Spätburgunder Rescued by H.O.

The flood disaster of 14 July 2021 will always be remembered as a tragic event in the Ahr Valley. It also hit many local businesses hard, Alexander Stodden's winery included. Alexander's barrel cellar was inundated and relevant cellar records lost. Any chance he had of identifying the individual contents of his barrels was gone. There is where Hans Oliver ('H.O.') Spanier stepped in. The Rheinhessen winemaker worked tirelessly with Alexander to taste through all the barrels and give each of them one of three possible quality ratings.