(Manfred Klimek / WELT am SONNTAG)
15 years as wine critic for WELT am SONNTAG. Alongside my column, there is a weekly wine recommendation from me beneath the recipes by the renowned chef Volker Hobl, which pairs with one of Hobl’s dishes – usually very Mediterranean, very modern and very healthy cuisine. Recently, I’ve been asked quite often to publish a few of these recommendations (which have grown to hundreds over the years) here as well. Today, I’m doing just that for the first time. Unfortunately, I don’t have the rights to publish Volker’s recipes as well. So I’ll stick to the recommendations alone. And I’ll leave it to your imagination to picture which dishes these wines go with. The fitting title for these wine recommendations is: ‘A perfect match’.
A Perfect Match: Spinach: an aromatic variety actually goes well with this – but only if it isn’t too overpowering. So not a bold Sauvignon, but a Traminer. I’ll fetch the 2022 Gewürztraminer from Györgykovács in Somlo from the cellar – a wine whose vines are rooted on the slopes of the picturesque volcanic hill not far from Lake Balaton. On the nose: chamomile, rose water, a hint of pear, a hint of apricot. On the palate, the volcanic terroir – that is, salt, smoke and flint. A Traminer that – to my knowledge – is truly one of a kind.
Available for €21.90 at www.borstore.de
The perfect match: a Riesling. But not one from Germany, rather from Spain – and thus one of the most exciting Riesling projects outside Germany. I fetch the Ekam Essència 2021 from Bodega Castell d’Encús from the cellar, vinified by oenologist Raül Bobet – a man who loves to experiment. The vines are situated in the Costers del Segre region at an altitude of around 1,000 metres; the wine is also made from botrytis-affected grapes – that noble rot which so distinctly characterises fine sweet wines. On the nose, there’s a hint of stone fruit to start, followed by quince, then notes of honey and a very subtle hint of acacia. On the palate, it’s slightly sweet with a real punch – the sort you’d normally only find in ‘Große Gewächse’ in Germany.
Available for €49.90 at www.vinoseleccion.de
The perfect pairing: a Pet-Nat, i.e. a sparkling wine made using the traditional, pre-modern method, which has come back into fashion in recent years as part of a return to tradition; a Pet-Nat from the Kamptal in Austria: the Pet-Nat 2022 from biodynamic winemaker Fred Loimer – a cuvée of Riesling, Muskateller, Grüner Veltliner and Chardonnay. On the nose, incredibly aromatic: quince, mandarin, lime and, to a lesser extent, wet stream pebbles, followed by even a hint of sea foam. On the palate, incredibly juicy and lively. Less fizz, more wine. Brilliant!
Available for €18.90 at www.gute-weine.de
The perfect pairing: a non-alcoholic Sparkling Tea in a champagne bottle with a crown cap, ‘pressed’ from a delicious juice made from orchard apples, fermented celeriac and three herbal teas (lemon balm, peppermint and lime blossom): the Sparkling Tea from the Kloss sparkling wine cellars on the Moselle – Julius Kloss was one of the people who helped create the famous Rotkäppchen sparkling wine decades ago. On the nose, plenty of umami at first, followed by distinct herbal notes and, of course, apple. Then a hint of yellow curry and a touch of grain (despite being 0% alcohol). On the palate, it’s thoroughly inviting. And you certainly won’t have a headache the next day.
Available for €10.95 at www.weinfreunde.de
It’s a perfect fit: I grew up with my grandmother in Vienna, near a market that’s now completely gentrified. Back in the day, you’d even find wild hares hanging out to dry at that market – so I still remember that gamey flavour, which, of course, pairs best with a great French Bordeaux: the Château Phélan Ségur 2005, a Saint-Estèphe from a truly great vintage – it’s now showing its first signs of splendid drinking maturity. On the nose, blackcurrant in midfield, damp leather in defence, turmeric in goal and dark, blue berries up front. On the palate, the flavour profile is almost identical (which is rather rare). Ah, what a beautiful, grand wine!
