Fotos: Lookin' back @2014 (part 3)

July: trip with ABS Wine Agencies to Germany which included visiting Ernie Loosen's vineyards on the Mosel and to Helmut Dönnhoff on the Nahe.

 July: Barges on the Mosel 

Bridge to nowhere?

building the controversial bridge over Mosel

 The vineyards of Helmut Dönnhoff 

 River Nahe

Helmut Dönnhoff: a King of Riesling!

August: Syke

In August we took our now annual holiday in Scotland – this year Syke and John O'Groats.  

 The Cullins: two views 

Old Man of Storr

From Raasay towards 'mainland' Syke

John O'Groats Hotel

September: La Bourgueillothérapie

 

Eddy Oosterlinck - Bracke (Domaine de la Juchepie)

Just after he had bought my special shirt@auction in Bourgueil

September: Charity ride down the Loire to raise money for two cancer charities

At the start (a cold Mont Gerbier de Jonc) of my 1078 kilometre ride 

down the Loire from the source to the Atlantic  

Just to the west of Nevers: the Allier before it joins the Loire

La Baule: journey's end

(above and below)

CRM: my great and essential support team

 

The Dönnhoff Vineyards in the Nahe Valley - evening and early morning

View from the steep vineyards across 

to the village of Oberhausen an der Nahe

with the river in the middle ground

 Glorious evening light in the vineyards 

The flowering in 2014 has been successful and even 

and everything is well advanced but still a while to go yet! 
Riesling of course! 

 Tower in the steep vineyards (above and below)

From the vineyards down to the bridge across the

 Nahe carrying its still cobbled road 

 Post in the vineyards supporting Germany's 

quest to win the 2014 World Cup

 Helmut Dönnhoff: a backbone of steely determination!

 Helmut with Andrea Bulcock of ABS Wine Agencies organisers of the trip
and Dönnhoff's agents in the UK

 One of the local characters...

 The last rays of sunshine on the south facing slopes 

 Hermannshöhle-Restaurant Weck

After a very long day we ate and drank (Dönnhoff naturally)

extremely well here  

The vineyards of Oberhausen in the morning light 

Sign@the entrance to the village 

The Nahe@Oberhausen (above and below)
 

 

Tasting Riesling in hi-tech surroundings...

"I do it my way...!"

There is Riesling and then there is Dönnhoff

Helmut Dönnhoff: maker of great Rieslings in the Nahe

The planning had gone a little awry by the time we got to Dönnhoff. Supposed to arrive at 6pm we had yet to arrive at the winery by 7.45. We were already running considerably late and this was compounded by hitting a motorway jam, which added a good 20 minutes to our tardiness.

However, in the end it all worked out fine and for the best. We had a short tour through some of the steep Dönnhoff vineyards in marvellous mid evening light, which we might have missed had we been a little earlier and closer to our itinerary.

The vineyards have mix of old and new vines. Helmut was born in 1949 – a very fine vintage and started here in 1971 – another very fine vintage, although less good for sensible wine laws. At that time the family had four hectares of vines; he now has 25 ha.

On this trip we tasted a number of fine Rieslings but none of the consistent quality and balance shown by the Dönnhoff range.

What is the Dönndoff's secret?

For a man, who makes such wonderful and widely acclaimed Riesling, Helmut Dönnhoff is remarkably humble giving no hint of his star status. He has great warmth without flamboyance. He clearly understands and loves his vineyard sites that so vividly convey their different characteristics through Riesling. It is clear from the vineyards, the winery and offices that Helmut, and his son Cornelius, are very meticulous and precise in their work.

One example is the habitual check they use to see if a wine needs sulphur and how much as Helmut explains:

"We use as little SO2 as possible. We don't just work on analysis. You have to learn to read the nature. We pour a glass, put it on a barrel and see how it's the next day and then the following days, so we can judge the level of oxidation in the glass to see the level of sulphur each wine requires. This varies from wine to wine, vintage to vintage. Wine is always a question of balance. If necessary we  add sulphur during the process before we get to bottling, when it is never added."