Dirk and Ellen Scherschlich operate the Bacharacher Hof Hotel and Restaurant. Dirk elevates traditional German fare to high art, and Ellen runs a tight ship on the floor of the restaurant. We raided the wine list on our two visits to the restaurant (both were great meals), and were looking for the best way to “re-create” the experience at home after a tough week.
Slowly-cooked, tender veal in a cream sauce with chanterelles, bracketed by red bliss potatoes, and spargel (asparagus) was as close as I could get, and I took the occasion to pamper ourselves with one of the most extraordinary wines I’ve had from Jochen Ratzenberger – his 2002 Wolfshöhle Großes Gewächs, a selected, late harvested Riesling (auslese) fermented dry. An incredible pairing!
A little of this wine is still available in all three of our stores ($60 per bottle), and it’s a bargain. Perfectly mature, and complex, and a perfect example of terroir. This brilliant wine could not have been produced anywhere else on Earth. Bravo, Jochen! Here’s our “official” tasting note:
The Ratzenberger family moved to the Mittelrhein from East Germany in the 1950s, and young Jochen Ratzenberger first began to make wine in 1994. The 8-hectare estate, west and north of the town of Bacharach, includes holdings in the three steep vineyards of blue-black Devon slate: Steeger St. Jost, Posten, and Wolfshöhle.
In 2002, the membership of the VDP (Verbund Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter) issued regulations governing the production of Großes Gewächs (Grand Cru) wines; only approved varieties of grapes, from approved parts of classified vineyards are allowed. The grapes must qualify as Spätlese in ripeness, and the wines must be either dry, or lusciously sweet. The rules permit chaptalization, so Großes Gewächs wines may not be labeled as QmP (Qualitätswein mit Prädikat).
The Wolfshöhle Großes Gewächs was harvested at auslese (selected late harvest) ripeness and fermented dry, producing a wine of amazing aromatic and textural complexity rivaled only by the Premier, and Grand Cru of Burgundy.
