The visit of Weingut Dr. H. Thanisch - Erben Mueller-Burggraef was organized through General Manager Maximilian F.W. Ferger, who has become the "public face" of the winery since it was sold to the Peter Mertes KG Weingut/ Weinkellerei, Germany’s largest largest producer of discounter wines, owned by the Willkomm family, in 2017.
Unfortunately, Maximilan F.W. Ferger was on a sales trip and could not host us. Fortunately, Matthias Willkomm, the CEO of Peter Mertes KG Weingut/ Weinkellerei, volunteered to help out.
Matthias Willkomm received us at the door of the famous Doctorkeller below the Doctor Vineyard, where we had our first tasting. He then took us to the new winery at the outskirts of Bernkastel-Kues, where he gave us a tour of the winemaking facilities. The visit ended with a seated tasting of different vintages of Berncasteler Doctor Rieslings, all at the Auslese level.
Peter Mertes KG Weingut/ Weinkellerei
With a turnover of Million Euro 300 and 350 employees, Peter Mertes KG Weingut/ Weinkellerei is the largest German negociant-type wine producer. Most of its wines are sold in the discounter chains Lidl, Aldi and REWE, including the wine sold by German Star Talkmaster Gunter Jauch. It also produces entry-level wines for the international market. Peter Mertes KG Weingut/ Weinkellerei was founded in 1924. Matthias Willkomm, our host, is the current CEO.
In addition to the negiciant-tpye wine production, Peter Mertes KG Weingut/ Weinkellereihas also aquired small wine estates. The most recent and prominent addition to its portfolio of 7 estates was Weingut Dr. H Thanisch - Erben Mueller-Burggraef.
Weingut Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch - Erben Mueller-Burggraef
History
The wine-growing tradition of the Thanisch family can be traced back more than 350 years. In 1636, the name was mentioned for the first time in the registers of Bernkastel-Kues. The quality of the family’s wines soon extended their excellent reputation far beyond the Mosel valley. At the end of the 18th Century, the Thanischs acquired the Berncasteler Doctor vineyard, a very steep site with deep devon slate structure, situated behind and overlooking the rooftops of the quaint old town of Bernkastel. The Doctor name originates in a legend about Prince Boemond II of Trier who fell sick and then was cured by a wine from this vineyard. Medicinal powers of fine wines are today being re-discovered! The Doctor Vineyard is one of the most famous German sites.
“Wwe” is the short version for the German word “Witwe” which means widow. The viticultural tradition of the family dates from 1650. Dr. Hugo Thanish, a Prussian deputy, established the estate ́s international reputation, primarily by the spectacular awards and high prices for his wines at auctions. In 1895 his wife Katharina took the responsibilities of the estate and since then women have been running the business.
"Erben" means heirs. In 1988, the Weingut Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch was split up into two parts: Weingut Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch - Erben Thanisch and Weingut Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch - Erben Mueller-Burggraef. Margrit Müller-Burggraef, a granddaughter of Dr. Hugo Thanisch, became the owner of Weingut Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch - Erben Mueller-Burggraef.
In 2007, Margrit Müller-Burggraef passed the estate on to her nice, Barbara Rundquist-Müller. who sold it to the Willkomm family in 2017.
Vineyard and Cellar
The vineyard area totals 15 hectares of prime steep Riesling sites, with the most prestigious and famous being the Berncasteler Doctor vineyard. Weingut Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch - Erben Mueller-Burggraef also has plots in the Bernkastler Graben, Bernkastler Lay, Bernkastler Badstube, Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr, Graacher Himmelreich and Wehlener Sonnenuhr. Annual production averages 7000 cases.
During a recent visit in the USA, General Manager Maximilian F.W. Ferger talked about his way of growing grapes and making wine. A lot of what he said was summarized very well in a Huffington Post article by Brad Haskel, from which I am quoting below (Dr. H. Thanisch - Erben Mueller-Burggraef: Refining Tradition in Mosel Riesling).
General Manager Maximilian F.W. Ferger: Viticulture in the Mosel valley is dictated by the unique countryside. The character of the growing area is formed by the special geological, topographical, and micro-climatic configuration. Over a period of 15 million years, the Mosel dug into a slate filled mountain range full of minerals that developed 400 million years ago. The slate erodes easily and its components decay and enrich the soil, which are dissolved in the ground water and absorbed by the vines. Due to the sheltered position of the Mosel valley, it is part of the warmest climactic zones in Germany. The capability of the Mosel River and the soil to store heat and reflect sunlight, minimizes photosynthesis, making winegrowing possible in this, otherwise very cool region.
General Manager Maximilian F.W. Ferger: We grow on legendary sites. Many of our vineyards have a slope gradient of more than 60%. Handwork is necessary all year around from the cultivation of the wines until the harvest. The valuable combination of steep slopes, soil characteristic, and climate presents our vines with the best possible conditions for development. The natural and necessary interplay between terroir and vines creates continuously impressive and unique taste compositions of our wines.
