Rundfunkchor Berlin Wine Edition - Rundfunkchor Berlin

Enjoy choral music with a wine pairing

Our exclusive Wine Edition will enhance your enjoyment as you listen to Rundfunkchor Berlin’s recordings and concert broadcasts in front of your home speakers. In cooperation with Schmidt, the leading Berlin wine merchants, we offer you three wines that specially complement the sound of Rundfunkchor Berlin:

a red wine that epitomizes the choir’s rich, full-bodied tone
a white wine that’s as tangy and fresh as the sound of Rundfunkchor Berlin
a sekt that symbolizes the ensemble’s inexhaustibly “sparkling” energy

Broaden your sensory perceptions and experience choral music with even greater relish outside the concert hall!

And here’s the best part: with each bottle you purchase you support the Friends and Sponsors of Rundfunkchor Berlin e.V. with a donation of €2.

What’s the idea behind the Wine Edition?

Rundfunkchor Berlin is regarded not only as one of world’s finest choruses, but also as one of the most innovative. Always in motion, it is constantly developing and implementing new ideas, pioneering novel approaches to presenting purely acoustical musical experiences. In its concerts, the ensemble’s genre-crossing productions have already succeeded in breaking away from and redefining the traditional listening experience. With the Wine Edition it is opening up new dimensions of enjoyment outside of the concert hall.

And here’s the show-stopper: drinking wine also means doing a good deed. €2of the purchase price of each bottle goes to the Friends and Sponsors of the Rundfunkchor Berlin, which, to cite just one example, is enabling young vocal students in the choir’s Academy to develop into professional choral singers.

How were the wines chosen?

Representatives from the ensemble, the management, the Förderverein, the public and the press chose three favourites from 25 wines of German vintners, wines that pair especially well with Rundfunkchor Berlin and its sound. The selection was curated by our partner, the wine merchants Schmidt.

Gallery

Winetasting at Weinladen Schmidt

The Wine Edition of Rundfunkchor Berlin

Vivace cantabile: The Riesling KALKMERGEL from Peter Siener

Peter Siener, firmly rooted in his native Pfalz (Palatinate), is one of the most talented vintners in this up-and-coming region of the southern wine route, near the French border. It cultivates exclusively classical varieties like Riesling and Burgundy, both red and white. When asked what his favourite wine is, Peter Siener’s answer is quick and to the point: “Riesling and Pinot Noir”. Anyone lucky enough to get to know his White Burgundy and St. Laurent will quickly discover that these are much more than pleasing complements to food.

No other white wine grape has more to say about its place of origin than Riesling. In its strength and elegance, Peter Siener’s spontaneously fermented growth from the southern Pfalz reflects the heterogeneous soil, heavily loamy but laced with lighter lime. While still possessing considerable depth, this wine has an exotic nose, playful fruitiness and subtle mineral tones that dance on the palate.

2014 Riesling KALKMERGEL, Weingut Siener (Pfalz) 0.75l €11.95 (€15.95/l)

Adagio espressivo: The Red Wine Cuvée AUFWIND from Thomas Hensel

Wine is passion for pleasure, precisely the passion that made Thomas Hensel become a vintner. Not that there wasn’t already a tradition in his family. Hensels have owned their site in and around Bad Dürkheim for over 300 years, and so it comes as no surprise that Thomas Hensel has a perfect feel for the plants and for trending grape varieties. Hensel’s vineyard is young, like the man himself. As a vintner and amateur pilot he knows the value of soil conformity and adhesion. His personal blend of joie de vivre, foresight and precision results in wonderful wines, full of character. Exemplifying them are “Aufwind” (upwind) and “Höhenflug” (high-altitude flight) as well as the top-of-the-line “Ikarus”, pressed from the rare Cabernet Cubin grape.
The cuvée of Bad Dürkheim vintner Thomas Hensel offers a blend of traditional and modern! The Cabernet Sauvignon, a grape variety with a migration background, represents the new Pfalz, whereas the St. Laurent variety belongs to the region’s classical red wine varieties. Its harmonious duet is marked by both darker and lighter tones, ranging from powerful to supple. A play with spice and a long finish.

2014 AUFWIND Red Wine Cuvée, Weingut Hensel (Pfalz) 0.75l €11.95 (€15.93/l)

Allegro con spirito: Riesling Sekt Brut from Gut Hermannsberg

In 1902 the Prussian state established the domain and acquired the first land: jagged and rocky terrain that included a former copper mine. Planting the vineyard was extremely arduous: boulders and rocks had to be broken up and enormous amounts of earth moved. The first Riesling grapes were planted in 1903. In 2010 the former state-owned domain was renamed Gut Hermannsberg. Its history reflects the story of German vineyards in the last hundred years. The name change was followed by the vineyard’s rapid rise to international renown – for a variety of reasons, through an unsettled period with serious crises. That makes it even more gratifying to witness how cellarmaster Karsten Peter and his team have harnessed the great potential of the former “Royal Prussian Wine-Producing Domain”.

The Nahe winery of Gut Hermannsberg is famous for its Rieslings grown on a soil mix of porphyry and slate. But there’s also music in its Sekt, made by classical bottle fermentation, with a delightfully creamy texture, enlivening play of fruits and subtle mousseux. A veritable sparkling epiphany!

Riesling Sekt Brut, Gut Hermannsberg (Nahe Region) 0.75l € 16.50 (€22.60/l)

Where can I buy the wines?

You can find our Wine Edition in any of Schmidt’s four shops, as well as from their online shop.

Weinladen Schmidt is the leading Berlin wine merchant – named “Germany’s Best Specialist Supplier of the Year” in 2014 by the German Wine Institute.

Stores of Weinladen Schmidt

Lichterfelde

Curtiusstraße 9 – 12205 Berlin

Open: Di – Fr 10-19 Uhr, Sa 10-16 Uhr

Westend

Reichsstraße 6 – 14052 Berlin

Open: Mo – Fr 10-19 Uhr, Sa 10-16 Uhr

Prenzlauer Berg

Kollwitzstraße 50 – 10405 Berlin

Open: Mo – Fr 12-22 Uhr, Sa 10-22 Uhr

Hermsdorf

Heinsestraße 30 – 13467 Berlin

Open: Mo – Fr 9-19 Uhr, Sa 9-14 Uhr

Order forms are also available at the information desk at Rundfunkchor Berlin concerts.

Are you looking for a splendid present?

Our wines make an outstanding gift in combination with a ticket to one of our concerts or our CDs. Have a look at our concert calendar and our list of CD recordings to find the ideal gift.