Mother’s day – lunch at home

May 12, 2008

Normally we go out for lunch at Mother’s day. But on Sunday we stayed home. Margit cooked a beautiful meal. We had prawns and a risotto “arrabiata”, nice and spicy and a fresh green salad.

It was a beautiful tropical day, the beginning of the dry season in Jakarta. Our garden is lush and green, some of my orchids are still in bloom. In short it was wonderful at home, not disturbed by anybody.

The prawns

The risotto “arrabiata”

A bottle of Mosel Riesling from Trier

Well and what did we drink with the food? I raided my little wine cellar and dug our one of my last bottles of Mosel Riesling. This time a wine from Staatliche Weinbaudomäne Trier, a ‘2005 Avelsbacher Hammerstein Riesling Kabinett’.

It was, I would say, a semi-dry Riesling, maybe a bit on the sweet side. Anyway, it was too sweet for me, but matched the spicy risotto perfectly. The wine has only 8.5 % alcohol; it is fruity, spicy and aromatic, with a good body, structure and length. It was awarded a gold medal by the state of Rheinland-Pfalz’ wine show.

A firework for the nose

The Staatliche Weinbaudomäne (it means ‘estate’ or ‘domain’) is owned by the state of Rheinland-Pfalz. Today, it cultivates about 31 ha of vines at various locations near Trier along the Avelsbach stream, a brook of 4.6 km length which flows into the Mosel river.

In 1996 the estate celebrated its 100 anniversary. It was founded in 1896 by the then Prussian State government and covered about 200 ha under vines consisting of three separate estates, Avelsbach, Ockfen and Serrig, two of which were located at the Saar, another tributary of the Mosel.

The Avelsbach is divided into five ‘terroirs’ (locations), Altenberg, Herrenberg, Kupp, Hammerstein and Rotlay (the last of which is not in production any more).

Interesting is that this wine must appeal to Japanese consumers because of the dozen wine sites a search leads you to, at least 50% were in Japanese characters.

Address
Staatliche Weinbaudomäne Trier
Deworastrasse 3
54290 Trier

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Dr. Loosen, I presume

May 11, 2008

Last night we went to dinner with our dear old friends Liz and Walter. After nibblies (as we say in Australia) at their home we proceeded to Cork and Screw, the very hip and extremely trendy restaurant in Jakarta.

The food was excellent as always. We had an Australian Shiraz with the meals and moved on to dessert. Three of us had crème brûlé; Liz had some kind of chocolate dessert. There were only three wines to choose from, two “half bottles” and a Riesling Spätlese and can you imagine from where? The Mosel!.

And what was it? I could not believe my eyes, a ‘2006 Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese’ for only about 33 €. We needed to have this wine. What a bargain. Usually one cannot get any Mosel wine here in Jakarta. I could have kissed the people from Cork and Screw and Vin +, the wine shop associated to the restaurant.

The empty bottle ‘2006 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese’, Dr. Loosen, Bernkastel, Mosel

I must admit that though I come from the Mosel, I have never had a bottle of Dr. Loosen’s wine (www.drloosen.com). He is such a famous vintner, sitting on all kinds of wine juries, all over the world. It had to come to that. I tasted his wine in Jakarta, a couple of thousand miles from home. The major German Riesling portal (www.riesling.de) lists him as the top vintner of their top 10 wineries.

“Wehlener Sonnenuhr” is one of the prime terroirs (about 65 ha) on the Mosel, all on steep slopes. A sundial is to be found right among the vines and that gave the location its name.

Wehlener Sonnenuhr (source: www.drloosen.com)

The wine has only 8% alcohol and was the perfect match with our dessert. Of course we drank it too young, but we had no choice, waiting was just not feasible. The wine displays and expressive nose, shows apple, lemon, almonds and nuts. The acids were well balanced and the full sweetness gives it a round and lingering finish. We all loved the wine.

When the waiter wanted to clear the table I told him my story: that I was from Trier, Mosel , not far away from where this wine came from and that I wanted to take the empty bottle home. “Tidak apa apa”, the kind man said, meaning “no worries” in Australian, and he gave me a Cork and Screw bag to carry the bottle.

