The Winery UK – great place for German wines in London

We decided to focus on German wines – specifically the Rhinegau and Rhinehessen regions – last wine club (any excuse to serve curryworst and German potato salad) but we struggled to find somewhere that specialised in German wines. We wanted somewhere with a good selection specifically from Rhinegau and with someone knowledgable who could talk us through the wines and the regions.

We went, on recommendation from a fellow wine clubber, to The Winery UK, in Maida Vale. I loved it instantly. It’s dark front makes it look like an antiquarian bookshop, and it has the most fabulous selection of wines precariously balanced on wooden racks, including a huge selection of German wines.  I was slightly worried when I heard the very French accent of the man behind the counter (I’ve rarely known a Frenchman recommend anything other than French wine) but my bias disappeared as soon as he started talking to us.

We learned that the origin of the word ‘hock’ (to sell or pawn) came from the Hockheim wine that was a favourite of Queen Victoria – it was so expensive you’d have to hock your possessions to pay for it – and about the passionate winemakers moving to Rhinehessen because its flatter land is more affordable than its Rhinegau neighbour.

We were seduced by the beauty of the Rhinegau, and learned that it is the wind that whips the hills that stops the grapes from rotting on the vines during the frequent rains. We came away full of admiration at the nerve of Riesling growers who risk part of their crop, leaving it on the vines and risking the weather in order to create the Spätlese wine that is richer than the younger Kabinett wines. Never mind the nerve to leave the grapes longer and longer to cresate Auslese, Beerenauslese, and the sweet, rich Eiswein that’s the most expensive of the lot  it’s earned its danger money simply by surviving.

I loved The Winery. And I loved the wines of the Rhinegau with its beautiful Rieslings, from the young, minerally and bone dry (Trocken) through the more complex fruity and oily, to the off-dry (halbtrocken), richer wines. And the one red we tried from Rhinehessen, a beautiful Spatburgunder (German Pinot Noir) that was packed full of cherries and dark fruit, created by a couple who started making wine in a tent in their garden.

The trouble with wine club is that my holiday wish list keeps getting longer. I blame The Winery for adding the Rhine to it.