1540 Steinwein Tasting

Unfortunately, no, I didn't taste this wine, but I read about it in Hugh Johnson's, Vintage: The Story of Wine. This is a great book, but it totally reads like a history book with wine playing the role of a major character that surfaces through time and place. I was totally shocked by the Vix Krater, when I read about it in Johnson's book and now, reading about tasting a 1540 Steinwein speaks to the immortality and romance of wine. In 1961, Hugh Johnson tasted the 1540 Steinwein, along with a Rüdesheimer 1857 and the Schloss Johannisberger 1820. Johnson writes that both the Rüdesheimer 1857 and a Schloss Johannisberger 1820 had completely perished, but the 1540 Steinwein was still alive.¹ Johnson writes that the year 1540 was so hot that the Rhine dried up and you could walk across it. It was cheaper to drink wine than to drink water. With a record 12 weeks of relentless sun, the year 1540 was called "The Great Sun Year" and created this remarkable vintage.²
An article on line that gives a history of the cellar beneath the Würzburg Residence called the Bürgerspital’s cellar that housed the 1540 Steinwein is an interesting read with some remarkable photos.³

1. Hugh Johnson Vintage: The Story of Wine published in 1989.
2. Germany's Warmest Year Since 1540 Creates Historic Wines
3. Würzburg’s Weingut Bürgerspital and Steinwein: Bocksbeutel and Silvaner