Wine Ghosts

This is the second part of our conversation with Rainer Schnaitmann in his wine castle in Fellbach, Germany. In the first episode, he showed me his world-class Lembergers (aka Blaufränkisch) and Spätburgunders, alongside with some mystical Frühburgunder. This part is designated to his terrific Rieslings, a Loire-like Sauvignon, a stimulating Grauburgunder (what a controversy as a general rule), a...

Since the second lockdown has hit Austria, I’ve been staying in Baden Württemberg again, till the Austrian gastronomy is allowed to serve guests again. But that also means, that I’ve had the great fortune to personally visit another iconic producer of the Rems Valley: Rainer Schnaitmann. So I highly recommend to check out our conversation in its entirety on the Wine Ghosts Youtube channel. Rainer...

There is a winery in the tiny village of Pünderich in Germany, at the fringe of the Middle Mosel and the steeper Terassen Mosel, bearing the name of an experienced, benevolent winemaker: Clemens Busch. Mr. Busch started to work organically more than 40 years ago and was one of the founding fathers of the ’first group of organic producers in Germany’, which was the requisite step towards the biodyn...

After getting through only half of our Christmas wine list in the first part of the podcast with Sebastian, we've decided to cover the red wines in this second part. You'll get an idea of what to pair with a lighter red wine like a Lemberger, and how does it differ from pairing a dish with a bold and tannic red ghost like a Priorat or a Barbaresco. As you see on the thumbnail, our beloved ladies a...

The (first) universal Lockdown-Christmas is coming soon. Therefore, not only tasty and professional restaurant dinners are out of the question now, but some isolated souls (including me) left to cook their first Christmas without true chefs this year. To stand a chance of matching something tasty with my wine list for the holidays, I've asked for professional help from my friend Sebastian Giraldo....

Get to know Josef Mantler, a young descendant of a historic winemaking family from the Kremstal region of Austria. In this episode, you’ll get to learn about the loess ruled Kremstal region that flourishes at the meeting point of three other wine regions. Moreover, Josef tells us which varieties thrive on their mostly terraced vineyards, and shares the true legend of the indigenous Neuburger grape...

Stefan Wellanschitz is a true 'Kolfok' in the wine world. Which means that he doesn't want to chase the prescribed conventional tasting profiles, but rather seeks after the authentic taste of his Mittelburgenland (Austria) terroir as well as the vintage. Stefan is based around the historic wine-growing village of Neckenmarkt, which he describes in the podcast in great detail. He also has at least...

The first Master Sommelier with a Hungarian passport! And my little home country owes this pride to Tamás Czinki, who certainly made history this autumn after 5 years of preparation. In this episode, you can hear Tamás talking about the assiduous road to this great achievement, different study techniques, how to get better at blind tasting, food-wine pairing and much more. Finally, he reveals his...

This time, I had the great fortune to finally talk to Eric Danch, wine importer from the U.S. I first got in contact with Eric when he wrote me a kind e-mail encouraging me to keep up with the podcast. After telling us his colorful way of getting into Eastern European wine importing, he shares valuable insights about his way of looking for authentic producers in places where basically no one speak...

What a great honor to have wine writer, excellent sommelier and Master of Wine: Romana Echensperger on the show. Romana has recently published a world-class book ("Von der Freiheit den richtigen Wein zu machen" - available only in German so far) that gives a thorough introduction to biodynamics and features 12 excellent vintners who are managing their wineries according to biodynamic principles. A...

The 34th Wine Ghosts podcast virtually goes into the Kamptal region of Austria, and hosts Lorenz Allram, the young winemaker behind the Allram wines. Lorenz gives a thorough introduction to the Kamptal terroir, explains the general tasting profiles of the three iconic Lower Austrian regions: Kamptal, Kremstal and Wachau. He also shares his take on minerality with us and why old vines are crucial t...

In this episode, you can hear the secrets behind the Best Rosé of Germany and actually of the world in 2020. I spoke to Frank Dinter and Christian Braunewell from the Braunewell Dinter winery, Rheinhessen, Germany about the origin story of the tasty wine ghost and the vision of making an age-worthy, international top-level Rosé in Germany. The Braunewell Dinter ‘der Rosé’ is an outstanding wine fr...

In this episode, I had the opportunity to talk to a motivated young winemaker, Johannes Fritz, from Austria. The Josef Fritz winery is located in the heart of a lesser-known Austrian wine region: Wagram, which deserves much more international fame than it tends to enjoy. You can listen to Johannes’s thorough introduction to the region, which alone would worth listening to this episode, together wi...

