See also:
3 Wine Tours by ombiasy Coming up in 2014: Germany-North, Germany-South and Bordeaux
German Wine and Culture Tour by ombiasy, 2013
The trendy schauMahl restaurant in Offenbach, in the greater Frankfurt am Main area, is one of the best restaurants in the region. Weingut Kruger-Rumpf, a VDP member, is one of the best wine producer in Germany. So, I got excited, when SchauMahl’s Sommelier and Restaurant Manager Pit Punda sent out the invitation for a winemaker dinner with Georg Rumpf for the last evening before the restaurant’s closure for the 2014 summer vacation. The event was sold out in a day or so.
It was a great (and long) evening. We started at 8 pm and got home at 2 am in the morning. Pit Punda’s Deputy Esra Egner had reserved a very nice table for us, seating 12 people: Winemaker Georg Rumpf and his partner, Mario Hönighausen from Grand Cru Select, two of my daughters who happened to be in town and my son-in-law who arrived who had arrived from Beijing in the morning, 4 wine-affine friends, Annette Schiller, ombiasy PR and WineTours, and myself.
schauMahl
Situated in a renovated Art Nouveau building, the interior of the restaurant schauMahl combines a cozy living room atmosphere with the world of One Thousand and One Nights, coupled with modern illumination. Intensive red light is coming out of a white corner. There are brick walls and furniture in a colonial style. In the window niche is a Buddha.
Host Pit Punda is well known in the Frankfurt gastro scene from his days at Emma Metzler, Cyrano and Zarges. I glanced at the wine list: About 100 bottles, mainly German and Spanish wines.
Chef Björn Andreas is at the helm of the team in kitchen. He was promoted from Souschef to Chef about a year ago when former Chef Christoph Kubenz left. Chef Björn Andreas has worked for top chefs, including Alfred Friedrich.
Gault and Millau: Es mag sich auf den ersten Bissen nicht viel verändert haben, und doch gibt es deutliche Unterschiede in der gesamten Stilistik. Kubenz war sensibel und leise, Andreas ist forsch, seine Gerichte sind muskulös. 15 Gault Millau points.
Open Table: Eher steigen die Offenbacher Kickers in die erste Liga auf, als dass es in der Stadt ein gutes Lokal gibt. Dieser Spruch gilt nicht mehr, das Schaumahl lässt staunen: Küche, Keller, Service und Atmosphäre – hier stimmt alles. Das etwas windschiefe Jugendstilbau aus dem 18. Jahrhundert wurde nicht schick geschminkt, sondern behielt seinen Charakter und strahlt Landhauscharme aus. Dazu passt die natürliche und lebensfrohe Art von Gastgeber Pit Punda und seiner Vize Esra Egner.
See also:
The Best Restaurants in the Greater Frankfurt am Main Region, Germany
The Bistronomics Cuisine of Chef Christoph Kubenz and the Wines of Winemaker Christian Stahl at Restaurant schauMahl in Frankfurt, Germany
Weingut Kruger-Rumpf
“In our family, viniculture has been tradition since 1708 - a tradition that we have been cultivating in our vineyards as well as in our manor house which was built back in 1830” said Georg Rumpf. Stefan Rumpf, Georg’s father, brought Weingut Kruger-Rumpf up to where it is today: After completing his studies in agricultural sciences, including stints in Californian wineries, and conducting research at the Geisenheim research institute, Stefan Rumpf took over the estate from his parents in 1984. Up until then, the wines were sold almost entirely in bulk. Stefan Rumpf changed this and started to bottle his wines and to market the bottles himself. Less than 10 years later, in 1992, Weingut Kruger-Rumpf was invited to join the VDP, the about 200 German elite winemakers, a clear sign of what Stefan Rumpf had achieved over the course of just 8 years.
Today, Weingut Kruger-Rumpf has 3 (of) 5 grapes in the Gault Millau WeinGuide Deutschland. It took 1st place in the DER FEINSCHMECKER Deutscher Riesling Cup 2008.
The vineyard area totals 22 hectares and the annual production is 14.000 cases. Georg Rumpf has taken over the winemaking aspect of Weingut Kruger-Rumpf, while his father is now more focusing on sales and general management.
Weingut Kruger-Rumpf sells 70% of its production in Germany and exports the remaining 30%. Accordingly, “80% of the wines we produce are dry wines” said Georg “and 20% are fruity-sweet and noble-sweet wines.” In the US, Weingut Kruger-Rumpf is imported by Terry Theise.
