Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/759555
THE MESSAGE 16 / the tasting panel / december 2016 "Pair the Sweetness of the Dish with the Sweetness of the Wine" Enno Lippold at The Tasting Panel offices with his Dr. Lippold 2010 Auslese from the Weltersberg plot within the Ürziger Würzgarten vineyard. This vintage was aged six years before release. The rocks are gray slate, blue slate and the red slate unique to the Würzgarten vineyard in Ürzig village. PHOTO: DAVID GADD D r. Enno Lippold has a message for the wine world: "Winemakers are sitting in ivory towers and don't pay attention to which kind of dishes their wines are served with daily. You can go on any menu and find, say, 40 percent of all dishes with sweet and fruity ingredients. Pair dry wines with the other 60 percent—they have a good home there—but find the right wines for the 40 percent!" Dr. Lippold is a German Riesling producer, and when he says "right wines" he means Rieslings with varying degrees of residual sugar. He advocates paying close attention to sweetness levels in foods—he has even created a chart showing sugar content in many popular vegetables, fruits and condiments (who knew that balsamic vinegar can have between 15 and 45 percent sugar!)—and then matching the sweetness level of the wine to the food. In a brief demonstration in The Tasting Panel offices, he walked us through a sampling of dried cranberries (65 percent sugar) with two Pinot Grigios that he makes in Italy—the Tiziano at 9 grams per liter residual sugar and the Altanuta at 4 g/l—followed by the same fruit with his Empress Josephine Riesling with 38 g/l. The two drier wines tasted bitter against the sweet fruit, while the German Riesling came across as pleasingly dry—"like a fine Sancerre," Lippold noted. Empress Josephine is a Spätlese from the Mosel's famed Ürziger Würzgarten vineyard, although in order to "simplify" the brand for consumers, this is not mentioned on the label. Dr. Lippold owns Premier Cru plot Neuberg in the vil- lage of Ürzig as well as the coveted Weltersberg parcel in the celebrated Ürziger Würzgarten vineyard, a plot that was designated a Grand Cru in 1804 under Napoleon, when "La Moselle" was French territory. Lippold is not part of Germany's VDP union but instead uses his own classification system based on the wines' aging regime. Lippold wines aged for 24 months are designated Reserve; 48 months, Grand Reserve; 60 months, Reserve Exceptionelle; more than 60 months, Reserve Familiale. Lippold believes Mosel Rieslings should ideally be aged for several years before drinking; drinking them early he condemns as "infanticide." His current vintage is the 2013, but the 2010 Auslese (SRP $45), held for extra maturation, was only released in July this year. The wines can be cellared for up to 20 years and will gain complex- ity with bottle age. The small-production Dr. Lippold wines are available currently in the NY and NJ markets (available through Banville Wine Merchants), where they are featured in several Michelin-starred restaurants. The good doctor is currently seeking West Coast distribution. —David Gadd