Sommeliers visit to Egon Muller in 2010
Top Selection took five sommeliers to visit Egon Muller in Germany, and what a great couple of days it was!
Egon met us in a mini van at Luxembourg airport and drove us the 40 minutes to Scharzhof, his home and winery. The weather was beautiful on arrival, and the first thing we did was have a glass of the magnificent 2007 Kabinett, on the terrace, at the front of the house.
Lunch was a fabulous barbecue accompanied by numerous different vintages of Kabinett, Spatlese and Auslese (and a couple of bottles of Clos Vougeot that also found their way onto the table). We were soon well oiled!
After lunch the traditional climb up Scarzhofberg, through the vineyard. Make no mistake, this hill is steep, and after we’d reached the top some of the less fit members of the party collapsed, hearts pounding, wondering whether they would ever get up again! Appreciating the view took a few minutes.
Dinner was on the terrace of our hotel in the neat, and pretty town of Saarburg. The food was excellent, the wines, of course, brilliant. A 1989 Spatelse to die for, a 1983 Auslese that was just so fresh, and the virtually flawless 2005 Kabinett, amongst others. Add to these a couple of bottles of Vega Sicilia Unico 1995, and you can see that we did alright! I confess to be being exhausted by the end of the meal, and was in bed by midnight, whilst the younger members of the group moved on to try the local bars.
The following day the weather had turned, very wet, grey and a bit chilly. But a tour around the winery and it’s cellars cheered everyone up. The 1976 Spatlese took a while to open up, but when it did…wow! A 1964 Auslese that was immense, and so on.
Lunch this time was in the house, along with Egon’s wife and son. Lot’s of German ham and locally grown white asparagus was washed down with the latest vintage (2009) of Egon’s Slovakian Riesling Chateau Bela, and his Kanta Riesling from Adelaide Hills, Australia.
After this, a journey in the van to his other famous vineyard, Braune Kupp, a few kms from his home. There, in the gloom, we drank wine under umbrellas before heading back to the house to say our goodbyes, and be driven to the airport by Egon’s wife. All was silent as we drove, everyone was sleeping.
Visiting one of the world’s great winemaker’s, and the chance to taste his new wines, from the quite magnificent 2009 vintage, was a real treat for everyone. There is lots of hype this year about 2009 Bordeaux, but make no mistake, 2009 in Germany is the real thing!