Von Hovel

For four decades, the affable and gregarious Eberhard von Kunow, well known for wielding the gavel at Trier’s renowned Grosser Ring wine auction and a direct descendant of his estate’s first secular owner under Napoleon, rendered consistently fine, frequently underrated collections of residually sweet Riesling. (The token trocken or two that he turned out most years could also be excellent.) In addition to dedicated stewardship of his signature holdings in the Scharzhofberg and monopole Oberemmeler Hütte, von Kunow acquired in the middle of the Kanzemer Altenberg a prime parcel that constitutes its own tiny Einzellage: Hörecker. After training in Geisenheim early in the new millennium, son Max von Kunow began working as a consultant in neighboring Luxembourg, in part because he and his father found it difficult to collaborate. A sudden health crisis in 2010 forced doctors to place the elder von Kunow into a coma for months with a slim prognosis of recovery. The upshot was a conflict-free generational transition (albeit with a new cellarmaster) to a young proprietor eager to take his family’s Rieslings into new stylistic territory while respecting family traditions; and, after a couple of years’ rehabilitation, an improbably healthy, active but retired Eberhard von Kunow. Major thrusts of Max von Kunow’s work include transitioning to entirely organic viticulture; establishing long-term fruit contracts that have nearly doubled the acreage under estate control; exploring an expanded range of vinficatory options including both direct pressing and skin maceration; rendering Grosse Gewächse, but also Rieslings of subtle or hidden sweetness; revitalizing the tradition of Kabinett Rieslings modest in both alcohol and residual sugar; seriously reviving a long-dormant family tradition of Riesling Sekt; bottling profound kosher Riesling; and perpetuating cross-border collaborations, begun during his years away from home, with Luxembourg vintners and restaurateurs. DAVID SCHILDKNECHT