Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Silvaner Eiswein, Weingut Guntrum, Nierstein 2004

I love dessert wines, and I really enjoy good ice wine.

Most of the ice wines I have had have been from Canada, but, on a recent flight from Munich to Washington, I had the opportunity to try this truly remarkable Eiswein from Germany from Louis Guntrum, a winery on the banks of the Rhine that has been in the same family since 1648.

In Germany, the law requires ice wine to be made from grapes that are picked when the temperature is below -7 degrees centigrade, and they have to be pressed while the grapes are still frozen. This contrasts with other "ice wines" that can be artificially frozen after picking. The point of making wine from frozen grapes is to achieve concentration and sweetness. Basically, the water in the grapes freezes, but the sugars and other solids don't so they can be easily separated.

This wine is remarkably complex. There is wonderful balance between sweetness and acidity, and a very nice nutty flavor (hazlenuts?).

I have not discovered where I can find this wine in the United States, and I have no clue what it costs, and I would appreciate comments from anyone who knows. When I looked at their website, they seem to make all sorts of wines from grapes not often associated with Germany -- I would love to try more!

This blog continues on http://www.louisandlouisa.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Dear Louis,



I am glad, you have enjoyed our 2004 SILVANER EISWEIN in the air between Munich and Washington. Thank you very much for the excellent report on your website. Broadbent Selections, Mr. Bartholomew Broadbent, San Francisco (www.broadbent.com) is our importer to the US. The Eiswein you had is available in the US, though with a different label. Lufthansa had required a special label. For the US, we use a label displaying Penguins to give an idea of the conditions we harvest Eiswein at. There are also several other wines available through Broadbent Selections. I hope you do not mind me forwarding your email to them, so they can get in touch with you for the details of a retailer in the vicinity of your home. The wines you may be interested in are:



2004 GUNTRUM DRY RIESLING

2003 NIERSTEINER REHBACH RIESLING SPATLESE

2002 OPPENHEIMER SACKTRAGER RIESLING AUSLESE

2002 GUNTRUM CLASSIC – OPPENHEIMER SACKTRAGER RIESLING SPATESE TROCKEN.



Thank you again for your wonderful report and I hope, that you may enjoy this and other fine wines of LOUIS GUNTRUM soon.



Best regards,



L. Konstantin Guntrum

LOUIS GUNTRUM

- Weintradition seit 1648 -

Rheinallee 62 - 55283 Nierstein / Germany

Phone: ++49 / 6133 / 9717-0 - Fax: ++49 / 6133 / 9717-17

konstantin.guntrum@guntrum.com www.guntrum.com