How wonderful. If you happen to be in Jakarta one of these days, have a meal there; it’s certainly worth it: great place, great service, great food, great wines.

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Wine Rally – German wine bloggers on the move

May 6, 2008

German wine bloggers have established a monthly scheme called “wine rally” where one blogger hosts a blog entry collection around a predetermined theme. The last one was for instance about “Chenin Blanc”. wines.

I have participated in two rallies over the last couple of months and it was great fun. Moreover, I learned a lot about the topics discussed myself. I also binds the blogger community together somehow; it is networking in action.

Since the blog entries are in German, I will try to summarize some of the highlights of the last rally for you here in English. The host this time was Christoph Raffelt. On his blog Originalverkorkt one can find interesting wine reviews and stories around food and drinks. Also the photos on the blog are very appealing.

– About 15 bloggers participated this time.
– Most Chenin Blanc wines tasted by the bloggers came from the Loire Valley, some from South Africa but generally new world wines were not favourably reviewed.
– Many of the tasted wines came from biologic or bio-dynamic production.

Which wines were tasted?

– Crémant de Loire
– Les Doucinières von Vincent Girault (Loir)
– Crémant von Château Tour Grise (Loir)
– Domaine Patrick Baudouin Effusion 2004 (Anjou)
– Domaine de la Taille aux Loups by Jacky Blot
– Vouvray by Gaston Huet
– Coteaux du Layon by Jo Pithon
– Coteaux du Layon
– Plaisier der Domaine de Romchambeau (Coteaux de l`Aubance)
– Vouvray 1999, Domaine du Clos de L`Epinay
– 2001 Saumur Blanc Brézé by Clos Rougeard
– Clos de Coulaine by Claude Papin, Château Pierre Bise (Savennière)
– Raats Chenin Blanc and Raats Original Chenin Blanc (Steen, South Africa)

And who were the participants? In the following I just list blogs and their addresses. For readers who are fluent in German this could be a real treat because many of the German and Austrian wine bloggers are true originals. Check it out.

• six-to-nine (Pivu)
• vinissimus (Robert Freudenthaler)
• myexperience4u (Svetlana Kittke)
• Weingut Lisson (Iris Rutz-Rudel)
• Kaulweinblog
• K&M Gutsweinblog (Bernd Klingenbrunn)
• Culinarium Curiosum (Sabrina und Simon Klaiber)
• weinwelt (Michael)
• Nikos Weinwelten (Niko Rechenberg)
• drinktank (Mario Scheuermann)
• Winzerblog (Thomas Lippert)
• Weingut Steffens-Keß (Harald)
• viva-vino (Matthias Metze)

I hope this gives you a first impression even if it might be rather superficial. I do not know of any such initiative by Anglo-Saxon wine bloggers and their various communities. If you know something, please get in touch with me. Yours

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Country Inns in Germany – Klostermühle, Ockfen, Saar

May 5, 2008

When I am visiting my hometown Trier I always try to arrange an outing to the Saar, my most favourite tributary of the Mosel (the other one I love very much, is the river Ruwer).

One day in March my mother, my friend Heinz and I, we went for lunch in the countryside. It was March. Spring was waiting in the wings, but could not get through as yet. However, it was a beautiful day. We choose the Klostermühle in Ockfen, Saar, as our destination, a winery cum hotel and restaurant (www.bockstein.de).

Winery-Hotel-Restaurat Klostermühle in Ockfen, Saar

Pork tenderloin with Spaetzle, a German type of noodle dumplings

The food was delicious, typical country inn style, rustique, big portions, in short: value for money type of food. I had one of their Rieslings with my food. Ockfener Bockstein is the name of the most famous location (terroir) in this neck of the wood. It was a very typical Saar Riesling, low in alcohol but zippy and fruity, with complex acids, a good structure and a long and intense finish.

After lunch we drove though the vineyards of Ockfen. On our way to Schoden where Heinz together with some friends is renting a hunting ground, we passed by the “Bockstein” which you can see in the picture below (where the tree line on the hill in the background is ending).

