Tidings Magazine

May 11: the Pfalz

I wake up and turn on CNN International. The lead story concerns the current drought in Germany and how the barley crop is already down 20 per cent as a result. CNN reports that the lack of any forthcoming and substantial rain will spell disaster not just for the entire crop but for the beer industry as well. For a country that worships the amber nectar, this is sheer Gˆtterd‰mmerung.

We are now on our last day of touring and most of us are exhausted. The first stop today is at Weingut Koehler-Ruprecht. Here, we meet force of nature Bernd Philippi. Bernd is a true bon vivant who regales us with fantastical stories of small groups of wine lovers (four or less), involving many bottles of older Bordeaux (forty or more) and massive amounts of food — essentially the type of scenario that would make an Ancient Roman blush.

He also tells us that, in the 1970s and 1980s, while he was living in Northern Michigan and Ontario, he helped to develop many a vineyard and winery, most notably Pelee Island. At the time, he also became acquainted with a number of the patriarchs of the Ontario wine industry: Donald Ziraldo, Karl Kaiser (both Inniskillin co-founders) and Paul Bosc Sr (Ch‚teau des Charmes). His wines aren’t half bad either.

The early afternoon includes a tasting and lunch at Weingut Darting, a winery that makes almost equal amounts of red and white wine. Reds of note included the dry 2005 St Laurent, which is crammed full of raspberry and cherry jam, smoke and cocoa flavour, as well as the dry Wachenheimer Mandelgarten Sp‰tburgunder with its profile of plum, cherry, vanilla and earth. High-ranking whites included the 2006 Ungsteiner Herrenberg Riesling Sp‰tlese for its peach, citrus and mineral flavours and very good length, the 2005 D¸rkheimer Spielberg Scheurebe Sp‰tlese for its intense spice, floral and peach qualities, and the 2005 Pfalz Huxel with its spicy peach and grapefruit. Lunch includes chili chicken, white-asparagus soup and more white-asparagus soup … Was f¸r eine ‹berraschung! (What a surprise!)

Thoroughly stuffed, we drive to Weingut Fitz-Ritter, a winery that specializes in Sekt (sparkling) wines. After a quick tasting of easy-drinking quaffers, we head back to the hotel for some rest. Rest, of course, means beer on the patio.

Our final stop is the Michelin one-star Deidesheimer Hof for a dinner hosted by Weingut Reichsrat von Buhl. I revel in my appetizer of Saumagen — which translates as “sow’s stomach,” a popular dish of the Pfalz and one that is often described as the haggis of Germany. Unlike haggis, though, the stomach is only used as a casing during the cooking of the contents: pork, carrot, onions, celery and various seasonings. It pairs wonderfully with the peachy, floral-scented 2002 Pechstein-Forst Riesling Grosses Gew‰chs. For dessert, we are served the mature 1989 Forster Ungeheuer Riesling Beerenauslese (“selected berries,” one step below the Trockenbeerenauslese classification) and the peach-, orange-marmalade-, orange-blossom- and smoke-laden 2001 Forster Stift Rieslaner Beerenauslese.

A leisurely walk to the hotel, one last beer with the gang and I trek up to my room to start packing. In the middle of filling my suitcase, one thought only crosses my mind: will they be serving Spargel on the flight back home?

One of Canada’s young wine experts, Evan Saviolidis is Tidings’ Niagara Correspondent. He also runs wine courses through his company WineSavvy Consultants in Niagara Falls. Courses are offered every September and January. For more information or to register please visit www.winesavvy.ca . 

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