Champage: Larmandier-Bernier

December 5, 2009

Champagne by Larmandier-Bernier

We were so lucky. When Timo visited us a couple of weeks ago, he brought with him a bottle of ‘Blanc de Blancs, Premier Cru, Extra-Brut’ by Larmandier-Bernier, Champage/France. We do not drink much champagne these days, just too expensive in Thailand. I was more than happy to fetch the champagne glasses when Timo produced the bottle from his luggage. I admit that I had never heard about this producer but since I do not know much about champagne that did not bother me.

Timo Meyer pouring the champagne

But this drop deserves a special mention. It was the perfect wine to celebrate a reunion. Larmandier-Bernier is a small champagne house. Pierre and Sophie Larmandier’s basic philosophy is to make a natural wine starting in the vineyard right through to wine-making. They go for small yields, old vines, and hand picking. They practice biodynamic viticulture. The motto is balance in diversity.

The ‘Blanc de Blancs’ is mainly made of the 2006 Chardonnay vintage with reserve wines from 2004 and 2005 of about 40%. It is an elegant champagne, mineral, floral notes can be detected, a sparkling wine with a beautiful finish.

Champagne producers are hard hit by the decline in demand partly caused by the impact of the global financial crisis. In the USA sales of champagne shrank by about 43% in 2009. In Britain and France the decline was lower, 33% and 7% respectively. In contrast lower-price sparkling from other sources, mostly cheaper wines from Italy and Spain are up this year. I just hope that especially the small champagne houses can weather this crisis. It would be a shame to lose them.

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Decadence rules

December 4, 2009

Yesterday was downhill all the way as far as my “lunch” was concerned. Usually I have just a “Muesli Riegel” of the kind in the picture below. However, when I learned that my colleague Bjoern would go to “the Scottish restaurant”, I asked him to bring back a Big Mac for me (picture above). And so it was that decadence ruled.

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Anniversary of Thai-German relations celebrated in style with German wine

December 3, 2009

The other day Lufthansa celebrated it’s 50 years of scheduled flight services to Bangkok, Thailand. I was invited to a function at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel which provided not only a splendid backdrop to the event but also supplied the guests with very jummy culinary delights.

Also the wines, a red and a white, both from Germany, were first class. Lufthansa served a 2008 Spätburgunder from Meyer-Näkel, Ahr and a 2008 Riesling from Hermann Dönnhoff, Nahe. What a treat. I could not believe my luck.

When I was a student of agriculture at Bonn University, one of my fellow students, came from the nahe wine region. She had a sticker on her car reading: “Nahewein ein Edelstein”, freely translated as “Wine from the Nahe a gemstone” (unfortunately this does not rhyme as the German slogan). Both wines were gemstones, indeed.

In the end the Riesling somehow blended better with the food, a mix of Thai, German, and other cuisines served in small portions in a snack-type fashion. The anniversary was celebrated in style with beautiful visualizations (among them old photos from good old Bangkok), street food, a twist dancing group, sepia photo taking, a choir and other singers. I wish Lufthansa many more successful years with their venture in Thailand.

PS: I did not bring a camera and therefore do not possess any photos. I also somehow forgot to study the labels of the bottles carefully. That’s a cumbersome affair for me if waiters are serving.

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