Ockfener Bockstein, one of the most famous “terroirs” of the Saar

The Saar is a very picturesque wine region and tourist destination in southwestern Germany and certainly worth a visit. Do it regularly as I do. The Riesling wines are among the best of Germany.

Address
Weingut – Hotel – Restaurant Klostermühle
Fam. Minn
54441 Ockfen, Saar
+49-6581-9293-0

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Restaurants in Asia – Bon Ton, Kuala Lumpur

April 29, 2008

One of my most favourite eating places in Kuala Lumpur is the restaurant & wine bar “Bon Ton” (www.bontonkl.com). I went their the other day with some colleagues for a business dinner.

The restaurant is located right in the middle of town. There is a huge parking lot in front of the place because next to it is another popular Malaysian restaurant. The decoration is in fusion style of various origins, mostly Southeastasian with some European influence. The web page of “Bon Ton” includes some nice photos of the interior (better ones than I could make). Have a look.

Since I was the only one drinking wine, I restricted myself to the house wine, an Australian Shiraz (I somehow did not ask where it came from, sorry folks, will do it next time). The wine list is very impressive and contains many prime producers from Australia, Europe and South Africa among others.

Below you can see what we had.

Prawn ravioli in spicy Thai broth with Cilantro

Vegetable platter of pita bread with roasted vegetables and lentil stew

Asian rack of lamb with potatoes, mushrooms and oriental salad

The food is excellent, the atmosphere very relaxing and inviting, the service is great and that together makes it a great place to take you family and friends to when in KL.

See you there, one day.

Address:
Bon Ton
Restaurant, Wine Bar and Catering
No 8, Jalan Conlay
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Tel.: +60-3-21413848
Fax: +60-3-21449289
e-mail: info@bontonkl.com

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….and then came lunch!

April 28, 2008

Sunday lunch is always a treat. Especially now, that I have to travel so much, the four of us enjoy the little time together that we have, and Sunday is prime time.

After our “late” breakfast cum brunch, we sat down to a hearty meal of “Osso bucco in bianco” (oxtail/veal in white), gratinate potatoes, celery gratinated with cheese, a fresh tomato salad and some fresh bread.

For wine, I choose a Ross Estate Barossa Valley ‘2002 Semillion (unwooded)’ with 12 % alcohol (for US $ 11.20/bottle in my local wine shop). It was the perfect wine with the food. I do not drink much Semillon, I must admit.

But ever since my friend Alan Wall has pointed me to the Hunter Valley Semillon wines, I look out for this variety and buy a bottle here and there.

I love the golden colour of the wine and its full body. It had the typical fig, lemon and pear aromas, was creamy and “fat”, a great complement to our food.

Rod Chapman, the winemaker at Ross Estate, has extensive experience (including 18 years making Grange at Penfolds), and is committed to excellence. The Semillon vines at the estate are at least 35 years old and produce outstanding fruit.

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Sunday Breakfast in Jakarta

April 27, 2008

My daughters have become true gourmets. They complained today that we did not have a proper breakfast and that they wanted something thrilling.

How about melon prosciutto (Parma ham)? Well, thats what we had at 10 in the morning. One could say it was a kind of brunch, ok.

Melon prosciutto and Sauvignon Blanc from Shaw and Smith

The Shaw and Smith ‘2007 Sauvignon Blanc’ from the Adelaide Hills (www.shawandsmith.com), we drank with it (retailing in Jakarta for US $ 20.10/bottle), was just how I like SB: crisp and clean, fresh and spicy, apricot, melon, grassy notes. The wine is unwooded and has 13% alcohol.

2007 was a rather warm and dry year in the Adelaide Hills. Late frosts affected quantities but overall the quality of the fruit was very good. Because of the higher than normal temperatures, the flavours of the Sauvignon Blancs were more in the tropical fruit and less in the herbaceous spectrum.

I wonder what else is to come today after such a brilliant start.

