Guide and winemaker Johannes Weber shows the owners of Metzger Bar & Butchery Hofgut Falkenstein.
Brittanny Anderson stood on a precipitous vineyard hillside in the Saar valley of Germany, toes pulsing as they clung to the earth through her white Reebok Classics.
As the chef’s soles were planted on the rocky terrain of the Hofgut Falkenstein winery, guide and winemaker Johannes Weber showed Anderson and fellow Metzger co-owners Kjell Anderson, Nathan Conway and Brad Hemp his family vineyard, a jutting green piece of countryside that spread before them as far as they could see.
In 2014, the foursome opened Union Hill restaurant Metzger Bar & Butchery, an homage to the German food, beer and wine that captured their imaginations. Five years later, they have just returned from the ultimate field trip: an immersion in the culture and cuisine (and lots of riesling) from Mosel to Munich, from which, conceptually, their restaurant was born.
“When you’re learning about wine, you hear about the soil,” says Anderson, “but I had never seen it. People would say that the grapes grew in a pile of rocks, and I thought, ‘yeah right,’ but it does, and it thrives.”
The unique rocky soil of Germany's Saar region
“[Metzger has] some of the most esoteric, unique German and Austrian wines on the East Coast,” says Anderson, “and I don’t think people realize how special that is, how much time and love is put into those wines.”
A rocky wall ascends from the winding road below to an azure sky streaked with cirrus clouds. No tractors could mount a climb that steep. You’d be lucky to get a goat up there. This is hand sowing, hand weeding, hand harvesting, a tradition of labor passed down through families for generations.
A view to the vineyards over Bernkastel Kues, a well-known wine growing region on the Mosel River; winemakers use the little shed while tending the fields.
“All these winemakers are farmers,” adds Brittanny, and they’re all worried about one thing: the effect of climate change on their crops. The cool climate-loving riesling grape isn’t suited for high temps, and the stony soil that once channeled moderate warmth is now baking fruit on the vine like a solar oven.
In the U.S., riesling has suffered from a reputation of being cloying and one-note. But Conway, a self-proclaimed "riesling nerd," says these Mosel rieslings are bone-dry, crisp and alive with citrus and minerality derived from the unparalleled rocky soil.
During the trip, Conway got to speak with biodynamic winemaking pioneer Rudolf Trossen.
At Metzger, he leads a biweekly wine class for the staff and plans to share insights from the trip over the next few weeks, including a guide to the VDP (vin de pays, aka wine of the land) and a riesling aging sheet. Conway is also working to persuade local distributors such as Plant Wines to bring some of these elusive wines to Virginia.
“This is a region that’s unique in that its historical identity is really being overturned,” says Hemp. “In 10-15 years … it’s going to be a new grape, a new region, with a lot more style to it.”
Barrels at Hofgut Falkenstein
As Anderson sampled the wursts and flammkuchen of the region, she says she felt validated. Mostly self-taught, thanks to books like Mimi Sheraton's "The German Cookbook" and "Spoonfuls of Germany" by Nadia Hassani, back in her own Richmond kitchen she often thought, “I hope that’s right. That looks crazy, but I think I’m on the right track.”
Kjell Anderson, Metzger’s bar manager and Brittanny’s husband, said the pilgrimage to the motherland was long overdue. “Our guests come in, and many of them have been to Germany, maybe lived there, and they’re like, ‘Which one of you guys lived in Germany?’ and we’re like, [head hanging] ‘None of us,’ so it was important that we actually go there.”
The tour inspired them to rethink Metzger’s happy hour — Anderson and Hemp talk excitedly of cold smoked sausages; little pots of lard, freckled with crispy pork skin; wurst salads dressed in pickle-y vinaigrettes; an assortment of breads and pretzels; and schinken, a German speck, or cured ham. Future Metzger brotzeit (a traditional time of day for savory snacks) will channel those porcine vibes, and soon they’ll have even more room to work their magic.
Weisswurst breakfast at G. Schneider & Sohn, a weissbier brewing company in Bavaria, Germany
Anderson says the restaurant will expand into the space next door and hopefully open by December. With a warm, rustic vibe, it will draw on the weinkellers (wine bars) they toured in Germany and allow the restaurant to focus on larger parties, private dining and education, including wine, cheese and cooking classes. In the meantime, she and the team will tinker with charcuterie and spreads inspired by the beer halls of Munich.
“I feel like I have a responsibility to get this right and to not f--- up an entire country's food traditions,” says Anderson as she reflects on the trip. “I didn’t know because I hadn’t eaten it there, and that will make me better as a chef, and ultimately us better as restaurateurs. It’s about getting closer to the truth.”
