20213041_WGDE2021_ENGL

Burg Gutenfels – a single site named after the eponymous
castle with inclines between 45-60%
AN ELDORADO
FOR WINE FREAKS
A new, ambitious optimism is in the Mittelrhein air. Newcomers are enthused by
the adventure of wine while established estates have set an uncompromising
course for quality – even if it is getting a little hot for Riesling in some sites.
WORDS RAINER SCHÄFER
Jörg Lanius clambers around in the
steep vineyard. His team is right in the
middle of the Riesling harvest. Down
in the valley, the river Rhine winds its way
through a picture-book landscape. Lanius
exudes contentment and confidence, and
that is not solely down to the flawless grapes
in the crates. What is happening right now
in the Mittelrhein region is gratifying, notes
the 53-year-old winemaker. He runs Weingut
Lanius-Knab in Oberwesel, knows the
changing fortunes of the wine business and
also remembers the lows. “In my parents’
and grandparents’ time the wine business
just ticked along wearily,” he says, “you
didn’t really want to drink these wines.” He
remembers how the co-ops always harvested
in the rain, just to get a few more litres of
yield. “This damaged the image of the entire
region,” he says. “I did not like that at all.” It
is for that reason that he already tried to
improve the quality of his wines at the tender
age of 13. Jörg Lanius has thus lived through
real structural change of the Mittelrhein: the
number of people growing grapes while
holding down other jobs has decreased
drastically and the remaining wine estates
“are on a more solid footing now.”
Names like Cecilia Jost of Weingut Toni Jost
or Jochen Ratzenberger are known far
beyond the region and in many other estates
succession is secured: a new, young generation
is attracted to the work in the steep slopes
and can see a future. “Right now, only those
196 falstaff Wine Guide Germany 2021