The first stop on our trip in September 2006 was in the small town of Bad Kösen in the Saale-Unstrut region. Here we visited Weingut Lützkendorf for a small tasting. Bad Kösen, together with Freyburg and Naumburg makes up the three most important wine-villages in the Saale. From here Uwe Lützkendorf grows grapes in the vineyards of Pfortenser Köppelberg and Freyburger Edelacker. But Uwe Lützkendorfs pride and joy is the Karsdorfer Höhe Gräte in Unstrut. From an old section in the vineyard he grows riesling, weissburgunder and silvaner. In addition to this he has planted two terrasses with new grape-varieties such as spätburgunder and traminer (roter traminer, not gewürztramimer). Karsdorfer Höhe Gräte has soil that consists of a 25 meter thick layer of chalk and sandstones with high contents of marine fossiles. The earth is minerally complex. The temperatures here are moderate in the summer, with temperatures rarely above 18° C. This gives wines of good acidity. Though in the winter the average-temperature is as high as 9° C. So the growth-season in the Höhe Gräte starts early and is longer than it's neighbours.

Tasting wine at Lützkendorf's Gutsausschank. 		We had a short an unannounced visit at Weingut Uwe Lützkendorf who in turn opened several bottles for us from the Karsdorfer Höhe Gräte. No doubt his pride and joy. First we had two correct, but perhaps not too interesting QbA's from the 2005-vintage; one sylvaner and one riesling. Then to the rest of the notes:

Karsdorfer Höhe Gräte riesling 1.Gewächs 2005
AP: 16-06. Flowery and mineral riesling with some slate. A dry riesling in the mouth with plenty of extract and good structure. Much more interesting than the regular riesling. Some complex mineral notes and a tad rustic finish. Fine riesling for 3-4 years of cellaring.

Karsdorfer Höhe Gräte silvaner auslese 2000
AP: 007-01. Complex and sweet nose. Special. Hints of caramel, cheese-cakes, herbal notes. Thick and extractrich in the mouth. Complex fruits. Slight sweetness (26,7 g/L.) and medium acids. Green notes in the fruit. Good length. Very different silvaner and very fine.

Karsdorfer Höhe Gräte weissburgunder spätlese 2005
AP: 08-06. Typical weissburgunder with citrusy and herbal nose with some hints of flowers. In the mouth a wine rich in extract, but slim and tight in the mouth with better structure than normal for this grape. Dry. Fine fruit; herbal, som complex mineral notes. Citrusy finish. Good food-wine.

Karsdorfer Höhe Gräte traminer auslese 2005
AP: 07-06. Very fine nose. Lightly aromatic; herbal, nutty and mineral. Thick and again extract-rich in the mouth. But well balanced with fine acids and not an opulent wine. But fine nutty, mineral fruit with some hints of roses. Good length. A very fine traminer and my favourite wine of the day.

As a riesling-fan it was a challanging tasting seeing how well the other wines here achieved. The riesling erste gewächs is a very fine riesling in it's style and one to seek out. But to me the silvaner, weissburgunder and especially the traminer were the highlights of the day. It should be noticed that the traminer comes from only eight year old wines. How great will it be in the future??



Arnt Egil Nordlien
September-2006

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