
Wines from the Karthäuserhof winery are easily recognizable by their bottle or by the label on the bottle neck. Albert Behler, the New York-based real estate tycoon, owner of the winery, which is now family-owned for over 200 years, says this a unique trademark. The winery was founded in 1335 by Carthusian monks and is located in Trier – Eitelsbach in the Ruwer valley. It works all 20 hectares of the VDP. Große Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberg. Mainly Riesling is planted on its devonian slate soil with clayey sprinkles and high mineral proportions.
Hans had invited to taste sweet wines (


In the autumn, there are many wine events – selection is necesssary. Sweet wines are rarely to be found on tasting lists – if there is one -, mostly the winemakers have only dry wines with them. I wanted to taste dry Silvaner at the presentation of wine from Franconia, which was announced with the brand Silvaner Heimat seit 1659 (Home of Silvaner since 1659) created this year.
Chardonnay is a very versatile variety, which is reflected in dry wines in a variety of wine styles. Usually dry wines are produced with this variety, but there are also sweet and noble sweet Chardonnay variants, especially in Germany and Austria. Two characteristics make Chardonnay a very well suited grape variety for sweet wines. On the one hand, the variety definitely has enough acidity to balance residual sugar, on the other hand, the berries’ shells are thin enough to facilitate … 
On the western edge of the wine-growing area Nahe, in Monzingen there is the winery Emrich-Schönleber, existing since more than 250 years, since 1994 member of the VDP. On about 19 hectares of vineyards flourishes predominantly Riesling (85%). The Riesling wines of the winery are among the best of Germany – often they are very filigree and show a good minerality. In addition to the care of soil and vine, responsible for the classic, excellent wines, also a balanced …