VDP.President Christmann looks back on successful year for VDP.Prädikatsweingüter
Paula receives Silver VDP.Ehrennadel
Silvio Nitzsche and Haris Papapostolou are VDP.Traubenadler Sommeliers 2017
At the opening of the 44. VDP.Weinbörse in Mainz, VDP.President Steffen Christmann expressed his great satisfaction with the past business year of the VDP.Prädikatsweingüter. "The demand for top wines is unbroken. Our member wineries were able to increase sales and turnover by about 10 percent on average during the past years. The interest in VDP.wines is also unchecked abroad - the VDP was able to increase the export share by 5 to 23 percent in 2016", Christmann said in Mainz on Sunday. At the same time, he reiterated the demand for a reform of the wine law. "Particularly in the entry-level segment, the designations of origin have to be considerably streamlined - we cannot expect consumers to endure this jungle of designations in the long run. By doing so, we are cutting into our own flesh. Germany's vintners need a pyramid of origin - wines must be clearly labeled in the future, so that wine lovers at home and abroad can better find their way around", says the VDP president. Christmann also talked about the weather problems of the past week. The frost had caused terrible damage in some places, especially because of the early start of the growing season. "What consequences the frost night will have, we will only be able to evaluate exactly in the coming weeks." During the night from April 19 to 20, temperatures in some vineyards had dropped below minus five degrees.
The Silver VDP.Honorary Pin, which the VDP.Prädikasweingüter award every year to a person who has rendered special services to German wine and the VDP, goes in 2017 to the Sommelière, wine consultant and author Paula Bosch. As Germany's first Sommelière in 1981, she went through a hard school - at that time still in a true male domain - which taught her humility before the product wine, Steffen Christmann says in his laudation. She knows the top wines of the world - vintage-deep. After all, she had worked for decades in Germany's top gastronomy, among others in the three-star restaurant and haute cuisine pioneer Tantris. Yet, she can also enjoy a simple wine, make wine laymen want to try it, and she also loves good home cooking. She is also known for her rough-hewn cordiality with which she meets people - and for giving herself and the wines time to form an opinion. No snap judgments, no arrogance - Paula Bosch is the good soul of wine. "For this, she receives the Silver Badge of Honor", Christmann says.
And even more awards were given at the opening of the wine evil. So, the two wine bar operators and sommeliers Silvio Nitsche (Wein.Kultur.Bar, Dresden) and Haris Papapostolou (Yamas, Ulm) can call themselves Traubenadler Sommeliers since today. The meininger publishing house (Sommelier Magazin) and the VDP.Prädikatsweingüter awarded both of them for their innovative and creative wine lists. The task was to present a wine list that makes people want to drink wine and to try out new things more often. Both sommeliers succeeded very well, says Sascha Speicher, chief editor of the meininger Sommelier Magazin.
For the 44th time, the Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates e.V.. (VDP) held the VDP.Weinbörse, the world's largest trade fair for German top wines. 182 VDP.wineries gave a comprehensive vintage overview of their of the origin top wine collections. In total, the vintners presented 1,521 wines with a focus on the 2015 vintage, including 775 single-varietal Riesling wines, 207 Pinot Noirs, 94 Silvaners, 123 Pinot Blancs, 63 Pinot Gris, 42 Lembergers and 9 Frühburgunder. Whereby the VDP.GUTSWEINE dominated with 481, VDP.ORTSWEINE provided a pleasing 330 samples and the outstanding Lagenweine (288 VDP.ERSTE LAGE® and 374 VDP.GROSSE LAGE®) represented the fine top.
The VDP is the oldest and only national association of top wineries in the world. 199 Prädikat wineries have self-imposed strict quality standards and benchmarks - from grape to cellar. The four-level VDP.classification pyramid adopted in 2012 defines the quality of their wines according to origin: VDP.GUTSWEIN, VDP.ORTSWEIN, VDP.ERSTE LAGE and VDP.GROSSE LAGE. The VDP grape eagle on each bottle capsule is the quality seal. It stands for terroir-based and artisanal winemaking.