For €105.00 at www.vintage-grapes.com
A perfect match: yeast pastries and plums: traditionally, in the old world of sommeliers, a sweet wine goes well with this. I don’t see it that way. Here, a bone-dry Riesling sparkling wine is the best accompaniment. Specifically, the Riesling sparkling wine Extra Brut from the somewhat avant-garde Von Winning winery in Deidesheim in the Palatinate. And because they know how to handle oak well there, I can really taste the toasting – and it tastes lovely. On the nose: grapefruit, a hint of pear, a touch of apricot, followed by flint and cucumber. On the palate, it’s simply a delight to drink – with that little something extra that, sadly, many other winemakers’ sparkling wines lack.
Available for €16.90 at www.edelrausch.de
It’s a perfect match: sweet and sour, in other words. I always recommend a bone-dry white wine with this. And today I’m heading down to the cellar to fetch out a special rarity: a cuvée of Chardonnay, Garganega and Trebbiano. What might sound like a wine from the modern era of oenology is, on the contrary, a wine from one of the oldest – and today almost forgotten – vineyards in Veneto: the Bianco Secco 2023 from the Quintarelli winery in Negrar (where you’ll only find the vineyard if you ask the locals). On the nose, a surprising amount of nuttiness, followed by almonds, then apricot, with hints of pink grapefruit, quince and a touch of green pear emerging afterwards. On the palate, it’s dense, full-bodied and powerful – yet vinified to produce a neutral flavour profile with a floral undertone. A slice of old-world Europe.
Available for €40.90 at www.tesdorpf.de
Pairs perfectly with: honeydew melon, bacon, figs, green vegetables. Think Florence, Bolzano, Messina and the fields of Emilia-Romagna. But despite this Italian grounding, I’m fetching a French Aligoté from the cellar – a white wine made from that Burgundian variety which was only revived around 20 years ago as an affordable alternative to Chardonnay: the 2022 Bourgogne Aligoté from Domaine Marquis de Angerville – an estate whose famous Pinot Noir costs well over 100 euros. On the nose, pronounced lime, followed by a hint of mandarin, an astonishingly elegant note of meadow herbs and very precisely applied toasting. On the palate, simply a great white wine from a great estate – for astonishingly little money.
Available for €39.90 at www.tesdorpf.de
A perfect match: the ideal dish to evoke childhood memories. But there’s also chilli and garlic, as well as the lime, which call for a more full-bodied wine – a wine from the Mosel. But not a Riesling; rather, what I consider to be Germany’s finest Pinot Blanc: the 2020 Pinot Blanc*** Wehlener Klosterberg by Markus Molitor, which is certainly on a par with many great Burgundies in terms of quality. On the nose, a magnificent aroma of vineyard peach, followed by a hint of stone fruit and cold pear – and that touch of schist soil that, as the experts say, you can’t actually smell. But I can. On the palate, a magnificent interplay between oak and fruit, with the fruit always coming out on top. What a wine!
Available for €49.00 at www.gute-weine.de
It’s the perfect match: I don’t counter this tomato extravaganza with a wine that overpowers it, but with one that complements it appropriately, without pushing the tomato into the background, as many wines would do – especially reds. Nevertheless, I fetch a red from the cellar, which I pour into the glass after chilling it to twelve degrees: the Julienas 2020 from Marcel Vincent (Domaine Jean-Jacques Vincent), a winemaker who, as cellar master, brought a new level of quality to the wines of the renowned Burgundy château, Fuisse. On the nose, white chalk, cherry, then rosehip and floral notes. On the palate, it’s never overpowering – as the Gamay variety so rarely is – but rather cool and elegant.
Available for €21.90 at www.deublers-wein.de
A perfect match: it’s quite possible that Marco Polo brought sweet-and-sour flavours back from China – if so, they ended up in Sicily. And now I’m searching my cellar for the right Sicilian white wine: a wine whose grapes come from a higher-altitude vineyard. I’m bringing the fresh, crisp and tart Animalucente 2024 from Contrada Santo Spirito up into the light – a wine from the slopes of Mount Etna. The blend: 66% Carricante and 24% Minella Blanca. On the nose: lime, a hint of mandarin, plenty of floral notes, a touch of meadow herbs, flint and, finally, yellow fruits. On the palate, the sheer pleasure of drinking takes precedence over any intellectual exploration of the volcanic terroir.
Available for €27.90 at www.tesdorpf.de