Walking through the hills of the Nahe we recognize the vineyards of Weingut Dönnhoff by the perfectly landscaped rows, everything is straight and seems to be raked. Deutsche Gründlichkeit as they say (German cleanliness). The owner, Helmut Dönnhoff receives us. He takes plenty of time and talks about succession, the selling of land, the wines of course and many other topics. Luckily he did not forget to pour the glass regularly with new wines and to explain about that. The firm Dönnhoff is one of the bigger guys and exports worldwide. They are famous in Japan, not by accident, because their Riesling is a perfect match with sushi. Helmut indicates that both the entry level wines as the Grosses Gewächs (Grand Cru) have been of excellent quality. Because whether you drink a ‘jeans wine’ or a ‘tuxedo wine' you should enjoy it. After we had no less than ten wines, we go into the cellars where we are being taught about the different types of vessels that may or may not be used in combination with the different grape varieties. Pinot Gris is great on wood, but Riesling is no really bad with wood.

An educational, but fun experience with this passionate winemaker sitting around his table.