A new episode of the I’ll Drink to That! wine talk podcast was released recently. Episode 503 features Peter Jakob Kühn, the longtime (now retired) vintner at Weingut Peter Jakob Kühn in Germany’s Rheingau region.
If there were actual seismic tremors measured on the Richter scale at the time, we don’t know, but we are certain that from the moment Peter Jakob Kühn took over the family winery in 1979, he began to shake things up. A new winemaking facility. Extensive vineyard replants. A different approach to farming. New vineyard purchases. Biodynamics. Lowered doses of sulphur. Wood ageing. Malolactic conversion. White grapes macerated on their skins. The introduction of clay amphora. Each year brought a change, a new feeling for the wines, and increased renown to what had once been a small, relatively obscure family winery. In this podcast episode, Peter Jakob is referred to as a revolutionary. But why the rapid pace of change? What was driving Peter Jakob to embrace experimentation from inside a German wine region – the Rheingau – often associated with stasis, hidebound convention, and the grand wine names of the past?
In this interview, Peter Jakob is forthright about his desire to find a way out of the typecast role German Riesling often traded in, and to discover what was possible outside of conventional methods. His reasons for doing so are deeply personal and strongly felt. The resulting conversation also pushes boundaries, and you may feel a bit shaken up yourself, just listening.
Episode 503 is available on many listening platforms, including at these links:
I’ll Drink to That!, one of the world’s top wine podcasts, is hosted by Levi Dalton. Levi has had a long career working as a sommelier in some of the most distinguished and acclaimed dining rooms in America. He has served wine to guests of Restaurant Daniel, Masa, and Alto, all in Manhattan. Levi has also contributed articles on wine themes to publications such as The Art of Eating, Wine & Spirits magazine, Bon Appetit online, and Eater NY. Check out his pictures on Instagram.
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