Abi Duhr: the alchemist

Breaking Bad

The resemblance to Walter White from the series "Breaking Bad" is striking, all the more so since the winemaker began by studying biochemistry. But as soon as the conversation starts, it is the tone that the two characters seem to share. Direct. Devoid of any sense of compromise. "Taste is personal," he says, for instance. The real question he asked himself as a young winemaker was whether to produce competition champions or wines that are a pleasure to drink at the table. A choice between international recognition and gastronomy: he chose the latter. He fights against the "wow" effect of the first impression, which disappoints later on. "The pleasure has to last until the end," he says, and reckons it took him 15 years to find the right formula by stubbornly applying a contrarian approach. "The mentality in Luxembourg mimics 'Beaujolais nouveau': the wine is produced and sold on the spot. At some point, wine lovers no longer want to drink it, and certainly not keep it." His holy grail? Harmony.

A family heritage

The Duhr family has been growing wine for at least 11 generations. 350 years. "Look up 'Clos mon vieux moulin' if you want to explore the genealogy," Abi tells us. His grandfather, Albert Duhr, combined winemaking with a seat in Parliament for the "Parti de la Droite", the forerunner of the CSV, almost until his death in 1937. His father Aloyse, known as "Aly", carried on in the same vein as mayor of Wormeldange, member of parliament and producer until 1974. It was he who bought the villa in Grevenmacher after the Second World War, where he started producing crémant. He somewhat neglected the vines, but had three sons. Abi, who studied hotel management in Diekirch and then biochemistry. Georges, who became an ophthalmologist. And the youngest, Léon, who ran the Domaine Madame Aly Duhr in Ahn until his untimely death in 1999; it is now run by his two sons, Ben and Max.

My two obsessions are to produce harmonious wine that people will love to drink, and to open up new markets.

A history of wine

"Luxembourg never really took an interest in selling abroad." First because it was easy to sell all the wine young. Then because of a VAT problem. Most winemakers kept rudimentary accounts. The producer paid the VAT but never managed to recover it. From the outset, Abi Duhr opted for an accounting system capable of overcoming this kind of difficulty. From 1842 to 1918, the Zollverein steered production and tastes towards Germany. From 1921, the Belgium-Luxembourg Economic Union influenced the grape varieties. Elbling, for example, does not suit Belgian tastes! Abi Duhr is above all an enthusiast who travels through Burgundy, Bordeaux and other prestigious regions, returning with cases of wine for which he acts as a merchant.

The alchemist

"Patience is very important with wine. A catastrophic decision at the start can turn out to be beneficial in the medium term." To produce a good wine, the grape variety matters little. What counts is what the winemaker plans to do with it. Elbling, for example, has a poor reputation, but it can develop like a Chablis. "When I hear people complain that Elbling is not a Chablis, I tell myself we have come a long way!" Maturation plays an important role: "Riesling in barrels gives nothing, but everything else works." Sometimes two weeks in barrels is enough. Blending is also easy according to Abi Duhr, through trial and error between the different plots and grape varieties. In the end, "the key lies in the yield". Less is more. "The less I harvest, the less my back hurts," he concludes with a grin. In his cellar, the yellow cases of his own wines: the famous "Château Pauqué". The Clos de la Falaise (Chardonnay). The Riesling Vieilles Vignes. The Riesling Paradäis. Wines built to age: Restaurant Fani served me a bottle from 2001 last month. Wines capable of convincing connoisseurs that Luxembourg has nothing to envy the best German winemakers, when they insist on aiming for excellence.