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Wine Column
The WineBarn Completes a Record Five Figure Sale for Mosel’s First TBA
BY IRIS ELLMANN
Sourcing rare wine on behalf of collectors from across the globe, is just one aspect of The WineBarn’s highly personalised service. As such, Iris our Managing Director, acquired the Mosel region’s very first Trockenbeerenauslese from Thanisch winery. The 102-year-old rarity changed hands for a record five-figure sum.
Iris Ellmann, Managing Director The WineBarn and Maximilian F.W. Ferger, Estate Manager of Gutsverwalter Weingut Witwe Dr. H. Thanisch Erben Müller-Burggraef.
Thanisch Trockenbeerenauslese 1921.
For nearly a century this epic milestone in German viticulture lay dormant in the treasury of the Estate Witwe Dr. H. Thanisch Erben Müller-Burggraef. After such time, the wine had to be re-corked and re-sealed in order to keep it preserved, before becoming part of a private collection. The bottle has an extraordinary past. In 1921, the winery Witwe Dr. H. Thanisch made history by producing Trockenbeerenauslese for the first time in the Mosel region. The wine recorded an impressive 241° Oechsle - the highest must weight that was measured in the Mosel region until then. The German aristocracy were huge fans of the winery, as were the English royal family, and prestigious hotels such as the Savoy in London and the Ritz in Paris. The reputation of this winery stretched far beyond Germany’s borders as early as the 19th century. However, the prevailing inflation rate and the political turbulence of the 28
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Issue 11 1
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November 2023
Weimar Republic, meant that 1921 was not a suitable time for auctioning. Instead, the wine was safely stored in the treasury of the winery’s historic ‘Doctor Cellar’, but it went missing for decades. Post-World War II, the region was occupied by the French military and the estate’s most valuable wines vanished. In the early 1960s however, a former employee of the winery remembered that a secret wall had been built in order to hide the winery’s finest treasures. The wall was brought down and a completely intact treasury was revealed along with the 1921 Trockenbeerenauslese. It had safely survived the war and occupation without damage.
Iris Ellmann, Managing Director of The WineBarn. Photo: Iris Ellmann
Iris Ellmann, Managing Director of The WineBarn, said: "I am extremely privileged to have been entrusted with this 102-year-old rarity. We take pride in dealing with the most historic and outstanding producers Germany has to offer.”
To find your new favourite German wine, contact The WineBarn for a personal recommendation. Visit: www.thewinebarn.co.uk Call: 0044 1962 761 215 Email: wine@thewinebarn.co.uk
The WineBarn is a multi-award-winning wine merchant that specialises in exclusively German wine and has been bringing pure drinking pleasure to the UK for over 23 years. Their elegant wines have been selected to cover a range of styles – from the affordable to the luxury, from dry to sweet and from fresh to full-bodied, ensuring there’s something to suit all tastes and pair with any cuisine.