Hellooo from Cochem, Germany! Yes, Garmanvsfood family, we did a ting! We went on a road trip to Germany! After being in lock down since March, it feels good to be out in these streets. We had been talking about taking a much-needed break, but COVID-19 had/ and still has other ideas. We were not going to fly, plus, the news about second wave and countries tightening up on their lock down measures, it felt like it was not going to happen. However, the travel gods on our side, here we are! It has been 3 years since our last road trip-17 days across Europe, celebrating Neal’s birthday. Ahh when the world was virus free *sigh*
Right, for this road trip, our sole focus was to hunt for the perfect Riesling. Yeah, we have a thing for food and wine! You read our about page yet? Ha ha ha! We, well, I, dubbed this trip #Riesling hunt. If you don’t know, Riesling is one of, if not, my favourite white wine and Germany make some of the best and where best to go than the source right? Our hunt begins in Cochem, the Mosel wine region of Germany and home to some of regions best producers. I really think that Germany, as a country, is underrated as a tourist destination. Not only do they have the best driving roads (they make super cars duh?), but the countryside and city are beautiful. For a land locked country, they still have better weather than us over in the UK ha!
We have been in Cochem for a day and this little town is gorge! The view of the town from the Mosel riverbank – sheesh!
We spent 2 nights here, so you know we were out doing the most as tourists. Trust the Germans to be efficient and on point with COVID secure measures. Tables were 2 metres apart, hand sanitisers readily available, track and trace (you had to provide your contact information every time you were in a public place for more than 15 mins) and of course masks. I am going to be honest here, I really won’t have gone anywhere else just because I have faith in German efficiency!
We ended the day by doing a wine tasting, it is what we are HERE for people lol! Prior to the world going tits up, wine tasting or any alcohol tasting (champagne, cider, beer) at vineyards or breweries was an interactive experience – you tour the premises, chat with an expert whilst meeting fellow enthusiasts. I miss that! Hey ho, it is what it is, I guess.
H H Hieronimi is a local wine cellar in Cochem and their wine tasting is pretty dope. We did not have a wine tour but still has a fantastic time tasting their wines. We were given a table outside; it was a gorgeous day and catching the sunset whilst drinking delicious wines was too good. First, a massive shout out to Elan who did his thing! He is 18 years old and 8th generation sommelier in the making. His family have been in the wine making business since 1843! He really gave us an education and took us on a journey of wine making in the Mosel region.
We asked Ethan to free style on the wine choices, we were here to on a Riesling hunt so we might as well taste all they had on offer, right? You got to hand it to the Germans for always making things work. Elan placed a paper mat which had 4 circles numbered 1 to 8. These circles were the about the same diameter size as the base of wine glasses and the numbers represented the different wines to be tasted.
Then began our education ha! Elan presented us with a chart, which essentially was the wine classification for German wines and the sugar content. Yep, Elan was playing no games, he came ready with it! German wine is assessed based on Quality and Class. Quality criteria include Deutscher wein (table wins which are okay), Qualitatsweine (quality wines, good) and Pradikatsweine (superior quality wines, Best) and in between is selection Reisling – Hochgewachs. The Cassification in descending order – Trockenbeerenauslese, Eiswein, Beerenauslese, Auslese, Spatlese, Kabinett. From the sugar content, some wines can have as much as 65g/L!!! Yikes, I mean I love me some Moscato grape, pudding wine and a lickle port but 65g? err that might just be a little too sweet for me lol. Other few fun facts about the German wines (1) the geographical templates are slates which can be brown or blue in colour. The colour depends on what side the sun hits, plus more significantly, the slates help regulate the temperature. (2) Red wine was prohibited in Germany because of the religious beliefs. (3) Generally, anyone can grow grapes and make table wine, but for a vineyard to have its own label the wine produced must be superior quality. (4) Spatburgunder is a pinot noir wine and weissburgunder is pinot blanc.
The wines we tasted ranged from the Deutcher wine all the way through to Pradikatsweine. Three hours in, red and white wine drunk, this is what I know. The Deutscherwein is a no, so is the qualiatswein. It was the Riesling for us, like duh? Particularly the Riesling Auslese which was the perfect balance of sweet and fresh notes for my palate. The Spatlese and Kabinett were nay to shabby either. We sampled wines with some serious snacks and nibbles as the sun set over Cochem!
Yes Elan, you are doing your ancestors proud! Danke Shon.
Three bottles of Riesling Auslese bagged!
Prost
Ndidi and Neal
p.s. another reason to go on a road trip – flexibility! We discovered that the Nueburing was a 45 min drive from Cochem. Of course we had to go for a spin!
