Piri Naturel is Christine Pieroth’s independent line of natural wines in Germany’s Burg Layen. Her wines bring a breath of fresh air to more straightforward Nahe’s wine scene.
Stephanie Hanel, born in Munich, Bavaria, and therefore as a young adult more familiar with beer than wine, became a wine lover with her first contact with natural wine at 2Naturkinder, then dove into the Brooklyn world of natural wines, where winemakers are rock stars, and the variety of wines feels like it could never end. Best memory: summer day with heavy rain, sitting by an open window in a wine bar (only selling Italian natural
wine) and picking some olives and cheese, sipping through one and another glass. Career path: author of multimedia-productions, project manager at a publishing company, content manager of a business network, scientific communicator, composing texts about family-owned German brands and companies, editing and contributing for the website of Naturweinwelt,
and authoring books.
There is no fish soup in the Pfalz. Sad, but true. Like most of Germany’s winegrowing regions, the Pfalz is simply too far removed from the sea for fish to feature prominently in its traditional cuisine. By extension, Pfalz fish soup is practically a culinary contradiction. A delicious deception. A seafood swindle. A Pfalz cookbook is a celebration of rustic comfort: Leberknödel (liver dumplings), Kartoffelsuppe mit Speck (potato soup with bacon, often in unlikely combination with plum cake), and, of course, Saumagen (stuffed pig’s stomach). Arguably the region’s culinary signature dish, this is a hearty, sausage-y mix of pork, potato,…...
Roughly once a generation, the German government pops the hood on the country’s wine law for a tune up. 2021 is one such year, with a new set of revisions taking effect in early May. On the surface, the changes appear more incremental than revolutionary. Yet controversy has followed as various stakeholders realize that some new wrinkles may have unexpectedly far-reaching consequences. So let’s pour ourselves a glass of dry wine (law) and savor some juicy power dynamics. Here are the early winners and losers of the 2021 German Wine Act. Winner: The VDP’S Long Game You can’t say the…...
Hans Ruck, 74, is fully at home in front of a stove. The German vintner, of Weingut Ruck in Iphofen, has been a serious chef for five decades, with a healthy stash of self-composed recipes — all harmonized to the wines from his estate at the edge of the Steigerwald in central Franken. “I’ve never had a beer with a meal in my life,” Ruck claims. “The harmony between food and wine is what truly brings the enjoyment.” Once Ruck gets rolling, it’s hard to stop him. You soon feel like you’re standing at the stove with him, peeking into…...
Trollinger was long decried as a poor excuse of a wine. Increasingly, growers and drinkers beg to differ.
When Westphalia and Württemberg meet on the table good tastes are bound to happen.
A new direction is taking shape at an ancient estate in the Ruwer.
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