GERMAN WINE ROCKS
He is 29 years old, the cellar master of Klumpp winery in the southern German wine region of Baden. Whoever travels through Germany, will find many wine makers in their twenties and thirties who enthusiastically give new direction to the winery of their parents.

The parents of Mark Klumpp began in 1983 as winemakers with only half an acre, in 1996 they switched to organic viticulture. Like many of his generation wine makers Mark was a highly qualified winemaker who worked abroad by the time he descended into the cellar Klumpp. The entire family is dedicated now to the Klumpp Weingut. The unsprayed grapes, surrounded by clover and flowers attract the most welcome insects, simply need intensive care. Mark: ‘In the basement I can determine the style of the wine, but not the quality. This is done in the vineyard.‘

It shows. While mom cooks, father Klumpp pours us many excellent wines, including a crisp Riesling and a fine pinot noir. But the tastiest of all is the Auxerrois. Of this regional white grape, which you also will find in the Alsace and Luxembourg , Klumpp makes a great fruity wine with a taste of nectarine and yellow plum. He does ninety-five percent of the work in the basement on his own, says Mark, dressed in a fashionable shirt, his hair with a small tuft. Occasionally he gets help from interns. ‘And wait, my CD player, which is very important.’ What is it playing? ‘Preferably the Red Hot Chili Peppers, very hard.’
Wine from Germany once had an image problem - too sweet, too gothic letters on the labels? Passe. German wine rocks.

Klumpp Auxerrois 2007 € 7.50

Opening hours
From Monday to Friday from 16.00 to 19.00.
Saturday from 9.00 to 13.00

This article was written at June 21 2008 for news paper Trouw by Journalist Remke de Lange. For more articles: http://www.remkedelange.nl/. This article is copyrighted.