Workshop #13 – Cool Neighbours: Exploring Riesling of Austria & Germany

COOL in character, COOL in climate, tres COOL in Hong Kong right now! King of Cool for white grape varieties, Riesling flourishes in the cool climate neighbours of Germany and Austria, with each country’s wines sharing similarities and distinctive differences. Guest winemakers Mr. Hans Topf from Weingut Johann Topf, Kamptal, Austria, and Ms. Catherina Grans from Weingut Grans-Fassian, Mosel, Germany will host this exploratory workshop, including SIX flights of comparative pairs. A fantastic opportunity to taste a variety of expressions, better understanding this grape and gain valuable tips on how to sell this variety in the perfect season – Hong Kong’s sweltering summer.

Workshop info

Speakers
Hans Topf, Winemaker & Owner, Weingut Johann Topf, Kamptal, Austria
Catherina Grans, Winemaker & Owner, Weingut Grans-Fassian, Mosel, Germany
Date  23 June 2017 (Fri)
Time  2:30pm-4:30pm (2:00pm registration)
Venue MWM Wine School, Unit 1524, 15/F, 41 Heung Yip Road, Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong
RSVP email to spit@mwminternational.com / or fill in the form here 
WineSPIT member Complimentary | Non-WineSPIT HK$350 (Contact us if you are interested to join/renew WineSPIT membership)

 About Hans

Hans Topf is a member of the Topf family of winemakers, encompassing five generations of experience dating back to 1751. Sensitivity and passion fuel their work forming their own way of producing wine in the small village Strass in the Kamptal Valley.

Hans holds a Bachelor of International Wine Business from FH Geisenheim University, Geisenheim (Germany). He has been engaged in internships at prestigious global wineries, including Egon Müller / Scharzhof, Wiltingen (Germany) and Villa Maria Estate (New Zealand).

Now fully immersed in the family business, he is entrepreneur and winemaker, responsible for making wines in conjunction with his father and team of winemakers, as well as distribution, marketing and sales, export, public relations and project management.

His father, Hans Topf, calls himself a “Terroirist”. He maintains that his single vineyards are the most important goods he has, because only great Grand Cru sites can create great wines. It’s the philosophy of Hans Topf that his wines are characterized by his personality but with still a recognizable typicity of the vintage and terroir.

About Catherina

Catherina Grans has been General Manager at Grans–Fassian Winery since 2014. Grans–Fassian is a prestigious family-owned winery situated in Leiwen on the Mosel River, in the center of the oldest German winegrowing region and adjacent to one of the largest and most dramatic Mosel River bends.

She has a European Master of Science (M.Sc.) of Viticulture and Enology, a B.Sc.inViticulture and Enology and an Apprenticeship in Banking. Her winemaking training saw her undergo internships at Neyers Vineyards, California; Winery Kuenstler, Germany; and Jacques Wein Depot, Germany.

In 1982 Gerhard Grans took over the estate from his father Matthias, becoming the 12th generation of family winemakers. Gerhard began increasing the once 10-acre estate to its present 24-acres. Today, Catherina works alongside her father as the 13th generation of Grans-Fassian winemakers. In 2024, the Grans-Fassian family will celebrate 400-years of contiguous family winemaking in Leiwen.

The steep slate sloped vineyards, mostly south-facing, rise above the sheltered Mosel river valley. Grans-Fassian owns significant parcels in the world-famous Trittenheimer Apotheke Vineyard, as well as Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, Dhroner Hofberg, and Leiwener Laurentiuslay. Grans-Fassian is one of only 30 wineries in the Mosel to be classified as VDP, which is the “Grand Cru” designation of German Wine. Their Estate Riesling is produced exclusively from these four grand cru vineyards.

Wine List 

Flight THREE
#5 Grans Fassian Riesling Trocken Laurentiuslay (Leiwen, Mosel) GG, VDP Erste Lage, VDP Grosse Lage 2013
#6 Topf Riesling Trocken „Heiligenstein“ Erste Lage, Kamptal DAC Reserve 2013

Flight FOUR
#7 Grans Fassian Riesling Trocken Apotheke (Trittenheimer, Mosel) GG , VDP Erste Lage, VDP Grosse Lage, 2011
#8 Topf Riesling Trocken „Wechselberg Spiegel, Kamptal DAC 2008

Flight FIVE
#9 Grans Fassian Riesling Auslese Trittenheimer Apotheke (Trittenheimer, Mosel) 2011
#10 Topf Riesling Auslese „Heiligenstein“, Kamptal DAC Reserve 2014

Flight SIX
#11 Grans Fassian Riesling Beerenauslese Trittenheimer Apotheke (Trittenheimer, Mosel) 2002
#12 Topf Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese Wechselberg Spiegel, Kamptal 2009

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