2013 Raumland Cuvee Marie Luise Brut

Who doesn’t love fondue? What a fun way to gather with friends on a cold wintry night– gabbing and dipping bread, potatoes, meat, and vegetables into warm gooey rich cheese?? Finger food and small bites in general lend themselves to these gatherings. And what better wine to pair with this celebratory moment than a sparkling wine? This holiday season, “Clink Different” with a sparkling wine from GERMANY! While German sparkling wine might not be on your Bingo card for 2024, it should be! Like Champagne from France and sparkling wines from around the world, bubbles from Germany are often made from Pinot Noir. This Brut style is dry and that goes well with food– and celebratory moments.

2013 Raumland Cuvee Marie Luise Brut

According to Wines of Germany, Germans drink more sparkling wine per capita than any other place in the world– consuming one-fifth of the world’s sparkling wine or  five bottles of bubbles per year. To catch up, Americans have a ways to go– four more bottles a year! Why might this be? My educated but unresearched guess makes me think about what we eat and what we drink. In the United States, we eat a lot of meat and our go to wine for this pairing is red, not sparkling while German cuisine lends itself to sparkling wines and lighter reds like pinot noir.

2013 Raumland Cuvee Marie Luise Brut Paired with Fondue

• 2013 Raumland Cuvee Marie Luise Brut 
• Fondue by Emmi made with Emmentaler AOP 
• Roasted potatoes, brocoli, smoked turkey, olive bread
• Swedish meatballs with mushroom cognac sauce on a stick 

2013 Raumland Cuvee Marie Luise Brut

2013 Raumland Cuvee Marie Luise Brut 

ABV: 12% 
SRP: sample for my review; found online for $65 and up
Grapes: Pinot Noir 

Grown in the Rheinhessen wine region, Raumland Marie-Luise 2013 is a traditional method, sparkling Pinot Noir. The wine was disgorged in 2019, and while some online sources suggest it was best a year or two ago, it was still quite lovely and we think it would hold for several more years. 

Appearance:  Tiny persistent bubbles, beautifully golden, very clear. 

Aroma: Pollen, chamomile, golden delicious apple, baked apple, fennel, alpine, it has a lovely aroma, fresh and clean, interesting and enticing, brioche. 

Palate: Tart green apple fruit, bright acidity, Meyer lemon, bay leaf, lemon verbena, bee pollen, texturally similar to bee pollen, the lovely richness and lasting flavor. 

Pairing: The wine is so nice with the fondue, the cheese sauce is a perfect companion for the wine. Everything we dipped in our pot was satisfying. Everything that gets dipped is yummy and decadent and it feels like winter. The smoke in the smoked turkey adds to the flavors and with the wine it becomes elevated. Fondue is almost like a deconstructed quiche. Great with the olive bread loaf loving the olives. The meatballs also worked fantastically with the wine. The mushrooms and the sauce work so well with the wine.

For an epic experience for a fun fondue night with friends and family, feel free to buy ready made fondue! It comes in a bag– just squeeze it into the pan and follow directions! While you can dip practically anything from sweet pears and apples to savory meats as well as more neutral bites like potatoes and bread, we suggest:

• Smoke the turkey or get a smoked turkey breast from the market
• Blanch the broccoli, so that it is cooked yet still crisp
• Roast the potatoes in the oven until slightly golden brown
• Cut your baguette in chunks and add it to the oven halfway through the potatoes being finished so it has some crunch to the bite

Raumland Sekt

For more sparklers and bites, check out: 

• Culinary Cam discovers A Bouquet of Bubbly Rosés with Festive Nibbles: From California’s Central Coast to Neusiedlersee, Alsace, Swartland, and More
• The Quirky Cork takes A Sparkling Journey Through Hungary, Germany, and Armenia
• Food Wine Click! pours A Very Bourgogne Holiday Apéro
• A Day in the Life on the Farm shares A Tropical Grazing Board and Hawaiian Sparkling Wine; Mele Kalikimaka
• Cooking Chat has Brie Crostini with Prosciutto and Sparkling Wine
• Crushed Grape Chronicles tells of Bites with Bubbles – tossing together a party for two
• ENOFYLZ Wine Blog shares Bubbles and Bites: Dr. Konstantin Frank Sparkling Brut Meets “Meat and Potatoes”
• Wine Predator…. Gwendolyn Alley says Sekt Means Sparkling in German: 2013 Raumland Cuvee Marie Luise Brut Means Fondue Fun and Small Bites– Clink Different!
• Savor the Harvest shares Sparkling Wine From Around the World with Dinatoire
• Our Good Life finds the Top Affordable Sparkling Wines for Every Budget

2013 Raumland Cuvee Marie Luise Brut