RHEINPFALZ

The Rheinpfalz (or Palatinate, as we know it in English, after the Counts Palatine of the Holy Roman Empire) is one of the biggest and best-known wine-growing regions in Germany: it produces millions of gallons of Liebfraumilch, but also contains some of the most prestigious estates; it is Germany's sunniest region, and contributes about 30% of its total wine production. Since much of it is flat, it isn't great Riesling country, apart from some of the most famous villages on the "Deutsche Weinstrasse"; however, some luscious white wines are made from varieties such as Scheurebe, Morio-Muskat, Huxelrebe, Gewürztraminer and Kerner, and easy-drinking reds and rosés from Portugieser and Spätburgunder; the wines are characterised by richness and body, and mouth-watering exotic fruit flavours.

Since it is so large, and so well-represented in Britain (at both ends of the quality spectrum) it certainly wasn't one of the areas we originally planned to include in our portfolio when starting this business; but then our new bank manager asked if we could help in locating a particular wine that he had received as a present and couldn't find anywhere here, and this request led us to discover what has been one of our best suppliers in terms of the breadth of their range and value for money - the Winzerkeller Leiningerland: a small growers' co-operative in the lovely old town of Grünstadt on the northern end of Rheinpfalz (another couple of miles and you are in Rheinhessen). Having stopped off to collect their three remaining bottles (the last three ever) of our bank manager's favourite wine, I was persuaded to hang around and taste some more of their range - a delay that I have never regretted! I was immediately impressed, partly by the enormous variety of ordinary everyday wines at remarkably reasonable prices, but more particularly at the extensive selection of older rarities (Spätlese and Auslese going back to 1970 - and this was in 1984) at prices which really began to look more like misprints as age and quality increased! Their excellent range of red wines became firm favourites with many of our customers, and their new dry white wines are also finding a niche in the market. The last time we checked there were still substantial stocks of Spätlesen and Auslesen from the 1970s at very silly prices. Please call for details.

WINE NAME	YEAR	MEDALS	BOTTLES  IN STOCK	PRICE PER BOT INCL VAT
Mühlheimer Grafenstück Weisser Burgunder Spätlese Trocken	1997		4	£6.00
Grünstadter Höllenpfad Morio-Muskat Spätlese	1997		1	£6.00
Mühlheimer Grafenstück Riesling Spätlese Trocken	1996	SILVER	1	£6.00
Mühlheimer Grafenstück Riesling Spätlese	1979	GOLD* + RT	1	£9.00
Grünstadter Höllenpfad Scheurebe Auslese	1979	GOLD + RT	3	£10.00
Grünstadter Höllenpfad Scheurebe Auslese	1976	GOLD + RT	5	£12.00

STOCK LAST UPDATED 20 DECEMBER 2008

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