[London, 15th May 2024] – Dr. Enno Lippold, a distinguished veteran of the global wine trade with a highly acclaimed boutique estate in the Ürzig Würzgarten in Germany’s Mosel, was determined to lift what he refers to as “the veil of oblivion towards a former world-class category of sparkling wine” in the opening masterclass at this year’s Glass of Bubbly Show, in London.
Taking place in the Oak Room at the Sheraton Grand in Mayfair, Dr. Lippold regaled the packed masterclass audience with stories dating back to Victorian and Edwardian times when Sparkling Hock and Sparkling Moselle was a leading category on a par with Champagne. “Sparkling Rieslings were known to have widely triumphed at the world exhibitions in Philadelphia (1876), Melbourne (1880) and Paris (1900)” he informed the audience of trade professionals and media, with the judges praising the wines for their firm minerality, elegant complexity, fine effervescence and balanced style.
In England, the Royal Household and high society traditionally enjoyed and oftentimes in fact preferred Sparkling Riesling to Champagne. As a prime example of this, at the turn of the last century, the 1901 wine list of The Savoy Hotel in London regularly featured Sparkling Hocks and Moselles priced equally with Champagnes including Charles Heidsieck, Roederer, Ruinart and Bollinger.
The audience was intrigued to hear that Queen Mary’s own personal favourite tipple was in fact the Deinhard Sparkling Moselle Green Foil, which she is known to have enjoyed regularly at 11am, served by her butler James right up until her demise in 1953.
Riesling is widely regarded by leading wine critics including Oz Clarke OBE and Anne Krebiehl MW for its intrinsic poise, fresh acidity and ultimate finesse, being ideally suited to making superior sparkling wines and stylish Sekt. “The Sekts of today are deliberate” notes Paula Sidore “… sleek, defined and deeply aromatic” in her recent piece for Jancis Robinson.com under the subheading ‘Germany’s time has come for great sparkling wines’. Dr. Lippold is determined on providing additional impetus to this Riesling movement, spearheaded by the sommelier community.
The centrepiece to his masterclass, chaired by Christopher Burr MW, was a blind tasting of four sparkling wines. These were later revealed to be two Champagnes and two Sparkling Rieslings from the Mosel. As a monovarietal sparkling wine, the Riesling was naturally compared head-to-head with the Blanc de Blancs. The blind tasting candidates comprised:
1) Ruinart Blanc de Blancs Brut NV
2) Dr. Lippold Sparkling Moselle Riesling Brut 2019
3) Delamotte Blanc de Blancs Brut 2014
4) Dr. Lippold Crémant de Moselle Brut 2017
Prior to the big reveal, masterclass attendees were encouraged by Burr to vote on personal favourites and the show of hands around the room resulted in an almost equivalent number of votes for the German Rieslings.
Following the masterclass, Margaret Rand commented: ‘Enno’s Crémant de Moselle has aromatic notes of marzipan, very tight, structured, poised; it has moved a long way from the primary fruit. Energetic and alive. Hugely characterful and assured.’
Key quotes also included: “Such beautiful acidity, very impressive profile of Riesling with gentle and elegant autolytic notes. Literally I was keeping this taste in my mouth ever since” declared Daria Antonenko, founder of Caviste Wine School. “Lippold’s sublime, perfectly balanced and delightfully complex premium Mosel sparklers blew the champagnes out of their usually untouchable orbit” remarked Vin de Plume writer, Mikey Clark.
Matthew Whale DipWSET of London Wine Tasting affirmed; “The divine aroma of the Dr Lippold Sparkling Moselle Riesling Brut 2019 and the complex palate of the Dr Lippold Crémant de Moselle 2017 for me overshadowed the Champagne Ruinart NV Blanc de Blancs and Champagne Delamotte Blanc de Blancs 2014, clearly demonstrating that Riesling-based sparkling wines, especially those crafted by passionate artisans such as Dr Enno Lippold, can not only compete with but surpass some of the greatest sparkling wines of the world.”
Christopher Burr MW drew the session to a close by concluding: “I think we will all agree, the results of today’s light-hearted straw poll clearly demonstrate how these impressive Rieslings live up to even one of the best Grande Année Blanc de Blancs on the market. Clearly the quality of the Riesling variety and its origins, on the same 50th parallel as Champagne, was prevailing today … as it did 150 years ago.”
Dr. Lippold is set to host a series of masterclasses and exclusive sommelier wine tastings in London during early May. With fervour, he aims to revitalise this once forgotten noble beverage of our forefathers, breathing new life into the legacy of Sparkling Moselle on a global scale.
About Dr. Lippold Sparkling Wines
For centuries, Dr. Lippold’s Würzgarten has been considered as one of the very best vineyard sites in the Mosel, protected by a natural wall against the North winds, rain and snow. In 1804, when ‘La Moselle’ was part of the French Empire under the reign of Napoleon, the Weltersberg parcel (with vines of 70+ years in age) was classified as a Grand Cru on a par with Burgundy.
The nanoclimate of these single estate vines is influenced by characterful, heat-storing red slate bedrock with volcanic rhyolite surface soil contributing distinctive minerality and imparting a wealth of stone fruit and spicy aromas, most notably ripe mango with a precision backbone of minerality and ripe acidity.
As a passionate advocate for Old Vines, Dr. Lippold is one of a handful of true ‘Parcellaires’ in Germany and emphasises a patient and meticulous approach to winemaking. His vineyards boast ungrafted, original Selection Massale vines and rootstock with an average age of more than 50 years. These vines produce low yields with small berries. Embracing organic vineyard management practices, this skilled artisan deploys traditional vinification methods and only releases the wines after extended ageing, when they are judged to be at their optimum. The result is an exceptional portfolio of wines that honour and reflect the distinctive character of the Mosel, showcasing terroir expression and vintage typicity with a focus on purity, intricacy and supreme elegance.
