503: Peter Jakob Kühn Found Quality Along With Pain

Peter Jakob Kühn made the wines at Weingut Peter Jakob Kühn in Germany's Rheingau region for many decades before retiring and passing the family winery on to his son Peter Bernhard Kühn.

Peter Jakob, who was born in 1954, alludes to the constrained economic situation that existed in the German countryside following the Second World War. He recalls his grandfather, who had lived through two World Wars, and the relationship that his grandfather had with the rest of the family. Peter Jakob then describes meeting his wife and taking over the family winery in 1979 in the wake of his father's death. He recalls what steps he took to improve the quality of the wines and add to the size of the estate in the early days after assuming control. He contrasts his approach to the vineyards with the post-War emphasis on high yields that some of neighbors pursued. Peter Jakob speaks about a trip to Burgundy that served as an early inspiration. He also describes the setting and landscape of the area within the Rheingau where the winery is situated.

Peter Jakob converted the estate to Biodynamic farming, and he describes the very personal reasons for that and other key decisions. As the quality of the wines improved, so did Peter Jakob's level of satisfaction with his own wines and their renown in the critical press. Peter Jakob describes how his mindset changed in response to both praise and some failure from others to understand the direction he was taking the wines. Specifically, he addresses the 1999 vintage for the winery and the malolactic conversion that took place in that year and others afterwards. He then talks about how a malolactic conversion changes the characteristics of a Riesling, and describes his vision for what a Riesling can be. Then he contrasts that vision for a Riesling with the stereotype of a racy, fruity German Riesling, which he was trying to avoid. Looking back from this vantage point, Peter Jakob describes the importance of his experimental phase in the early 2000s, as he tried different techniques in the winery. He also pinpoints his motivations for making those experiments and changes in the winery. He further discusses dry Germany Riesling and his thoughts on the topic, which are intertwined with a change in the climate as well as his personal experience. As the interview comes to a close, Peter Jakob talks about handing off the winery to his son Peter Bernhard and how he has experienced the change.

This episode also features commentary from:

Clemens Busch, Weingut Clemens Busch

Tomoko Kuriyama, Chanterêves

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.