Our »Hidden Champion« in the Golden Autumn

Foto: Preisverleihung Bundesehrenpreis DLG BWP Weingut Graf von Weyher Pfalz
We have already told you a lot about our premium Rieslings, the incredibly strong piwi wine Cabernet Blanc and the special features of our winery. But we have never mentioned one small, modest wine:
Photo: Portugieser Weißherbst mild Weingut Graf von Weyher Pfalz
And to be honest, we didn't really have it on our radar. It is one of our Schoppen wines , i.e. one of the entry-level wines at 6.50 euros per bottle (1.0 l), making it one of our most affordable wines.
But last week our Portugieser Weißherbst jumped into the limelight with a real bang, pushing other wines with a price point of just under 20 euros to the right and left of the stage and sparkling so that it was a joy: Because this small, little-noticed wine won the very highest award at the DLG Federal Wine Awards:
Gold Extra
Photo: DLG Gold extra Federal Wine Award
This is, so to speak, the Oscar of winegrowers,
There is no higher award.
We want to tell you more about the Federal Wine Awards in a moment, but first we would like to introduce you to the Portugieser Weißherbst – as befits a real laudation:
Have you ever heard of a " false friend "? These are words in a foreign language that sound exactly like they do in German, but unfortunately mean something completely different. The English attribute "sympathetic" is one such example. It certainly doesn't mean "sympathetic", as a gullible German might assume. No, it means "compassionate, understanding". Not quite the same thing. It's similar with the name of our hidden champion, the hidden hero, because it is peppered with "false friends":
First of all, the grape variety with the blue-red grapes does not come from Portugal (as the name suggests), but from what is now Slovenia. Some time ago, someone got the geography mixed up, and once you lose your name in a tradition-loving industry like winemaking, it just stays. Period. Sorry, Slovenia.
Furthermore, it is not a white wine, but a rosé wine. And to make things even more confusing, the name has nothing to do with autumn. Instead, the word "autumn" was probably originally "Arbst", and only people from Baden know what that means. We certainly don't.
So now we have learned what Portugieser Weißherbst is not. But what exactly is this mysterious wine variety?
First of all, Weißherbst is a purely German thing. You can rave about Weißherbst to the French, Italians, Spaniards etc. on holiday, but they will probably never have tasted it and will be jealous of the secret delicacies that are served here.
Our Portugieser Weissherbst is a very special rosé wine. A conventional rosé can be a cuvée made from a variety of grapes. This is different with a Weissherbst. This can only be made from a single grape variety, and this grape variety must be named accordingly (of course in a certain size, how could it be otherwise) on the back of the label. As mentioned, we have chosen the red Portugieser grapes for the Weissherbst at our winery.
And last but not least, only seven specific German wine-growing regions are allowed to produce Weißherbst: the Palatinate, Baden, Ahr, Franconia, Württemberg, Rheingau and Rheinhessen. So if someone offers you a Weißherbst from Saxony, you can skillfully expose the person you're talking to as a charlatan with a condescending smile.
Photo: Certificate of Federal Honorary Award in Bronze for the Graf von Weyher Winery in the Palatinate
So, now to the Federal Wine Awards! This is the " leading quality competition for German wines and sparkling wines " and " the highest honor that German wine and sparkling wine producers can receive for their quality achievements " - to quote from the press report.
Each winemaker can decide for himself which wines he presents to the extremely critical jury. So every year we stand before the new harvest, chew our lower lips thoughtfully and think carefully about which treasures we will send into the race for the Graf von Weyher winery. The "entry fee" is currently 140 euros per bottle.
Then comes the first round of testing!
This is all about the so-called "regional typicality" (nice term, please remember!). For this, the wines are first sorted by region and then tasted blind, with only one characteristic in mind: Do they taste as they should for their region? In concrete terms, this means: Even if a Riesling from the Palatinate tastes like a fabulously good Mosel Riesling, it's out. There's no messing around. Every wine has to be typical of its region.
The second round of testing:
Only those who pass the first test are allowed to go to the second round. The jury consists of a pool of specially trained examiners from various areas of Germany.
There are four to five tasters per category. There is a strict tasting scheme according to which each wine is examined in terms of appearance, smell, taste, typicality (there we go again!) and more. A maximum of 5 points are awarded.
In the first round, everyone drinks in silence. We imagine it to be almost sacred. The examiners are all wearing white coats and stand at long tables in huge halls while they sniff, taste, enjoy and judge.
Once everyone has given their points, the results are discussed and all the judges explain to each other, using a table of characteristics and technical terms, why they rated the wine in one way or another. We just wonder desperately what happens if one of the five people says the wine tastes like sea water and everyone else thinks it's great. Is it then like an English jury where everyone has to work together until they reach an agreement and they can't leave before they do?
We would love to be a spy on the trial and witness a battle of the case. But whatever the case, the jury will eventually reach a consensus.
Photo: DLG taste profile of our Portugieser Weißherbst
Photo: DLG taste profile of our Portugieser Weißherbst
The third round of testing
And then only the wines that have received a gold award with an excellent score go into the third round: the test for Gold Extra, the crème de la crème .
And that's exactly where our little Portugieser Weißherbst took the cake in its category this year and knocked all the others out of the running! We are truly proud of it. If you want to try it, you should hurry, because stocks are already quite limited.
A real shower of gold
Now we have talked so much about Gold-Extra and the Portugieser Weißherbst, but in fact our wines have (once again) won a lot of awards. No less than 14 of our wines have been awarded gold medals!
To celebrate this with you, we have a
»Gold Package« at a special price for you:
All 14 gold award winners – plus a bottle of Riesling sparkling wine to toast and enjoy!
These are the 2024 gold winners:
Premium wines:
  • 2023 Granit Riesling dry

