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| German Wine Queen - Annika Strebel |
The message has oft been repeated; German wine has changed.
The sweet, fruity whites of yore have been replaced by delicate, bone dry
styles with steely acidity and complex flavours. Serious reds, based on the
Pinot Noir varietal, are being crafted in regions such as Ahr and Baden. The
buzzword now is quality rather than quantity.
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| Caviar canapés. An excellent start at BLU. |
Admittedly, the message gets through far more effectively
when presented by the lovely Annika Strebel (Germany’s newly anointed Wine
Queen) than by a stuffy wine writer. I had the pleasure of meeting this poised and
articulate woman during a wine dinner jointly hosted by the German Wine
Institute (DWI) and local wine merchant Wein & Vin. The latter has been
instrumental in bringing top German wine producers such as Dönnhoff and Meyer
Näkel to our sunny shores.
Feminists may express outrage at the idea of using a beauty
pageant to promote an industry, but the road to becoming a German Wine Queen involves
more than just looks. The contestants, who hail from each of Germany’s 13
wine-growing regions, must speak on a multitude of wine-related issues in front
of a jury of 80 professionals from the wine industry, politics and the press.
This helps them to prepare for the ambassadorial role of a German Wine Queen.
The ability to answer questions about German wines confidently and competently
is a necessary skill for the winner, who will be speaking at over 200
engagements around the world during her reign.
These engagements will bring Annika to many locations around
the world. Singapore is in fact her first international stop before going on to
Beijing. While she was here, she participated in numerous events as part of the
first ever “Riesling Week” held from the 14th to 22nd of
April and gave a talk at the Wine & Spirits Asia exhibition. She tells me
of one of her more unusual events, involving an underwater wine tasting in
Germany. Weighed down by a heavy belt and surrounded by photographers, she
confided that she had a slight worry about choking as the belt would have
prevented her from quickly ascending to the surface. But like a true
professional, she handled the event with ease and her trademark vivacity (for a
glimpse of this surreal setting, search for “unterwasser weinprobe Annika” on
Youtube).
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| Annika charming the audience |
Annika’s favourite varietal is naturally Riesling, a grape
that has naturally high acidity and ages well. She is also partial to Silvaner,
a little-known German varietal that finds its best expression in Annika’s home
region of Rheinhessen. As befits her royal title, Annika is a staunch
nationalist and believes that the native varietals of Germany should be
promoted over international ones such as Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. “We
should concentrate on our competencies,” she asserts. “If we make Cabernet
Sauvignon like the French, we can be as good as them but not better.”
Besides having a sharp palate when it comes to wines, Annika
displays a keen interest in food as well, frequently enquiring on the
ingredients of our dinner menu. She was excited about trying out Singapore’s local
specialities such as chilli crab and laksa, although I was confused when she
admitted a distaste for “organics” (I later realised she was talking about
organs). Her opinions of the food and wine pairings during the dinner were
precise and succinct, displaying an in-depth experience that belied her
youthful 24 years. The German Wine Queen competition has been around for a long
time (since 1949 in fact), but Annika will be setting a precedent as the first
wine queen to engage Asia in a big way.
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| Her Majesty's ring representing the German wine regions |
Her travelling schedule means that she has had to put her
viticultural studies at Geisenheim on hold this year, but once her duties as
the German Wine Queen are over, she intends to complete her studies and join
the family winery, Weingut Strebel. I ask her what qualities she would look for
in a German Wine Prince to aid her work. There is only the briefest of pauses
before she replies with a twinkle in her eye, “He’d better be able to help me
carry my bags!”
The throne only has room for one. Long live the Queen.
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