, the cellar-master, the vineyard manager, the bottler, and the guy who loads the labels onto the labelling machine that labels the bottles. He is a quiet, reserved winemaker, but his wines speak volumes. From the humble feinherb (medium-dry, in German) 2007 Dr. F. Weins-Prum Estate Riesling through his many different single vineyard Kabinetts and Spatleses (he's got Wehlener Sonnenuhr, Graacher Domprobst, Urzig Wurzgarten, and Erdener Pralat), his wines are the embodiment of class Mosel refinement. With Dr. F. Weins-Prum wines, you know these things - first, you're going to get great acidity, great minerality that shows off the individual terroir of each of these single vineyards, ie. feminine and graceful Wehlener Sonnenuhr is going to taste totally different from rocky, masculine Graacher Domprobst, which will be different from spicy, red-slaty Urzig Wurzgarten; second, you are going to great wine for a fantastic price - these wines are bargains at twice the price, genuine, real wines made in small, small production, for half the price of the more famous next-door neighbor and cousin Joh. Jos. Prum.

More than 50 people attended the Thursday afternoon tasting at The Wine Country, and it was a very enthused crowd that enjoyed a taste of these wines poured by the winemakers themselves.

Fritz Becker Jr. was also in town from his family's winery Friedrich Becker Estate in the Pfalz. This estate is known for their Pinot Noir and also its drier style white wines. It was Fritz Becker's father, Friedrich Becker Sr. who first began making his own wine from his family's estate, which was selling its grapes to the cooperative after the Second World War. The town of Schweigen where their winery and home is situated, was completely demolished after the end of the war, so all the local wine growers had to completely rebuild and replant and set up cooperatives to help one another recover their vineyards. So that was going back to Fritz's grandfather's generation. Fritz's father in the 70s began making his own wine in the family's winery, and began to develop a reputation for his fantastic Pinot Noirs, many of which are made from the family's vineyards which are now on the French side of the border, in Alsace. But because the Becker family has owned these lands for over 100 years, they are allowed to make German wine from much of their grapes which are French.

The telltale fox on the label of Becker wines is from the fable "Sour grapes" wherein the fox cannot reach the grapes, gives up and says to the crow, "Pffff - those grapes are sour anyway." The connection to the wines is that when Fritz's father was first making dry wines (such as Pinot Noir) in the 70s, many customers complained that the wines were sour, because they were used to sweet wines. And so the cute, catchy label was designed.

Above, Fritz is showing his wines to Bart Miali, owner of Elvino Wines on the very cool Abbot Kinney Blvd in Venice Beach.

Next, we headed over to a very hidden location - you must drive up beautiful Pacific Coast Highway then turn right on Topanga Canyon, drive 4 miles up the windy canyon, and then you reach a restaurant that has been there over 30 years: Inn of the 7th Ray.

I told Fritz that when I go and visit this account, I really like my job! It is a gorgeous drive, and when you get to this oasis, it is a beautiful outdoor setting for a wine tasting - right by the little creek, practically in the woods. They don't call it L.A.'s most romantic restaurant for nothing!

Here, we got to taste with sommelier Travis Brazil, former soccer player for Mannheim in Germany. Travis can speak fluent German, went to university at Heidelberg, one of the oldest Universities in the world, and he is a huge fan of German wines, in particular those in the Rudi Wiest portfolio.

The featured wines we took out with Fritz were, of the reds: 2007 Becker Estate Pinot Noir, 2006 Becker "B" Pinot Noir, and 2005 Becker Kammerberg Grosses Gewachs Pinot Noir. Each Pinot Noir was from a different tier, the first is the entry level and is an unoaked Pinot Noir (though there is oak, it is just a huge giant fudre, so no oak influence is more accurate), the second is the middle tier wine aged in old barriques (smaller barrels, more oak influence but all old oak), and the third, or top tier is the Kammerberg single vineyard, where the vines are 42 years old (planted in 1967), and the wine is aged in 80% new German oak barrels.

Of the whites, they were the 2008 Becker Estate Pinot Blanc (in German, the Schweigener Weisser Burgunder), the 2006 Becker Limestone Pinot Blanc (in German, the Kalgestein Weisser Burgunder), the 2007 Becker Laisser Faire Riesling, and the 2007 Becker Gewurztraminer Auslese. The white wines were impressive, my favorites being the 2006 Limestone Pinot Blanc, and the Laisser Faire Riesling.

Pretty cool huh? All in a day's work.

June 2009: A big month for German winemakers visiting!

Just last week, I spent some time at a charity wine and food function called Manhattan Wine Auction, where three German growers came with me to promote their wines to a very wine-saavy crowd. There we were in the intense afternoon sun: Johannes Hasselbach of Gunderloch Estate in the Rheinhessen (son of the famous Fritz and Agnes Hasselbach of Gunderloch fame); Dorothee Zilliken of Zillken Estate (daughter of the famous Hanno Zilliken, who makes the great Saar Rieslings); and Thomas Chaffin of the flagship Rheingau estate Robert Weil.

This week, three more German winemakers are scheduled to be here: Bert Selbach of Dr. F. Weins-Prum in the Mosel; Eberhard von Kunow of Von Hovel Estate in the Saar, and Fritz Becker Jr. of Friedrich Becker Estate in the Pfalz. The former two will be showing their amazing Mosel and Saar Rieslings, while the latter will be showing his Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc wines. Cannot wait!

Scenes from Rudipalooza 2009 in Beverly Hills (Los Angeles)

Rudipalooza is the annual Rudi Wiest vintage tasting for the trade. This year, 12 producers were represented, by their owners and/or winemakers, or their international sales representatives. The event was well attended by restaurant and retail wine buyers alike, and the 2008 German Rieslings and other newly released German wines (think Pinot Noir, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Rose, sparkling wine) were very well received!

The 2008 vintage is a classic vintage, cooler than some other recent vintages, giving the wines crisp acidity, while providing ample lush but not overly fat fruit. The wines, in a word, are delicious. This vintage in Germany is more about the Kabinetts and Spatleses, and less about Ausleses and noble sweets. Which is great, because our market wants great, classic Kabinetts and Spatleses!

Below here see Tim Frohlich, winemaker and owner of Schafer-Frohlich, and Christophe Graf, international sales director from Von Buhl.

Here we are have some of our guests tasting and discussing the wines in full wine-geekiness, which is the best thing that can happen at a wine tasting:

Over 100 different wines were being poured, including those of producers who did not attend. These were poured by the Rudi Wiest Selections representatives:

The Rudi Wiest vintage tasting at Lawry's is famous for their German spread...... a real German feast put on by Lawry's chef, who is German, and creates an authentic lunch with all sorts of delicious German food, including smoked fish, potato salads, wurst, saurbraten, and all sorts of other things I don't know the names of:

Below, Robert Eymael of Monchhof, Tom Driesberg of Wegeler Estate:

All in all, a very successful event, and very well attended. I was working so didn't get to taste as much as I would have if I had been an attendee (which I was the last three of these tastings!). But I'm sure in the coming months, I'll get to revisit these wines, and they will taste way more put together than when I tasted the tank and barrel samples back in February on the Germany trip.