Villa Maria - "best in the world"?

Who the hell is Michael Franz?

Quick googling finds some references. But the ones to Villa Maria DON'T say its the best winery in the world, just his featured "producer of the year"

The Villa Maria group is certainly impressive operation. Apart from wines bottled under their own name, they also own a number of other smaller producers such as Esk Valley (who IMO makes even more impressive wine than the parent winery). Top producer? Who knows what that even means?

Mark Lipton

I find their wines to be pedestrian at best. If that is his opinion OK but does not mean much to me. I use them for cooking wines.

"Lawrence Leichtman" wrote .....

One of the problems in making such sweeping statements is the fact that the Villa Maria Group encompasses three separate wine labels (Villa Maria; Esk Valley [as Mark Lipton remembers, having visited in '02] and Vidal Hawkes Bay Estate).

Furthermore, each winery, has separate (quality driven) classifications.

The basic Villa Maria label is "Private Bin"; the step-up is the "Cellar Selection" range; followed by the "Reserve" line-up - topped off with the "Single Vineyard" selection.

Confused? Even I as a local devotee is forced to take a second look.

Esk Valley's "The Terraces" is IMNSHO NZs best Bordeaux blend, while the Vidal "Soler" Syrah is also a brilliant Rhone styled red (as opposed to an Australian styled Shiraz!)

I imagine that the vast majority of exported wines would fall under the "Private Bin" label - whereas the wines which Mr. Franz singles out would be a scarce commodity in the US (or anywhere else outside of NZ).

As Mr. Axis von Beagle has previously noted the VM Single Vineyard Viognier is the best I have ever encountered outside of Condrieu.

If you ever have the chance to encounter Graf Hardegg's "V" -- a "table wine" (since the grape is not officially recommended) from northeastern Austria near the Czech border --, then go ahead and taste.

Even Condrieu producers admit its stupendous quality.

M.

Hi Michael,

Do you know if this is widely available in Germany (I live in the Cologne area)? I like Viognier in general; best I've had so far was a

Dave

--> Weine --> Viognier (with a nice story)

Well, the wine is made in rather minuscule quantities and much sought-after. The list of retailers (copied from the homepage hardegg.at --> Bezugsquellen --> Europa) is impressive, however:

Deutschland

Smart-Wines GmbH D - 50670 Köln, Im Klapperhof 33 Tel.: +49 - 221 - 120 447 Fax: +49 - 221 - 123 090 snipped-for-privacy@smart-wines.de

Alois Dallmayr D - 80331 München, Dienerstr. 14-15 Tel. +49 - 89 21350

Del Vino Tel.: +49 - 40 - 611 371 44 Fax: +49 - 40 - 611 371 45 snipped-for-privacy@delvino.de

HAWESKO Hanseatisches Wein- und Sekt-Kontor Hamburg Tel.: +49 - 4122 - 50 400 Fax: +49 - 4122 - 51 068

Käfer Weinkeller D - 81675 München, Prinzregentenstraße 73 Tel.: +49 - 89 - 41 68 260 Fax: +49 - 89 - 41 68 244 snipped-for-privacy@feinkost-kaefer.de

K & U - Kössler & Ulbrich D - 90411 Nürnberg, Nordostpark 78, Halle 78 Tel.: +49 - 911 - 52 51 53 Fax: +49 - 911 - 52 98 874 snipped-for-privacy@weinhalle.de

rot weiss D - 40211 Düsseldorf, Schirmerstrasse 54 Tel.: +49 - 2 11. 2 38 38 -24 Fax: +49 - 2 11. 2 38 38 -25

Restaurant und Weinhandel Bröding D - 80634 München, Schulstrasse 9 Tel.: +49 - 89/164238 Fax: +49 - 89/13939494 snipped-for-privacy@t-online.de

Weinhandel Rebsaal D - 20249 Hamburg, Eppendorfer Baum 44 Tel.: +49 - 40 / 46 06 91 06 Fax: +49 - 40 / 46 06 91 07 snipped-for-privacy@rebsaal.de

What you always can do: mail them, tell my best wishes to Peter Veyder-Malberg (the director of the estate), maybe he can help you to secure a few bottles.

M.

Note that two vintages are described (click to the right), 2005 and

M.

Thanks again, Michael. As soon as I sent off the post, I thought to myself, "I should have done a Google search/checked the wineries page myself." Your gracious response and offer to allow me to name-drop are most appreciated. If I can get some of the wine, I will post my attempt at tasting notes.

Dave

You're welcome.

No problem - gave me the opportunity to see their homepage for the first time ... ;-)

Just as an aside: the estate is on its way to be certified in biodynamics. Officially they are "Umstellungsbetrieb" now (conversion estate) as they have signed a "Kontrollvertrag" (control agreement) with Demeter.

M.