Autumn is here, and that means it’s time to drink Riesling. Not sweet Riesling – we’ll get to that when the weather cools off some more – but something dry. Let’s drink something from Eva Fricke.

We’ve written before about Eva Fricke, who pulled off an American-style miracle in Germany. Yes, it is fairly commonplace to hear of American pioneers starting out from scratch to produce amazing wineries, but to do it in one of Europe's ancient, heritage site wine regions is very, very tough. Yet that is exactly what Eva Fricke has accomplished on the steep slopes of Germany’s historic Rheingau region.

Eva grew up in Bremen, in Northwestern Germany near Hamburg and many hours and miles away from any wine regions. Her parents were both doctors, so there was nothing to suggest a lauded career as a grape grower and winemaker, but here we are! After spending a couple teenage summers working at wineries in South Africa and Australia she returned to Germany to study viticulture and oenology at university. After graduating she began working for the very old school estate of J.B. Becker, following that valuable experience she took up with our friend, the inimitable Rheingau icon Josi Leitz.

While still working with Josi she was able to acquire a few vines in 2006 and so her own estate was born. Fast forward 17 years and she’s now a bonafide star, organically farming 17 hectares and producing a range of wines.

Among the range is Flatiron favorite Kiedrich Trocken. Kiedrich is the name of the village – a jewel of a gothic village with over 1000 years of wine-making history. It boasts the range of different soil types that make the Rheingau special, including loam, sand, loess, clay and slate. Here Eva has 40+ year old vines, and she blends from different sites to produce a truly complete village wine.

Eva’s natural methods ensures that you get an authentic taste of Kiedrich Riesling. Different commentators describe that taste in different ways – of course, as flavor does not translate so readily into English – but a consistent theme is minerality and orange zest, two things we love in our Riesling.

Eva Fricke Riesling Kiedrich Trocken 2020 $49.99