For more, see:
Cellar Tour, Vineyard Tour, Tasting and Lunch with Georg Rumpf, Weingut Kruger-Rumpf, Nahe Valley, Germany
The Dinner
This was a BBQ dinner. Each course was prepared in the back court on the grill. Chef Björn Andreas und his team did an excellent job, although, obviously, a BBQ dinner did not offer the chef the opportunity to shine as a regular dinner does.
Aperitif
2013 Münsterer Rheinberg Riesling Kabinett
This was an unconventional aperitif and some of us where taken by surprise because they expected some bubbly in the brut range. But at the end we all could follow Georg’s reasoning that the slightly sweet and light wine was a good start on a damp and warm summer evening.
Terry Theise: Rheinberg is the steepest of the three GG sites, on weathered quartzite and dusty loam – “similar to Rüdesheimer Berg Roseneck,” according to Stefan. It’s flavors are indeed virtually identical, though the Nahe wine has a grace and curvaciousness the more stoic Rheingauer lacks. Sweet apples and yellow fruits are paramount here, though the minerally terroir notes give a firm foundation. These are wines of true charm, not merely winning ways.
Garnele mit Gazpacho und Bruschetta
2013 Weisser Burgunder S trocken
Not so much acidity than the Rieslings, a wonderful wine that could easily compete with top wines from Bourgogne. It went very well with the grilled seafood.
Georg Rumpf said that the Bourgogne varieties now account for 1/3 of the Kruger-Rumpf output. Silberkapsel was fermented and aged in a large “Holzfass”. The S is rounder, smoother, and more creamy than the regular Weisser Burgunder.
Schweinebauch mit BBQ-Sauce und Bohnen
2013 Münsterer Dautenpflänzer Riesling feinherb
A classic sweet-style wine that is so popular with my American friends. Again a perfect match for the pork belly course.
Terry Theise: Münsterer Dautenpflänzer is composed of slate and sandy loam and is one of Kruger-Rumpf’s top sites. Multi-faceted and complex, this GG site is one of the leading Grand Crus of the lower Nahe, with a typical mélange of soil types within its borders.
Dorade mit Frankfurter Grüne Sauce
2012 Münsterer Pittersberg Riesling Grosses Gewächs
An ultra-premium dry Riesling. The crème-de-la-crème of the dry section of the Weingut Kruger-Rumpf portfolio. This is the wine that was awarded the Riesling Preis by the Feinschmecker Journal a couple of years ago. George told me that they are selling more and more of these wines in the US. Fermented and aged in a large Holzfass.
Münsterer Pittersberg, 5.5 ha, largest site of the winery, Soil: Devon-slate, wine: Riesling with citric-like aroma and well-balanced acidity.
Green Sauce and fish? Some of us expressed some skepticism, but liked the combination very much after we had a bite, in particular with the wine.
Jungbullenfilet mit Mais, Schinken und Zwiebeln
2009 Spätburgunder M - Magnum
An aged Pinot Noir from a Magnum. Red wine is a niche product for Georg, but clearly also a type of wine that he is able to produce at the premium-level. Fermented and aged in barrique.
The wine shows very well that Germany has become a serious red wine producer. In fact, overall, more than 1/3 of the German wine output is red wine.
Dessert
Ziegenkäse mit Feige, Honig und Speck
Schokolade mit Stachelbeere und Tonka
2013 Münsterer Dautenpflänzer Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel
A dessert wine to finish the meal. Georg explained that they try to make the Auslese wines without botrytized wines. He likes to have them fresh and steely, yet sugar-sweet. Long finish.
A young wine at the Auslese level with a lot of potential. Put away and try again in 10 years.
Thanks
Thank you Georg, Andreas and Pit for a great evening.
schiller-wine: Related Postings
3 Wine Tours by ombiasy Coming up in 2014: Germany-North, Germany-South and Bordeaux
German Wine and Culture Tour by ombiasy, 2013
The Best Restaurants in the Greater Frankfurt am Main Region, Germany
The Bistronomics Cuisine of Chef Christoph Kubenz and the Wines of Winemaker Christian Stahl at Restaurant schauMahl in Frankfurt, Germany
Cellar Tour, Vineyard Tour, Tasting and Lunch with Georg Rumpf, Weingut Kruger-Rumpf, Nahe Valley, Germany
Winemaker Dinner with Georg and Stefan Rumpf and with Cornelia Rumpf at Weingut Kruger- Rumpf in the Nahe Valley, Germany
Wine Maker Dinner with Stefan Rumpf at Weinstube Kruger-Rumpf in Muenster-Sarmsheim, Germany
Visiting Georg Rumpf and his VDP Weingut Kruger-Rumpf in the Nahe Region, Germany
Schiller’s Favorites at the 2013 Riesling and Co Tasting in New York City, USA