Joe Breen meets one of a new generation of German wine-makers
The young man sitting opposite me is a nervous 20-year-old wine university student, albeit one with a droll sense of humour. He doesn't normally do interviews. In fact this might be his first time speaking on behalf of his family firm. Matthias Breuer comes from one of the finest wine-making estates in Germany and he has a long and impressive heritage to respect and cultivate.
Georg Breuer is based in the Rheingau, near the city of Mainz, one of the most famous wine-producing areas in Germany. The estate was founded in 1880, and at the beginning of the last century, Peter Breuer, the grandfather of today's owners, took it over and passed it to Georg, who built up the business. Bernhard and Heinrich Breuer, Georg's sons, continued to develop the estate and today it has a total of 24 hectares in the finest sites of Rüdesheim and Rauenthal, on the steep banks of the Rhine, planted with Riesling, which produces the steely elegant wine for which the estate is renowned.
"Many people in Germany are getting rid of Riesling and replacing it with Pinor Noir. That is not what the world wants - the world wants Riesling," Matthias Breuer says with the assurance of youth. "Our soil is so good that it would be a waste to grow any other varieties. As to why it is so good - well, we must be lucky. There is no other area where acidity and fruit have such a natural balance. The further south you go in Germany, the fatter the Rieslings become."
Georg Breuer is known as a company prepared to break the mould. Matthias's uncle, Bernhard, who died in 2004, helped the estate to add finesse to its dry wines and to clarify and simplify the information carried on its bottles - something that is being followed by other German producers. However, even with such developments, German wine continues to be a mystery to most consumers. How can this change? "The easiest way would be to get everyone to visit our vineyards and taste our wines. I don't think that is possible. So we should come here, and to places such as Ireland, and present our wines, and the German Wine Institute should work harder."
He is right. Wine-lovers who pass up on German Rieslings in general, and Breuer in particular, are missing a real treat. Top of the tree is the Berg Schlossberg, a single estate wine of steely elegance and intensity which, he says, needs time, some say 10 years, to reach its peak. Close behind were other single estates, Nonnenberg, Berg Rotland, and Berg Roseneck, while the Terra Montosa, a wine blended from the grapes which don't make it into the single estate wines, is a very good spot to start your Riesling journey. While these wines may seem expensive, top German Rieslings arguably offer some of the best value at the high end of the market.u jbreen@irish-times.ie
Georg Breuer wines are distributed by the Wicklow Wine Co, 0404-66767; wicklowwineco@eircom.net