General Manager Maximilian F.W. Ferger - Sustainable farming. Doing the Right Thing in the Vineyard: We use careful pruning of vines to restrict yields (Average yield is less than 5000 litres per hectare). We use no artificial fertilizers. We only bring back into the vineyard what has been taken out of the vineyard. We work the cuttings from prunings, skins after pressing, etc...back into the soil. No use of herbicides. No use of pesticides. No use of insecticides. We use pheromones instead. No irrigation. Careful canopy management. We pick by hand, selectively over several weeks with each vineyard harvested 3 to 4 times, to ensure the grapes will be harvested at optimum ripeness.
General Manager Maximilian F.W. Ferger - Doing the Right Thing in the Cellar: We gently press destalked whole grapes at very low pressure. There is skin contact in the juice for many hours to extract as much vineyard character as possible. No use of enzymes. We cool and extract the clean juice. We clear the must only by sedimentation. We do a slow and cold fermentation with natural yeast; either in stainless steel or in traditional wooden barrels. The choice is a winemaker decision. Natural yeast helps focus the character of the terroir of the vineyards. After fermentation many of the wines are left to settle and mature for several months in traditional old wood barrels, which gives more complexity and structure to the wines.
Berncasteler Doctor
Berncasteler Doctor is one of the most famous vineyard names in the world.
The Doctor is a small (8.25 acres) plot: south-facing, and an extremely steep slope (up to 60%) of devon slate structure, situated behind and overlooking the rooftops of the quaint old town of Bernkastel. The vineyard is planted exclusively with Riesling vines, about 45% of which are ungrafted. Today, the Bernkasteler Doctor is divided up among the following owners:
Weingüter Geheimrat J. Wegeler - Gutshaus Bernkastel
Weingut Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch – Erben Thanisch
Weingut Wwe. Dr. H. Thanisch – Erben Müller-Burggraef
The Doctor's Wife
(by Ben Giliberti, CW Director of Wine Education)
Ben Giliberti: Barbara Rundquist-Müller doesn't mind it a bit that her husband is the most famous Doctor in the little German village of Bernkastel. Fortunately, neither does her other husband, Erik, the engineer. That's because the "Doctor" is not a person, but the most celebrated vineyard in all of Germany, the legendary Berncasteler Doctor. Like France's Romanée-Conti, the Doctor is as much a national treasure as it is a working vineyard. In 2007, after a long drawn-out journey through the torturous German laws of inheritance, Barbara finally acceded to sole ownership of a priceless 2.5 acre portion of the gem-like 7.6 acre cru. ...
One might reasonably assume that wine from the "Romanée-Conti of Germany" would sell for hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars a bottle. Indeed, as late as the 1960s, Doctor Riesling did sell at DRC prices. Today, however, like almost all German Rieslings, Berncasteler Doctor is astonishingly underpriced -- only $39.99 during our Special Sale (details below). I can't think of another wine that offers the unforgettable experience of tasting the very best the world has to offer at a price so modest.
Although the Doctor of Bernkastel undoubtedly couldn't get into medical school today, his name comes from his putative healing powers. According to legend, in the 14th century the visiting Prince of Trier fell ill with a severe fever during his stay at a nearby castle. No medicine or any of his eminent doctors were able to cure him. Fortunately, he had had been supplied with a small barrel of wine from a nearby vineyard, and after ample consumption, made a miraculous recovery. Summoning the winemaker to thank him, the Prince gave him the vineyard and pronounced, "the very best Doctor grows on this Moselle mountain." From that day forward, the vineyard has been known as Berncasteler Doctor.
While the source of the Doctor's healing powers is subject to debate, the source of its greatness as a vineyard is not. It is warmer than the surrounding area. Its steep, southwest facing slopes form a perfect natural amphitheater that captures the last warming rays of the sun as it sets over the arched steeples of the sleepy village below. The salubrious effect of the Berncasteler Doctor's unique microclimate is illustrated in this winter lithograph (right). The warmth of the vineyard's soil has melted away the snow, while the sites on either side with less favorable positioning have remained snow-covered.
The name Thanisch is inseparably linked to the Doctor. The Thanisch family acquired the 7.6 acre vineyard at the end of the 18th century. During the 19th century the estate achieved its worldwide reputation under the leadership of Hugo Thanisch, a Doctor of Philosophy and a member of the county government. Capable of producing some of Germany's greatest Rieslings, the Doctor wines were quite expensive in the past. For example, as late as the 1960s, the 1959 Doctor Spätlese sold for $10.25 while the 1959 Ch. Petrus could be purchased for only $7.95.
Visit of the Doctorkeller
We met Matthias Willkomm in the famous Doctorkeller for an aperitif.
Tour of Weingut Weingut Dr. H Thanisch - Erben Mueller-Burggraef
From the Doctorkeller, we drove to Weingut Dr. H Thanisch - Erben Mueller-Burggraef and toured the winemaking facilities.
Tasting
The visit ended with a seated tasting of different vintages of Berncasteler Doctor Rieslings, all at the Auslese level.
The Wines
Bye-bye
Thanks Maximilian F.W. Ferger and Matthias Willkomm for an outstanding visit.
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