The German Red Wine Prize is one of the annual awards presented by the most widely read wine magazine in the entire German-speaking region (D/A/CH).
The Ahr winegrowers are always eagerly awaiting the German Red Wine Award – who has won which place on the podium for which wine this year?
As a magazine for wine culture, VINUM reports on trends in the wine scene and presents over 300 exceptional wines and their makers every month. Excitingly written reports on wine regions not only scratch the surface, but go into depth.
Information meets enjoyment, entertainment meets utility
The Ahr Valley, here the red wine metropolis of Ahrweiler, serves as the venue for the awards ceremony and the subsequent tastings. On the evening before, VINUM, in collaboration with our regional wine promotion organisation, Ahrwein e. V., presented a gourmet evening including some of the winning wines.
This year there was a choice of three restaurants in three hotels:
- In Altenahr, the Hotel-Restaurant Ruland run by the Carnott family
- In Ahrweiler, the Hotel-Restaurant Hohenzollern of the Volkermann and Glöde-Volkermann family, the only hotel in the vineyards
- The historic Restaurant Sanct Peter in Walporzheim, owned by the Brogsitter couple
We opted for the Sanct Peter – here in Walporzheim – because it was within walking distance. Three wines were served with each 4-course menu. We thought from the pre-announcement that each course would be accompanied by three wines from the 2023 winner pool. Far from it. There were only two wines from the aforementioned award selection and one each from Brogsitter. What a pity. There were also inadequacies, such as the wrong wine glasses in some cases. The selected wines cannot be savoured to their full potential from thick-walled glasses that are more reminiscent of wine goblets. And if the superficiality wasn’t enough, at least two tables were also missing cutlery. The host of the evening, Claudia Stern, a wine academic and sommelier, skilfully managed to overlook the ‘minor’ shortcomings.
Make up your own mind – I naturally also offer enjoyment as a combination of food, wine and storytelling in the Ahr Valley. If you are interested, please fill out the contact form and I will get back to you.