The 31st podcast episode centers the esteemed Künster Winery from the Rheingau wine region of Germany. Gunter Künstler lavishly showed me a line of his Pinot Noirs from 1999 till the barrel sample of 2019. It was one in a lifetime experience, and proved to me the ageability and complexity of the Rheingau Pinot Noirs. You can also hear the origin history of this elegant grape variety in Rheingau an...

I was lucky enough to record the 30th Wine Ghosts podcast in a classical villa built in 1888, in the picturesque Traisen village, Nahe region, Germany. This proud wine castle is home to the Crusius vintner family that has been making wine for 14 generations now. Rebecca Crusius, one of the youngest members of the family, was kind of enough to host us in their dazzling tasting room for a genuine co...

The 29th episode hosts Caroline Diel, who is not only an exceptional winemaker, but a lovely host and an inspiring professional. This episode is just a slice of the wonderful experience we were lucky to enjoy at the Diel winery and family home on the 6th of June in Rümmelsheim, Nahe, Germany. The scenery alone, an ancient castle, was breathtaking and majestic. The Burg Layen is in the possession o...

This episode features the Roterfaden winery, and of course, the lovely couple behind its energetic wines. We spent a wonderful morning with Olympia and Hannes looking over their terraced vineyards and a fairy-tale-like valley North-West of Stuttgart, Germany, on the 31st of May. They are biodynamically cultivating three majestic grape varieties: Lemberger, Pinot Noir and Riesling, which we also ta...

This interview was recorded on the 30th of May after we spent a magical afternoon with Sebastian Schiller in the outskirts of Stuttgart. Sebastian is the leader of Germany’s first crowdfounded winery | KSK Vintage Winery | which builds on his inherited vineyards in the Stuttgart-Rohracker area. Sebastian also left us plant some PIWI varieties in his little experimental vine museum before we drank...

Today’s episode features Franz Weninger who is an iconic producer who cultivates his land biodynamically on both sides of the Austrian-Hungarian border. Franz described his remarkable terroirs in great depth, justified the importance of various soil qualities and of their health. You can also learn about the effects of the Lake Neusiedl or Fertő on the microclimate, why handwork is essential in th...

he 25th episode features another outstanding wine wizard from Swabia, Baden-Württemberg, Southern Germany. Jochen Beurer’s Rieslings and Lembergers are true benchmarks. Site-specific, terroir-driven, mashed by feet, brought to life by native yeast. The Beurer vines have been cultivated organically since 2004, and then became a leading force in the biodynamic movement in Württemberg. You can learn...

The Pflüger winery is located in the Pfalz region of Germany, where the Pflüger family has been taking care of their precious vineyards around Bad Dürkheim for centuries now. They were proponents of nourishing their treasured land in the most sustainable matter as possible and became organic growers in the mid-’80s, then certified biodynamic from the vintage of 2008. The friendly wine wizard, Alex...

Another great wine wizard from the Wachau region of Austria: Josef Fischer. The winery, that bears the same name as my dear guest, is located in Rossatz, on the right bank of the River Danube. As a true Wachau winery, they bring out the best expression of Riesling and Grüner Veltliner on their world-class single vineyard sites on ‘Federspiel’ and ‘Smaragd’ levels. ‘Joe’ explained the Wachau terroi...

We were lucky enough to visit another great wine castle in the Württemberg wine region: the Jürgen Ellwanger winery, from Winterbach. I sat down with Felix Ellwanger in a charmed garden-setting while tasting one great wine after the other. You can learn about the HADES project, Schwaben barrels, great ‘GG’ vineyards, local vinegrowing history, why German whites are easier to sell at the moment tha...

Riesling from Württemberg? Oh yes! Although the Rems valley, “Remstal”, has a long tradition of producing excellent Rieslings, it still remains a hidden gem for most Riesling lovers worldwide. This time, I was lucky enough to talk to one of the best producers in the area: Moritz Haidle from the Karl Haidle Winery. After a meaningful ‘father and son conversation’, Moritz chose to follow his ancesto...

The 20th podcast episode is a truly moving one! Nino and Bastian joined me from the terrace of their Georgian winery, called Ori Marani. I was convinced that their love story alone would worth writing a book about, but their joint winemaking history has only recently begun by establishing their own winery in Nino’s homeland, in the Shida Kartli region of Georgia. Bastian, born and raised in Champa...