But getting from Boston to Namibia is half the fun of the trip. There are no direct flights from the US, so I had to hop a plane to Frankfurt, Germany and then switch to Air Namibia for the flight down south. Namibia used to be a German colony and it still serves as a big vacation spot for Germans and other Europeans. I was facing a 7.5 hr flight to Germany followed by a 10 hour flight to Namibia, so I decided to break it up and spend a few days in and around Frankfurt in between flights. Since Frankfurt is on the edge of several German wine regions, I wanted to try as many German wines as I could during my stay. The first evening in Frankfurt, I went for the beer experience with dinner and had a very nice local Pilsner and Dunkelbier at one of the touristy restaurants in the Aldstadt (Old City). The second evening, I found a wonderful fish market/restaurant called the Fisch Franke and had a wonderful broiled plate of salmon, tuna, and pike perch along with a Rheingau Reisling Kabinett. Don't ask me the winery because I didn't have my notepad with me during dinner, but it was a very nice wine with an acidic bite in the finish. On the way back to the hotel, I stopped into a local wine shop and found a very helpful salesman (who fortunately spoke English) who gave me a good recommendation for a bottle of premium riesling to sample back at the hotel.
Weingüter Wegeler Geiheimrat J Riesling 2006 QmP
Country of origin: Germany
Appellation: Rheigau
Varietal: 100% Riesling
Stats: 12.5% ABV, Spätlese Trocken
Cost: 16.80 Euros (~$24)
Appearance: Light straw yellow
Aroma: Light floral, pears, apricots, strawberries, and delicate citrus
Taste: The nose repeats on the pallate with a lightly crisp finish
Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the bottle and the winery seems to be constructing their webpage, but here's a link to a German wine site with a LOT of information on the winery. I really enjoyed this wine. For those of you who don't know much about the German AOC system, QmP is the highest level of quality. There are additional quality designations that are based on the sugar content of the grapes at harvest. Kabinett is the lowest level of sugar allowed at harvest, while spätlese is a late harvest when the grapes are more fully ripe and have higher sugar levels. There are about 3 more levels beyond that, but they quickly soar into the dessert wine arena, while kabinett and spätlese wines are often finished dry (trocken). This wine still has a low level of residual sugars (1.5 g/L glucose and 5/4 g/L fructose) but well within the dry category.
The Rheingau region is probably considered Germany's highest quality wine region and lies exclusively along the banks of the Rhine River between Kelsterbach in the east and Bacharach in the west. The Rhine River cuts almost straight east-west between these towns and the vineyards are almost exclusively on the north bank of the river where the steep, steep hillsides catch the most sun. I took a train ride along the Rhine and these are steep hillsides! I blatantly stole this photo from the web, but it shows how steep these vineyards are. Amazing!
Salute,
a Wine Student
