At the recent Rheingau Riesling 2012 launch in London, there were also tables dedicated to other regions with VDP status, the collection of wineries in Germany with the best sites and wines.  Whereas Rheingau is basically dedicated to Riesling with Pinot Noir as a sideshow, other regions have completely different traditions.  Weingut Dr Heger showed no fewer than 10 wines featuring 9 different varieties. They do also make Riesling … but did not bring this to London. 

To pick out some highlights from these riches:

• classy and restrained Weissburgunder (ie Pinot Blanc), an excellent restaurant wine because of its versatility: Ihringer Winklerberg Trocken 2012
• Pinot Gris with real concentration, richness and dried peach notes: Winklerberger Grauburgunder Trocken 2012
• Ihringer Winklerberg MIMUS Spätburgunder (ie Pinot Noir) Trocken Barrique 2010 with ripe if light raspberry fruit but a certain mouth-filling quality
• Ihringer Winklerberg Scheurebe Trockenbeerenauslese 2008 with powerful marmalade and honeyed sweetness

Much as I love Riesling it was great to dip into the riches of the viticultural variety which is possible between the Kaiserstuhl and Freiburg, roughly on the same latitude as Chablis but much more continental in terms of its climate and warmer.  Here’s to a more leisurely exploration of this area in the future.

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