  • 2023 Kalkmergel Riesling dry

  • 2023 Schiefer Riesling dry

Gourmet wines:
  • 2023 Sauvignon blanc dry

  • 2023 Cabernet blanc dry (yes, our celebrated piwi wine is also at the top!)

  • 2022 & 2023 Chardonnay dry

  • 2022 Riesling Kabinett

  • 2023 Blanc de Noir

  • 2023 Muscat

  • 2022 G.punkt Rosé dry

wines:
  • 2023 Riesling dry 1 liter

  • 2023 Scheurebe mild 1 liter

  • 2023 Portugieser Weißherbst mild 1 liter

This means that almost all of our Riesling wines from all categories have been awarded a gold medal. Yes, Riesling is our expertise - and we are really proud of that.
We are one of the best wineries in Germany
https://www.dlg-bwp.de/fileadmin/img/frontpage/verleihung/Bundesehrenpreistraeger-Wein-2024.jpg Photo: Medal Honorary Award of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture Back
This rain of medals has qualified us for the top league of the best German wineries. This achievement was honoured with the bronze medal in the Federal Honorary Award. We would like to share with you the quote with which we were awarded the medals:
» The Federal Honorary Prize winners in the wine and sparkling wine sector stand for excellent quality work and incomparable moments of enjoyment. With the utmost care and craftsmanship, they manage to translate the terroir, the climate and the special features of their region into unique wines and sparkling wines that impress. The Federal Honorary Prize winners are guardians of German wine culture and at the same time visionaries who carry it into the future - with creativity, a spirit of innovation and a deep understanding of what makes wine: enjoyment, community and the connection to home. « Freya von Czettritz, CEO of DLG Holding.
Yes, that's how it is.
Your golden-blessed counts
PS The Gold offer is only valid until October 30, 2024! Get the award-winning collection while it is still fully available!

3 comments


  • Susanne & Wolfgang S.

    Liebe Grafen,

    mittlerweile dürfen wir eure guten Tropfen schon seit über 10 Jahren genießen. Heute ist das Goldpaket eingetroffen auf das wir uns auch sehr freuen. Bei unseren Urlauben in der Südpfalz probieren wir ja immer etwas Neues. Ich glaube es gibts nicht Vielfältiges als gutes Essen und guten Wein.
    Wenn wir dann eure Weine wieder trinken ist das wie geschmacklich nach Hause zu kommen. Und das Weingeplauder ob per mail oder Buch rundet das Ganze ab.
    Wir wünschen euch weiterhin die fleißigen Hände, den Sachverstand, die Unterstützung der Natur und vor allem viel Spaß um die tollen Weine zu erzeugen.

    Mit den besten Grüßen


  • Ulrike & Klaus B.

    […] herzliche Glückwünsche zu euren hohen Auszeichnungen und Medaillen! Das habt ihr aber auch wirklich verdient für eure Spitzenweine!
    Natürlich war Deine Rundmail jetzt auch eine Motivation für eine Bestellung. […]


  • Beate & Martin K.

    Herzlichen Glückwünsch, liebe Grafen!

    Da sind wir ja froh, dass wir im September schon einen Karton vom Champion mitgenommen haben.
    Wir freuen uns schon auf die „Goldlieferung“ (haben gleich bestellt 😊) und werden sie nach und nach genießen.

    Herzliche Grüße aus Osnabrück


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