Werner Näkel

Werner Näkel (* 1953 in Dernau ) is a German winemaker . He was the owner of the Meyer-Näkel winery in the Ahr Valley , which is now run by his daughters, and is considered a co-founder of the “German red wine revolution” at the end of the 1980s.

Life

Werner Näkel is the second oldest of four children of Paula Meyer and Willibald Näkel, who were cultivating around one and a half hectares of vineyards when they married in 1950. His father Willibald Näkel added the maiden name of his wife (née Meyer) to the name of his Meyer-Näkel winery . Näkel studied sports and mathematics for teaching at the grammar school and initially planned to run the winery alongside his teaching activities. But after only six months he took a leave of absence from the teaching post. In 1982 he took over his parents' two hectare wine-growing business in Dernau. Following in the footsteps of his father Willibald Näkel, a pioneer of dry Ahr red wine, he said goodbye to the production of sweet red wines that was popular in the Ahr valley at the time and switched production to maturation in barrique barrels . From then on he concentrated on the production of dry red wines , for which he has regularly won awards since 1989. In 2001, for example, Der Feinschmecker magazine awarded him the title of winemaker of the year . In 2004 Gault-Millau also awarded him this title. In 2003, 2008 and 2011 his wine list was awarded the collection of the year by Wein-Plus .

In the course of his economic success and the recognition of his quality wines by wine critics , other Ahr winemakers also followed his example.

He turned his father's old farm next to the Church of St. John the Apostle into his tavern under the name Hofgarten ; it was rated an F in the "Feinschmecker Hotel and Restaurant Guide 2002" .

He has a long-standing friendship and collaboration with the star chef Hans Stefan Steinheuer , who is based in the Heppingen district of Bad Neuenahr .

Foreign wineries

Together with the South African oenologist Neil Ellis , who was named "Winemaker of the year" in his country, he founded the Zwalu winery near Cape Town in 1997 , which means "new beginning". The grape varieties Cabernet Sauvignon , Merlot , Cabernet Franc and Shiraz are grown there.

In 2000 Werner Näkel and his two friends Bernd Philippi (Koehler-Ruprecht winery in the Palatinate) and Bernhard Breuer (Georg Breuer winery in the Rheingau) bought the Portuguese winery Quinta da Carvalhosa in the Douro Valley. There are eight hectares of steep slopes on which the autochthonous grape varieties Tinta Barroca , Tinta Roriz , Touriga Nacional and Touriga Francesa grow, which can be up to 40 years old.

family

Werner Näkel and his wife Claudia, a high school teacher, have two daughters: Meike and Dörte studied viticulture at the Wiesbaden University of Applied Sciences in Geisenheim (today: Geisenheim University ) and joined their parents' business, Meike since 2005 and Dörte from 2008. Meike Näkel is married to the north Baden winegrower Markus Klumpp. In 1990 his brother Hartwig took over the management of what was then the village inn and what is now the Hofgarten restaurant in Dernau.

Movies

• A village in the intoxication of wine. TV report, Germany, 2011, 29 min., Script and director: Stefan Quante , production: WDR , series: Der goldene Oktober , editing: Hier und heute , first broadcast: October 22, 2011 on WDR, summary by fernsehserien.de .
• Wine wonder Germany . The red wine revolution. TV report, Germany, 2010, 28:10 min., Book: Stuart Pigott and Alexander Saran , director: Alexander Saran, production: moviepool, Megaherz , Bayerischer Rundfunk , series: Weinwunder Germany , first broadcast: December 26, 2010 on Bavarian television , Summary of ARD , about the Meyer-Näkel winery, Thomas Hensel winery and Gert Aldinger winery.

Web links

• Meyer-Näkel winery
• Collection of articles from 1999. ( Memento from February 25, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) In: meyer-naekel.de

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stuart Pigott : Weinwunder Germany. The red wine revolution. In: ARD , December 26, 2010.
     Michael Prinz zu Salm-Salm in: Finest A (h) roma. ( Memento from February 25, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) In: Kölnische Rundschau , October 2, 1999.
2. ↑ Werner Näkel: winery. In: meyer-naekel.de , accessed on November 22, 2015.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Willibald Näkel. In: AW-Wiki , accessed on November 22, 2015.
4. ↑ Werner Näkel: Press. Vintner of the year 2001. In: meyer-naekel.de , accessed on November 22, 2015, see: Der Feinschmecker , 2001, No. 11, p. 134f.
5. ↑ Winemaker of the Year. In: die-region.info / meyer-naekel.de , accessed on November 22, 2015.
6. ↑ Meyer-Näkel. In: Wein-Plus , beginning of the article; End of article for members only.
     Press. Collection of the year In: meyer-naekel.de
7. ↑ Finest A (h) roma. ( Memento of February 25, 2003 in the Internet Archive ) In: Kölnische Rundschau , October 2, 1999: “As soon as his wines caused a sensation, the critics also got a taste for other goods. Näkel is considered the locomotive of the Ahr boom ... "
8. ↑ Werner Näkel: [www.meyer-naekel.de/afrika.php Afrika.] In: meyer-naekel.de , accessed on June 16, 2016.
9. ^ Werner Näkel: Portugal. In: meyer-naekel.de , accessed on November 22, 2015.
10. ↑ The Quinta da Carvalhosa. In: Quinta da Carvalhosa , accessed November 22, 2015.
11. ^ Uwe Köster: Wine conversation: Dörte Näkel. In: weinbeobachter.com , June 6, 2014.
12. ↑ Werner Näkel: Family. In: meyer-naekel.de , accessed on November 22, 2015.
13. ↑ Wolfgang Hubert: Weinliebe - What happens when top winemakers get married. In: wein.com , June 2014, accessed on November 22, 2015.