Charlotte and her food

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© John Farren

Meeting 318 - Wines from the Ahr Valley    

Speaker:  Horst Bertram     (Dagernova Weinmanufaktur, Dernau)

Held at Waltham St Lawrence         Friday 21^st November  2008

        In the latter part of the 1980s, the Ahr Valley began a fundamental change from producing solely sweet red wines made from Spätburgunder(SP) grapes to the production of a wide range of dry reds, rosés and some sekts. Horst explained that now only 20% of the Ahr wines are sweet reds and almost all of that is for local consumption. Founded in 1873, the Dagernova Cooperative is one of the oldest in Germany. It produces wine from 150ha of vineyards of the 530ha in the whole valley. The range of wines he enthusiastically desribed to us included a Sekt Brut and the Hardtberg Trocken, both made from the first pressings of SP, both of which showed a relatively deep straw colour.

        The Frühburgunder is often grown in the Ahr Valley, and it has been common in Wûrttemburg for many years.. It is an early ripening strain of SP which is unusually susceptible to mutatation: often giving rise to white, red or grey bunches of grapes on the same vine. The wine that Horst presented, the Weissenhebst Qualitätswein trocken, had a colour whcih  would have been called 'blush' in California. The nose was slighty vegetal (perhaps a touch of bottle stinck - it soon dissappeared) with a hint of cherries in the background. Plenty of fruit and a clean mid acid finish.

        The red wines proved to be a veritable feast of flavours, bouquets and colour. The 2007 Qmp SP was a light, fresh, easy drinking wine, which I would have liked to try a bit cooler. When asked about the best temperature to drink some of the lighter reds, Horst, made the interesting comment that different German villages had different customs when it came to wine temperature. For the same wine, one village might drink it cooled , another at room temperature, one even drank it at 22°C! The rest of the reds presented a wide range of quite different styles. The Dagernova No 2 was a 'feinherb', semi-sweet SP which was the closest to the old syle Ahr sweet reds. Sugar is added only to allow the fermentation to produce a good alcohol level. 60% of the wine was matured in Oak for 6 months. The Valerian (named after the Roman Emperor) was an blend of 45% SP, 45% FR and 10% of a mixture of Dornfelder and Acolon. The Dagernova "D", although 2005 was not as good a year as 2006, proved to be the most popular wine of the evening.

        One of the most interesting varietal wines was the Regent Qmp This grape is relatively new, having only received official recognition in 1996. It is a complex cross of at least 4 grapes and is probably the most fungal resistant of any common grape variety. There are now more than 2000ha grown in Germany. The wine we tasted had a good maroon colour with a hint of purple, a slight plummy nose and had good fruit and tannin. I found it lacked a balancing acid and was not very long. Perhaps as the vines age it will improve.

        Overall, Horst's enthusiasm, clearly presented backgound to all aspects of the vine culture and wine production, together with such a wide variety of wines from the Cooperative, resulted in a very enjoyable evening.

        As usual, Charlotte produced an excellent range of compatible German foods including : Bratwurst Sausage and mashed potatoes, red cabbage and green bean gratin, followed by plumkucken.

        The evening was rounded off with an amusing toast to the Society, in recognition of 75 years, given by our President, Julian Jeffs, with a glass of Alfred Gratien Blanc de Blanc champagne. The IWFS Berkshire Branch continues to promulgate the Andre Simons ideal of exploring and enjoying Food and Wine together.

 

The Wines