This Valentine’s day, offer up bubbly from Germany
- The San Juan Daily Star
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
By ERIC ASIMOV
Sekt, the term for sparkling wine made in Germany, has a very long history, and for much of the post-World War II era, not an especially happy one. Through the end of the 20th century, most sekt was cheap, slightly sweet and industrially produced.
But the last decade has seen a sekt rejuvenation. The wines have improved greatly, whether easygoing pétillant-naturels or high-end cuvées as complex and graceful as many Champagnes. Today, German sparkling wines can stand with any made around the world.
What accounts for this reorientation?
“The winemakers have understood fully that in order to make great sekt, you need to start with the right site and parameters that differ fundamentally from still wines when growing grapes for sekt,” said Anne Krebiehl, author of the exceptional book “The Wines of Germany,” who writes for Vinous, a wine website.
“Sekt is no longer a dirty word, as it used to be,” she said. “It has regained status and is on trend, because when people spend more money, they get something infinitely better.”
I’ve been trying over the last year to drink as much sekt as I could find, and I agree with Krebiehl. It’s really good. The biggest problem is that many of the best producers make only small amounts of sparkling wine. Nonetheless, shopping in New York, I was able to find 10 excellent bottles that I highly recommend.
Many sekts are made with riesling, but not all. Some are made with pinot noir and chardonnay, the major grapes of Champagne, and which, by the way, are becoming more and more important as still wines in Germany, too. Others are made of pinot blanc, or elbling, a lesser-known grape with a long history in Germany. As always, it’s not the grape that matters so much as the quality of the farming and the winemaking.
At this time of year, just before Valentine’s Day, it seems appropriate to talk about sekt. For a holiday devoted to love, Valentine’s Day giving seems entirely reflexive — a box of chocolates, a dozen roses, a bottle of Champagne. A robot could do it and, in some cases, probably does.
Wouldn’t a truer demonstration of affection require more consideration? Switch it up. Candy, flowers and bubbles absolutely speak to romance, but at least ponder some alternatives. Instead of Champagne, for example, why not one of these bottles?
I could not find some of my favorite sekts. If you see bottles of sparkling wine from Lauer, Von Winning, Keller, Moritz Kissinger and Jonas Dostert, snap them up. They are superb.
These are, too, though as I said, they are not always easy to find. Still, they’re worth the effort, and if you come up empty, there’s still always Champagne.
Here are the 10 bottles, beginning with the least expensive.
Hild Mosel Elbling Sekt Brut NV, 10% to 13%, $22
South of Trier, as the Mosel River approaches Luxembourg and France, it passes through the Upper Mosel region. It’s not the part of the Mosel made famous by riesling and ridiculously steep slate vineyards on towering hillsides. The landscape is less breathtaking; the soils are limestone; and the primary grape is the ancient, little-known elbling. This sparkling wine, from Matthias Hild, is straightforward, vivacious, lightly smoky and very easy to drink. The range given for the alcohol content? U.S. law gives leeway of 1.5 percentage points in either direction for wines below 14%, so labeling it as 10% to 13% is perhaps a more honest approach than labeling it as 11.5%. (Vom Boden, Brooklyn, New York)
M. Schömann Mosel Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Trocken NV, 11.5%, $32
I’ve never had Schömann wines before, but this sparkling riesling is a fine introduction. Made from biodynamically farmed grapes, it is light and graceful, with floral and ginger flavors. It would make a fine aperitif before a romantic dinner. (Nectar Imports, Staten Island, New York)
Hofgut Falkenstein Mosel Pet Nat NV, 11.5%, $35
I like pretty much everything I’ve had from Falkenstein, from their dry and sweet rieslings to this pétillant-naturel. Like most pét-nats, this is an easygoing, casual wine, bursting with freshness, energy and citrus flavors. (MFW Wine Co./Lars Carlberg Selections, New York)
Immich-Batterieberg Detonation Bubbles Mosel Riesling Extra Brut 2021, 11.5%, $37
Immich-Batterieberg, an old estate with a history that stretches back to the 15th century, takes one of the freshest approaches to marketing German wine with the bold labeling and bolder name of this bottle, Detonation Bubbles. Made with organically farmed riesling and fermented twice as they do in Champagne, the wine is full of energy and character, with floral, citrus and ginger flavors. (Louis/Dressner Selections, New York)
Von Buhl Pfalz Riesling Brut 2020, 12.5%, $45
Reichsrat Von Buhl, a historic producer in the Pfalz, has made a special effort in recent years to focus on sparkling wines. This 2020 is among the rewards of those efforts. It’s refined and creamy, gently carbonated and the sort of wine that you can appreciate for its grace and complexity and enjoy with a meal. (The German Wine Collection, Carlsbad, California)
Robert Weil Rheingau Riesling Brut 2020, 12%, $58
Robert Weil has been one of the best producers in the Rheingau since its inception in 1875. This sekt, made entirely of riesling using the Champagne method, is sleek and bone dry, with all the cool elegance of an icy martini. (Loosen Bros. USA, Salem, Oregon)
Lena Brut Nature Mythos Réserve 2021, 12%, $65
Each of the other producers I recommend here makes a range of wines in addition to sekt, but Lena Singer-Fischer is a sparkling wine specialist. She manages her family’s cellar, which produces sparkling wines for estates around Germany. But recently, she started to produce small lots of her own wines. The Mythos Réserve — made of chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier — is smooth, elegant and gently carbonated. It’s lovely now but will age beautifully. If you love sparkling wine, this is a name to seek out. (Vom Boden)
Wasenhaus Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc Brut Nature NV, 10% to 13%, $75
Wasenhaus in the Baden region has been in business for just about 10 years and already is one of the more coveted labels from Germany. Chistoph Wolber and Alexander Götze, who met while both were working in Burgundy, run the winery. Their pinot noirs, chardonnays and pinot blancs are wonderful. This is the first of their sekts that I’ve tried, and it lives up to their other wines. It’s fresh and pure, with rich flavors that linger long after you swallow. (Vom Boden)
Stein Mosel Blanc de Noirs 0 Dosage 2019, 12.5%, $75
This blanc de noirs from the idiosyncratic Ulrich Stein was made of old-vine pinot noir and bottled without sulfur dioxide, the almost universally used stabilizer and antioxidant. It is refined and complex, bone dry, with aromas and flavors that seem to change by the minute. It’s not a party bottle; it requires attention and contemplation. (Vom Boden)
Stein Mosel Riesling Ohne Erna ‘vB-X’ Sekt Reserve 2015, 12.5%, $75
This is a rare sekt with 10-plus years of aging and is produced only in top vintages. In 2015, only a single large barrel was made, and like the blanc de noirs, it was also bottled without sulfur dioxide. It’s fascinating to compare this bottle, made of riesling, with the blanc de noirs. It seems deeper and richer, perhaps because of the extra aging, and it, too, is remarkably complex. (Vom Boden).
