Most people, when asked about cider regions in Europe, reply as follows: the UK, France or Spain. Despite being a cider region with a long cider tradition, Germany is often being neglected as a cider country. I suppose the beer tradition and wine tradition of Germany is better rooted in everyone minds than one may think. Even if someone thinks of Germany as a cider-making country, the first region that comes to mind is obviously Frankfurt and the Hesse region. But Germany has much more to offer in terms of cider than only Hesse. Another cider region in Germany is Rhineland Palatinate with Trier and its local apple wine called Viez that locals drink from a ceramic mug called Porz.
When traveling to Trier and nearby Luxembourg I already had a chance to sample Viez. But, unfortunately, at this point in time I was limited to Viez available in supermarkets that was made by large producers. So one could say that I haven’t tried any Viez made by a craft cider maker. Luckily for me, recently Dirk from the Lampadener Viezjungen, German for the Viez Boys of Lampaden, reached out to me asking me to try their Birnenviez (Viez made with pears) and Cider 2023. The latter was even awarded at a regional contest in the Rhineland Palatinate.
Below you will find an overview of two Viez that I’m going to review today.
| Name | Vintage | Description | ABV |
| Birnenviez 2023 | 2023 | a blend of locally grown perry pears and 20% apple wine | 5.5% |
| Cider 2023 Lampadener Mühle traditionell herb | 2023 | 7% |
Clik here to view.
Clik here to view.
From left to right: Birnenviez 2023 and Cider 2023 Lampadener Mühle traditionell herb
Tasting notes:
| Name | Appearance | Aroma/Nose | Taste | Overall |
| Birnenviez 2023 | cloudy, pale golden yellow, low carbonation, low body, | Weak, dominated by fresh yeast. Further down notes of lychee and ripe yellow apple flesh | a touch of sweetness, low to medium acidity, lemon juice, fresh pear, yellow apple, gooseberry, apple stem and herbal notes. A touch of bitterness and medium astringency. | Despite being low-bodied, it doesn’t taste watery. It is complex and has a good length. The level of both acidity and astringency is balanced. Tastes fruity. Only the nose is not only weak but also dominated by yeast so it is a challenge to identify further notes on the nose. There is a potential for more. 3/6 |
| Cider 2023 | cloudy, golden yellow, low carbonation, low body. Half of the bottle content escaped after opening. | Moderately strong, lightly oxidised with notes of rum, red berries and red apple | dry, medium acidity, lemon juice, orange juice, rum, apple stem, almost no astringency. Notes of red berries. Finishes dry with a touch of bitterness and some minerality. | Despite the fact that there must have been some yeast activity going on as half of the bottle content escaped after I opened it, I enjoyed having this cider. It had some good aromatics and structure. It must have oxidised a bit as there were notes of rum, which indicates that but they contributed to the overall taste. I enjoyed having it. 5/6 |
Summary: Germans have a saying “Äpfel mit Birnen vergleichen”, which translates to “comparing apples with pears”. It means that you can’t compare things that are so different from each other. In case of these two Viez, one made from pears, while the other from apples, I will have to agree. Yet, there were features that they had in common. Namely, both were light but not watery. They had a good length as they didn’t finish quickly but new notes appeared after a while. Both were nicely balanced in terms of acidity so they didn’t taste watery but where also not too acid dominant. The Birnenviez was clean but had too much yeasty aromas on the nose so I had a hard time identifying any other notes. Furthermore, the nose was rather weak. I must say that I really enjoyed having Cider 2023. Everything was right. The acidity, the length, good array of flavours both on the nose and on the palate. The note of rum gave this cider a special kick. If only it didn’t escape after opening…well, that’s something that guys from Lampadener Viezjungen have to work on. But overall, I’m happy to say that my first craft Viez was an enjoyable experience and I hope that the Viez scene will continue to grow. Well done, Dirk and Co.. I could drink more of that Viez.
Availability: directly from Lampadener Viezjungen
Price: Dirk provided me with cider samples.