Riesling Cup 2012

The Riesling Cup is an award for the best dry German Riesling announced annually by the Hamburg magazine 'The Gourmet'. The ceremony takes place at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich. This year more than 400 wineries submitted their best 2011 dry Rieslings that were blind tasted and evaluated by an international jury. 

Riesling Cup 2012

The tasting venue at the Bayerischer Hof Hotel. A little fun fact: this is the same hotel that Michael Jackson dangled his baby out the window, you remember that? And someone has made a shrine for him in front of the hotel...strange if you ask me

The top 13 producers in no particular order: Weingut Forstmeister Geltz-Zilliken, Weingut Egert, Weingut Emrich-Schönleber, Hessisches Staatsweingüter Kloster Eberbach, Weingut Karthäuserhof, Weingut Dr. Loosen, Weingut Bühler, Weingut Ferdinand Abel, Weingut Toni Jost-Hahnenhof, Weingut Ökonomierat Kleinmann, Weingut Robert Weil, Weingut Bürgermeister Schweinhardt, Weingut Andreas Laible

The presentation of the Riesling Cup and the winner is, for the third year in a row, Weingut Hermann Donnhoff.

A good majority of the Rieslings submitted to the tasting panel were sold out but the producers brought other wines to the tasting to represent their wineries. Below are just a few wines I had the pleasure of tasting, some winners some not but all great wines and very impressive.

Ranked #12: Weingut Emrich-Schönleber from the Nahe for their 2011 Monzinger Frühlingsplätzchen Riesling QbA trocken Großes Gewächs [not pictured]

 

Ranked  #9: Weingut Karthäuserhof from the Mosel/Ruwer for their 2011 Karthäuserhofberg Riesling QbA trocken Großes Gewächs [not pictured]

Weingut Huber is better known for their Spatburgunder and is considered one of the best in Germany. I concur!

I finally got to taste Weingut Keller! I tried making a tasting appointment at the winery but unfortunately for me and fortunately for them they were all sold out. Beautiful wine and the fact they were sold out speaks for itself. 

Group shot with Dominik Sona, my boss, and Ernie Loosen after a long evening of tasting...good times J

For a full list of the winners check out this article.

Merano Wine Festival 2012

The Merano Wine Festival is an annual tasting event of the finest Italian and international wines. It a tasting event like no other and the best I have ever attended! Over 400 wineries from Italy and more than 120 international producers from across the world were selected to participate. In addition, there is a Beer Passion section where you can taste handcrafted Italian beers as well as a Culinary Area showcasing some the best local ingredients.

The Festival is an amazing opportunity 'to take a trip around the world with your wine glass'. You have the chance to speak to winemakers, taste historic Italian vintages and acquaint yourself with up-and-coming winemakers. There is even an option to attend private tastings for an extra fee. A three day pass will set you back 160 Euros but I think you will agree it's money well spent!

The Kursaal Hall

J. Hofstatter, one of the many famous producers available to taste

An amazing Falanghina from Donna Laura with great complexity

After a long day of wine tasting it was time for a beer so I headed to the Beer Passion area and this chef handed one right to me as I walked in and insisted on a photo...haha oh, the Italians! J

Cittavecchia, where have you been all my life?! My favorite Italian beer!!! It didn't hurt that the brewer was extremely nice and spoke perfect English as well as German and Italian...a man of many talents!

Pavillon Des Fleurs was an entire room dedicated to Bordeaux and Chateau Leoville Barton was one of many being poured

And what's a room of Bordeaux without a little Sauternes?!

Feudi di San Gregorio is known for their elegant and traditional Italian wines. Serpico is 100% Aglianico and is a deep, powerful, concentrated wine with impeccable balance and great aging potential. And the photo below the bottle is not a tree but actually one of their ancient vines.

Vietti is one of the top Piemonte producers

Nebbiolo is the red grape varietal used in Pio Cesare's world class Barolo and Barbaresco

Fattoria Poggio Gagliardo was one of the few producers who were kind enough to serve from a decanter, which is much needed with these young and powerful Italian wines. After a couple of hours to breathe, these were some of the finest we tasted with elegance and precision.

Please don't judge our wine teeth to harshly. We had a long yet impressive day of Barolo tasting J

And what's an Italian wine tasting without a little Italian pick me up?

There were many international wineries present. Simcic was one of the many and are know for their traditional Rebula

Bodren is a Croatian winery who specializes in ice wine

Monday, the last day of the festival, was vintage tasting day! Many of the producers opened vintage selections according to a predetermined schedule for everyone who was still there to enjoy. This wine lived to see the next century!!!

You want some cheese with that wine? The culinary section was filled with all types of food you could sample from cheese to homemade olives to truffles. Needless to say, I spent a good amount of time there J

And if all this wasn't enough to convince you how absolutely amazing this festival is, check out the beautiful town of Merano. Now I gotcha!

A Koehler-Ruprecht Movie

Here's a little video from the Weingut Koehler-Ruprecht with yours truly narrating. Basically, I'm like Morgan Freeman in the March of the Penguins J Enjoy!