The Northern German city of Wolfsburg could also be called “German Motown” as it is mainly known for having the Volkswagen headquarters and consists of plenty of Volkswagen factory buildings. In recent years though, the car company has invested in building an attraction park and visitor centre for car lovers, including a luxury hotel of the Ritz-Carlton brand. The hotel facility is nestled in between the visitor center and from its windows one can overview a harbour basin and the impressive Volkwagen factory with its century-old smokestacks. I’d call it industrial romanticism. More important for food travelers though is the hotel’s own fine dining Restaurant Aqua, where Chef Sven Elverfeld has built a reputation for being one of Germany’s top chefs.
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Just a day after that VDP wine auction for the Rheingau region, I returned to Kloster Eberbach for the big public presentation of 2010 Great Growth wines of all VDP member estates. Since I missed previous opportunities to taste these wines, I was more than happy to attend this brilliant event.
The 2010 vintage didn’t have an easy start as numerous media already condemned it as a sour (white) wine vintage at a time when harvest wasn’t even fully brought in. And it’s true that for many of the estate’s basic Rieslings, qualities are rather heterogenous. For the Great Growths however, I read more and more opinons that are highly praising this new vintage, even putting it above last year’s great success. Read the rest of this entry »
