Achim von Oetinger is an old buddy of Annette and me. Based in Erbach in the Rheingau, which is 45 minutes away from Frankfurt by car, we see him regularly at events when we are in Germany. I have asked him several times: When will your wines be available in the USA. His answer was always the same: I am too small. I do not have enough wine for getting involved in exports to the USA.
Against this background, I was thrilled to find an e-mail from Doug Rosen, owner of Arrowine, a leading wine store in the Washington DC area, with the 2013 Von Oetinger "Alte Reben" Riesling Trocken (Rheingau, Germany) as the coming weekend’s White Door Buster Sale Wine (the special sale prices are available only on the coming weekend or until supplies sell out and for in-store sales only).
I was very pleased to read this, for several reasons.
First, Achim von Oetinger is one of the new stars of the Rheingau. It is not without reason that he was Stuart Pigott’s Discovery of the Year 2015. See: Best German Wines and Winemakers – Stuart Pigott’s Favorites (December 2014)
Second, on the forthcoming Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2016), Weingut von Oetinger is the first stop of the tour. See below and here: Announcement: 5 Exciting ombiasy WineTours in 2016 - BURGUNDY BORDEAUX GERMANY and Coming-up: 2016 Spring Tours by ombiasy WineTours to Germany and the Bourgogne, Germany/ France
Third, Achim’s wines are super! See below what Doug Rosen has to say. I fully concur with Doug.
Germany-North by ombiasy WineTours (2016)
On the forthcoming Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2016), Weingut von Oetinger is the first stop of the tour: Thursday, May 5, 2016, 10:00 am Cellar tour, and tasting at winery Detlev Ritter und Edler von Oetinger (VDP) in Erbach, Rheingau.
The family of the „Knights and Nobles“ von Oetinger can look back to the year 1828 for winemaking tradition in Erbach. In 1958 the estate was divided between the brothers Eberhard and Robert. Recently the two estates have become one again and the winery is managed by Achim von Oetinger, Robert’s grandson, and his wife Julia. Achim’s uncle Eberhard was a very prominent personality in the German wine world; famous for his skills as auctioneer at the world-renowned wine auctions in the Eberbach Abbey and nicknamed the Karajan of wine auctions. 30 acres of vineyards now belong to the estate, of which 90% are planted with Riesling, the rest with the Burgundy grapes: Pinot-Noir, Pinot-Blanc, Pinot-Gris. Achim pursues quality with a vengeance and the perfect combination of traditional Rheingau values and modern business management produces wines that increase in quality from one year to the next. Last year, Germany’s most famous wine critic, Stuart Pigott nominated Achim von Oetinger “discovery of the year”.
For more information see: Coming-up: 2016 Spring Tours by ombiasy WineTours to Germany and the Bourgogne, Germany/ France
Arrowine’s White Door Buster Sale: 2013 Von Oetinger "Alte Reben" Riesling Trocken (Rheingau, Germany)
At the store, I realized that Doug Rosen, who had just left for a 14 days trip to Bordeaux, not only had the 2013 Von Oetinger "Alte Reben" Riesling Trocken (Rheingau, Germany) on sale, but I dedected half a dozen or so diiferent wines from Weingut von Oetinger on the shelves, including trocken, fruity-sweet and noble-sweet wines. Here is what Arrowine had to say about the special of the weekend, the 2013 Von Oetinger "Alte Reben" Riesling Trocken.
Arrowine: Though misconceptions about riesling abound, it remains a noble and extremely high quality white wine grape that makes some of the world greatest, highest rated, most collected, most cherished, most complex, most expensive and most ageworthy white wines. Styles range from bone-dry to nectar-sweet. Please come to Arrowine this weekend to experience a taste of an exceptionally good, very dry Riesling from terrific old vines, the 2013 Von Oetinger "Alte Reben" Riesling Trocken from Rheingau, Germany.
This excellent 2013 dry riesling comes from the terrific Von Oetinger estate in the Rheingau's fabulous Erbach region. It is 100% riesling from a small estate-owned hillside vineyard of very low yielding old vines. It shows the remarkably vivid and focused flavors, concentration, complexity and length that define high-quality rieslings. It will age beautifully for at least 5-7 more years.
The exemplary Von Oetinger estate is a prestigious 3rd generation estate founded by a family that's been growing wine grapes around Erbach since 1828. In recent years the estate's quality has skyrocketed under Achim Von Oetinger (the 3rd generation of the family wine business). This jump in quality was noted by the important Gault Millau wine publication which recently wrote: "This has been a recent climber, and the shape of the curve continues further upward as the wines show ever higher quality and individuality." This estate was also named the "Discovery of the Year" by FAZ Magazine.
This beautiful white wine is very dry ("trocken") and comes from a distinguished vineyard in the great Hohenrain vineyard area, with vines over 50 years old ("Alte Reben" means "Old Vines"). This vineyard is near the village of Erbach, a renowned wine village in Germany's famed Rheingau region. According to Achim von Oetinger, this old vine dry Riesling is "his answer to Spätlese."
The Von Oetinger estate is a top producer of the region that has been accepted as a member of the Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates, a group of about 200 estates that includes most (but not all) of Germany's greatest wine producers as members. This association of top growers strictly monitors quality and voluntarily imposes stricter standards on members than under the (already very strict) German wine laws. Their membership in this important group is indicated by the letters "VDP" on the capsule.
"VDP": Thankfully, in Germany, they've abbreviated the phrase "Verband Deutscher Qualitäts- und Prädikatsweingüter" to "VDP" and created an easy to recognize symbol, a stylized eagle with a grape cluster, to indicate that a wine estate meets high standards when it comes to the "trinity" of 1. producer, 2. site and 3. quality.
Today there about 200 VDP vintners representing a commitment to traditional and, above all, high-quality German wine. If you want a great bottle of German wine, the letters "VDP" and the eagle symbol are a virtual guarantee of high quality.
Here's how the delicious 2013 Von Oetinger "Alte Reben" Riesling Trocken tastes: This is fragrant riesling that brings to mind peaches and citrus fruit as well as white flowers and subtle exotic fruit and spice. The palate has lively acidity and continues with white peaches and bright citrus and adds a note of greengage plum, spice and mineral. The finish is very long, vibrant and invigorating. This is fabulously food-friendly wine that will go with beautifully with meals from seasoned seafood, to fried chicken, to herbed pork chops.
Try a taste at Arrowine today, then load up at a terrific Door Buster Sale price. Reg. $36.99 Door Buster Sale: 1-5 bottles: $21.99 per bottle 6+ bottles: $19.99 per bottle.
Picture: Achim von Oetinger and Christian Schiller a Few Years Ago in Berlin. See: 70 Galleries – 200 Praedikat Wine Estates – 1000 Wines: Art and Wine in Berlinschiller-wine - Related Postings
70 Galleries – 200 Praedikat Wine Estates – 1000 Wines: Art and Wine in Berlin
The Rheingau and its Terroirs: Tasting with Rheingau’s Elite Winemakers, Germany
New Generation – The 111 Best Young German Winemakers (A Listing by Stuart Pigott)
Germany-North Wine Tour by ombiasy, 2014
Germany-North Tour by ombiasy WineTours (2015)
Coming-up: 2016 Spring Tours by ombiasy WineTours to Germany and the Bourgogne, Germany/ France
Announcement: 5 Exciting ombiasy WineTours in 2016 - BURGUNDY BORDEAUX GERMANY
Best German Wines and Winemakers – Stuart Pigott’s Favorites (December 2014)