A life-changing German riesling
Matthew Jukes visits the Mosel valley and comes away on cloud nine after tasting this 'life-changingly delicious' Ockfener.
2007 Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett, Weingut St.Urbans-Hof, Mosel, Germany (£12.99, The WineBarn, 01256-391211, www.thewinebarn.co.uk ).
Several years ago I took my one and only trip to the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer to taste wine (I do hope to go back!). I adore Mosel riesling and have done for decades, but going there and standing in the precipitous blue-slate-scattered vineyards on the banks of the mighty river was incredible. I visited some famous producers and I found myself understanding the soil, slopes and the true spirit of the mighty riesling grape variety for the first time.
On the last morning my guide, Michael Schemmel from the German Wine Office, insisted that I visit a producer that I had never heard of St Urbans-Hof. I came away from this tasting on cloud number nine. Nik Weis presented one of the most complete portfolios of wines I had seen anywhere in the world.
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There was one problem he didn't have an agent in the UK and therefore I couldn't write up or buy any of the wines! A year later, Iris Ellmann at The WineBarn has put this right. She has an amazing list of German wines from top producers and this Ockfener is life-changingly delicious.
Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year
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Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.
Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.
He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.
Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’. He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner.
Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.
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