Welcome to Season 2Episode 2 of TRINKTalks! In this episode we head to the volcanic cliffs of the Nahe to speak with Karsten Peter, the visionary winemaker and director of the historic Gut Hermannsberg. Karsten shares the daring philosophy behind his “late-release” strategy—holding back top Rieslings for five years to allow their true terroir to emerge—and discusses the radical decision to declassify the entire 2024 harvest following a catastrophic frost. From the man-made legacy of the Kupfergrube copper mine to his personal limestone-driven project in the Pfalz, this conversation explores the intersection of patience, site-specific winemaking, and the grit required to manage one of Germany’s most prestigious estates.

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ABOUT TODAY’S GUEST 

Karsten Peter is a highly decorated German winemaker celebrated for his ability to translate unique terroir into world-class wines, most notably through his transformative work at the historic Gut Hermannsberg estate in the Nahe. 

Born into a winemaking family with over 300 years of heritage in Bad Dürkheim, Peter gained international experience in Burgundy, Australia, and New Zealand before joining Gut Hermannsberg in 2009, where he was instrumental in restoring the Royal Prussian Domain to its former glory. Recognized as “Winemaker of the Year” by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, he is known for a “dogma-free” philosophy that prioritizes natural fermentation, minimal intervention, and extended aging to produce complex, mineral-driven Rieslings. 

Since 2021, he has focused on his own family estate in the Pfalz, Weingut Karsten Peter, where he applies his site-specific approach to organic viticulture and the production of elegant Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Riesling.

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ABOUT THE HOSTS OF TRINK TALKS

Valerie Kathawala specializes in the wine cultures, traditions, and innovations of Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, and Switzerland, as well as those closer to her home in New York City. Her work appears in the pages of Noble Rot, The Art of Eating, SevenFifty Daily, Meininger’s Wine Business International, Pipette, Glug, Pellicle and a number of other publications. She is the co-founder and co-editor of the wine magazine TRINK. She is currently at work researching and writing a new course (2025) on German wines for the Wine Scholar Guild. 

Paula Redes Sidore moves smoothly between the worlds of wine and words. She is a double-certified sommelier, through the Court of Master Sommeliers and the Chamber of Commerce.  In 2012, she founded Weinstory, a creative content and translation agency dedicated to transposing the world of German-speaking wine into English. She is the German and Austrian regional specialist for jancisrobinson.com and a member of the Circle of Wine Writers. Paula has a Masters degree in fiction writing, and her work has been featured in jr.com, Sevenfifty Daily, Feinschmecker, and Heated.

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