This year, the Bar Convent had its own small wine focus. A good 70 wines were presented in seven wine workshops in the Kalk&Kegel Lounge. The workshops were all well attended – but they took place somewhat apart from the actual trade fair activities. In any case, there were no more wine producers than usual at the fair. In other words, almost none at all. On the contrary, the traditional special sake presentation was unfortunately missing this time. Regrettably, there were also hardly any well-known cognac producers represented. However, the Consorzio Nazionale Tutela Grappa, founded in 2022, came to Berlin for the first time. More on that in a moment. In any case, here are the top 5 picks from this year’s fair.
1 Brennerei Humbel Roter Williams 9.1. 2020 wildvergoren
Let’s start with the fruit brandies. The Williams pear is still one of the great classics here. At the top, however, brandies from the red Williams pear are becoming increasingly popular. This is a somewhat more aromatic mutant with red to mahogany-coloured skin. The Swiss distillery Humbel has this as No. 9 alongside the traditional yellow Williams pear No. 21 as a vintage brandy in its programme, currently from 2021. The distillery has recently started mashing fruit of good harvest quality in wooden barrels without industrial yeasts. In other words, wild yeasts then carry out a spontaneous fermentation. Of course, only a few fruit growers have such natural yeasts. In this case, the organically grown fruit comes from Beat Humbel’s own orchard in Stetten in Aargau. The comparison of the two brandies is impressive: number 9 may have the purer fruit, but the wild-fermented Rote Williams 9.1 is more tart, more complex and more concentrated. Limited to 106 0.5-litre bottles and has practically disappeared from the market.
2 Reisetbauer Roter Williams
It was fitting that just a few aisles away, Austria’s top distillery Reisetbauer was also presenting a Roter Williams. The status that the BCB now has (again) is demonstrated by the fact that on this Tuesday morning you could meet both Hans and Hansi Reisetbauer at the stand, i.e. both the father and the son. Here, too, the Rote Williams has a special status. First distilled in 1989 from pears from just 300 trees, it was created in response to a request from the Arlberg Ski Club for a special cuvée. Today, production is larger, but the ski club crest still adorns the bottle. Hansi Reisetbauer finds the flavour of the thinner-skinned red variety more elegant than that of the yellow version. In order to obtain a brandy that is as complex as possible, batches of different vintages and different stages of ripeness are blended together, from slightly unripe to fully ripe fruit. The processing in the ultra-modern distillery near Linz in Upper Austria produces an extremely pure, almost ethereal pear brandy.
3 Rossi d’Angera Grappa Altana del Borgo 2005
The Grappa Consortium kindly invited me to a highly focussed tasting with commentary from the respective producers. This gave me a unique insight into the enormous diversity of the current grappa scene and its latest trends. Gewürztraminer from Roner in South Tyrol stood alongside Amarone grappa from Bonollo in Veneto. Deep dark marc brandies from Castagner, matured for seven years in barriques, next to crystal clear ones from the amphora (!) from Marzadro. Most impressive for me: Rossi d’Angera’s Grappa Altana del Borgo from 2005, distilled this year from different varieties of Moscato grapes and then matured for 15 years in French oak. Founded in 1847, the distillery near Lake Garda has sought the advice of Antonella Bocchino for its Moscato grappas from a wide variety of origins. The master distiller is considered the queen of Moscato grappa. The flavour is exceptionally refined, with orange blossom and dried apricot, both luxurious and elegant. This is ‘alta moda’ in the best Italian sense.
4 Ardnahoe 5 Inaugurial Release
Last year, I reported on the special bottling of Talisker 2008 Oloroso Quarter Cask Whisky by Hunter Laing & Co. from Glagow. This year, the company, which was founded in 2013 and has decades of expertise in the industry, had brought its first own whisky. In fact, the Laings only received planning permission for their own distillery on the Scottish island of Islay in 2016. The first batch was then distilled in 2018. And in May 2024, the Ardnahoe Inaugurial Release was launched on the market with an age of 5 years. This makes Ardnahoe the ninth distillery on the island and the first new distillery to be founded since 2009.
Incidentally, the name comes from the nearby Loch Ardnahoe, which supplies the distillery with soft peaty water. The spirit is matured 80 per cent in Oloroso sherry and 20 per cent in bourbon casks and bottled at 50 per cent alcohol by volume. No chill filtering, no colouring – and powerfully peated with 40 ppm phenol content. There are a few special features in the production process, which is why it is worth taking a look at the homepage. The result is incredibly powerful, very smoky, with youthful fruity flavours, bacon and a little spiciness. Very impressive and a promising first impact! The next bottling of Ardnahoe Infinite Loch will be released in the next few days.
5 Milam & Greene Unabridged Bourbon Whiskey Volume 2
It’s one of those CVs that many Europeans envy about the USA. As a musician, Heather Greene ended up in Scotland, where she fell in love with whisky. She worked for the Scotch Malt Whisky Society in Edinburgh, served as a judge and began writing for magazines. In 2014 she published the book ‘Whisk(e)y Distilled’. In 2019, she founded the distillery Milam & Greene together with Marsha Milam. Her Port Finished Rye was honoured as ‘Best In Show’ at the Craft Spirits Awards in 2021. Which then prompted Forbes to publish a portrait under the headline ‘The World’s Best Whiskey’. In 2023, she was honoured as ‘Master Blender of the Year’.
Milam & Greene own their own distillery in Blanco, Texas. And, at least as important, a blending lab in the former Texas Military Institute, called ‘The Castle’, in Austin, Texas. This is where American bourbons, as well as a rye, are created using raw materials from up to three states: Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas. From different types of grain, barrels and climate zones. In hot Texas, the ‘Angel’s share’ is up to two thirds of the original volume. ‘Texas weather finished’ is what Heather Greene calls the influence on spirits that were distilled in Kentucky, for example, but stored in Texas. The most complete of all Heather Greene’s spirits is the Unabridged Bourbon Whiskey. Bottled at a cask strength of 59.8 per cent from 56 barrels, Volume 2 from 2023 contains six different components from Tennessee, Kentucky and Texas. Their respective volumes vary from two to eleven barrels and an age of between two and 16 years. A very complex bourbon, with notes of leather, black tea, sultanas and tobacco.
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