In challenging economic times and a competitive global wine market, Navarro Vineyards prevails by staying true to a particular style of wine and cultivating consumers one by one.
Ted Bennett, his wife Deborah Cahn and their children Sarah and Aaron Cahn Bennett are proprietors of Navarro Vineyards, one of the first wineries in what is now the Anderson Valley wine region in Mendocino County.  From their first vintage in 1975, they have made dry aromatic white wines such as gewürztraminer, pinot gris and riesling which are today among the fastest growing …

The wines of Chile may be viewed today as inexpensive, everyday wines but its export history to the U.S. suggests a more distinctive past.  My curiosity was piqued when browsing through an old book I picked up at an estate sale in Downtown Napa.  The book is The Gourmet Cookbook Volume II, published over half a century ago in 1957.
I love picking up these old food or wine books since it reveals what consumers liked back then and retro is back in.  The book contained a Wine Sampler that paired …

 
While one can get chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and riesling wines from most wine regions around the world these days, there are only a handful of regions that specialize in the classic varietals of pinot blanc, pinot grigio, gewurztraminer and muscat.  One of the regions is Alsace and then neighboring Pfalz Germany which share the same mountain range the Vosges to the Haardt.  A classic area and in fact the home to the gewurztraminer grape is the Alto Adige, the northernmost vineyards in Italy with the highest percentage of controlled quality (DOC) wines.   …

The view south from Kastanienbusch Vineyard

Weingut Okonomierat Rebholz has been making wine for three generations and is currently run by Hansjorg Rebholz and his wife Brigit.  The weingut is a welcoming place and the owners, staff and the dog are very warm (people).  Rebholz is best known for its dry style of whites, the rieslings, about 35% of production, chardonnay and weissburgunder.  But they also make distinctive gewurztraminer from their oldest vineyard as well as grauerburgunder and muskateller.  About 25% of production is in spatburgunder.  Rebholz wines are about intensity of flavor stemming from …

Warmth in climate and hospitality show through in the wines of the Pfalz.  When we visited Weingut Messmer, we met with Gregor who runs the estate, but his PR man, father Herbert, dropped in to greet us.  Messmer’s flagship wines are the dry rieslings, grauerburgunder and weissburgunder, a little bit of fine gewurtztraminer and muskateller, and spatburgunder.  The whites range from everyday wines to “cru” Erste Lage from Michelsberg vineyard, Schawer and Goldener Jost, but they are all driven by purity of flavors.  This starts in the vineyard, where Gregor has moved from the common …

German producers have been adapting to market demand – both domestic and export – to drier styles of rieslings of less than 9 grams/liter residual sugar. From about 16% of production in 1985 to about 37% today, dry styles of riesling are definitely in vogue.  Of the 20% of high-quality VDP wines exported, 50% are dry styles. One of the more famous regions for dry rieslings is the Rheingau, but historically, many of the warmer, southern regions such as the Pfalz or Baden have the ability to produce balanced, dry …

The current Fall 2009 special edition of Wine & Spirits Magazine features a story on “Best Land to Grab” highlighting five lesser known areas that have potential to grow fine wine grapes, from England’s limestone coast to the Istria Peninsula in the Adriatic.  But what about investing in a classic wine region that produces world benchmark rieslings?  That would be the Mosel wine region in Germany.  The production costs are high, but the vineyard land is cheap.
Production costs are high due to the steep vineyard slopes of the Mosel some …

The Pfalz aka the “Palatinate” lies to the east of the Haardt Mountains, a continuation of the Vosges Mountain range in France.  Just as the Vosges acts as a rainshadow from westerly rains for the Alsace wine region to the south, so does the Haardt provide shelter for the Pfalz.  It is the among the driest and warmest German wine regions, allowing for a wider variety of grapes to be grown.  In addition to the Riesling, the Pfalz grows white mueller-thurgau aka rivaner (as in “Black Tower”), kerner, silvaner, weissburgunder (pinot blanc), …

If you are deciding which classic wine region to visit next, Germany is a great choice.  The major wine regions in Germany are clustered in the West/Southwest within a two-hour’s drive of Frankfurt International Airport (FRA).  Bernkastel in the Mosel wine region is about 85 miles to the west; Rudesheim in the Rheingau is only 30 miles or so to the south and the Pfalz is about 75 miles away.   Other pluses, many Germans speak English and the highways are modern and fast.
The world-class wines to taste are the white rieslings, which can range …

If  you are travelling to the Pfalz, the Pfalz Tourist (Pfalz.Touristik e.V.) and Wine (Pfalzwein e.V.)  Associations have good publications and maps.  Email info@pfalz-touristik.de for tourist info and info@zum-wohl-die-pfalz.de for wine region information. 
Wine tasting:  There is no shortage of highly-regarded wineries as well as local cooperatives, most of which are open to the public.   The German Wine Route with cycling path goes through the Pfalz and is marked with a yellow sign signifying “Deutsche Weinstrasse” with a grape cluster.  There is also a hiking path which is marked on maps available …