Pride of Swabia

Some of you may already have heard that Germany's "Gault Millau Wineguide" has awarded Weingut Aldinger with this year's "Collection of the Year" prize. Based in Fellbach on the outskirts of Stuttgart, the Aldingers enjoy an excellent reputation throughout Germany for their consistently outstanding range of reds and whites. Yesterday evening, I watched Gert and Matthias Aldinger being interviewed on the weekday magazine programme Landesschau Baden-Württemberg, with presenter Jürgen Hörig quizzing them about winning the accolade.

It was an entertaining little feature. Hörig descended somewhat into hyperbole, referring to the Aldingers' Lemberger as the "bester Lemberger aller Zeiten" ("the best Lemberger of all time"), and as a "Wuchtbrumme" ("powerhouse" may be the best translation given the context). Matthias Aldinger's reference to "Kontrolliertes Nichtstun" ("Measured idleness") to describe his approach to vinification also rang a bell as a particular mantra employed by umpteen winemakers across the land. Rather quaintly, Herr Hörig mistook this for modesty.

Anyway, a proud day for all Swabians.

The interview can be viewed here.

[Edit: In hindsight, the comment "Rather quaintly, Herr Hörig mistook this for modesty." sounds a bit snobbish. However, I just think sometimes it would be refreshing if Winemaker XY said something like, "No, actually, we ensure optimum cleaniness in the cellar, add a cultured strain of yeast to kick-start the fermentation process, apply temperature control throughout, regularly rack the wine..."]