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Chain of Ponds, Adelaide Hills, Australia

April 26, 2008

I found another treasure in our local duty free shop a Chain of Ponds ‘1999 Grave’s Gate Shiraz’, from McLaren Vale in South Australia. The homepage of Chain of Ponds (www.chainofponds.com.au), located in the Adelaide Hills, claims that they are “Australia’s “most highly awarded boutique vineyard”. After studying the page I have the feeling that for my taste, they are already much too big to qualify for such a label, but I am easy on that.

Of course their origins (in 1985) were small but they have grown over the years in a sizable business.
I just managed to get the bottle in the last year of the drinking time frame: best drinking 2003 to 2008, it says somewhere.

The wine background is given as follows:

Frost at the commencement of the 1999 growing season wiped out Chain of Ponds estate plantings of Shiraz, hence the sourcing of fruit from McLaren Vale for this wine.

In 2001 James Halliday gave a rating of 90 out of 100 point. The wine comes from the River Series, sold for A$ 18 per bottle. I payed US $ 18.20 for it, which seems to be quite reasonable. The wine could be described as follows:

<“Deep, bright red-purple; clean, fresh juicy/berry fruit on the bouquet is followed by luscious and sweet berry fruit on the palate. Neither the oak, nor the extract, nor the alcohol (13.5°) have been overdone”.

The winemaker is Neville Falkenberg. The 1999 wine must have been made by his predecessor since Neville has been with Chain of Ponds for only the last five years. The Adelaide Hills is a premier cool climate region of South Australia, only about a 20 minutes drive from the capital Adelaide. I love Adelaide not just because my wife originates from there, and recommend it for any visit to Australia. It’s a must, seriously.

Apart from this series, Chains of Ponds has a Premium Range segment. It also produces wines from Kangaroo Island grapes. Its Italian Varietals come from the Adelaide Hills (Nebbiolo, Sangiovese and Pinot Grigio). The low cost segment is called Novello Range (A$ 14/bottle). I have not been to the place but the homepage shows beautiful pictures. Another place to check out.

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Red Wine Obsession in China

April 25, 2008

Recently when I was on a stop over in Singapore, I bought some portwine at one of the DSF duty free shops in the airport. The woman behind the counter was very friendly and we chatted along. I asked her which wines were her best sellers. She answered that they were grand cru wines from Bordeaux up 1000 S$ per bottle and that they were a much sought after commodity by tourist from Mainland China.

So it came as no surprise when I read the recent news about a sale of 27 bottles of French red wine by an anonymous Beijing based billionaire for the record price of about US$ 500.000 by the London based Antique Wine Company. The wines were various vintages of reds from Romanee Conti in Burgundy. According to the Antique Wine Company it was not bought for investment but to be drank. This sale is lauded for it’s indication that wine tastes in China are becoming more complex. The time of simply buying Bordeaux wines seems to be over. The broadening of wine education and appreciation is a good thing also for Australian wine producers. The recent large sale of Shiraz wines by Hanging Rock Winery is a good example for that.

A wine bar in a hotel in Beijing

During a recent trip to China I learned that red wine can be drank in new, “innovative” ways some might call it. Next time you are in China order “Red wine set menue” and you will be served with a good bottle of red Bordeaux wine, a large glass with ice and two cans of Sprite. You mix it together and you are right.

Many wine drinkers heart may sink at the prospects of being invited by a Chinese friend to this type of “blending” red wine. If the cheap mass wines are being mercerized by this technique that might be a good thing. For boutique wine producers like myself it is a rather shocking prospect that my elegant Two Hills Merlot could be treated that way.

“Gan bei” (cheers) as the Chinese say.

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Wine Bars in Trier – Palais Walderdorff’s

April 12, 2008

There are so many good wine bars in Trier. This time I would like to introduce you to the Palais Walderdorff’s just across the cathedral in the heart of town. Its consist of a wine bar, a cafe and a restaurant and is a great place to visit.

The Walderdorff’s entry in summer 2007

I was pleasantly surprised to also find a wireless internet access, free of charge which made it even more convenient to drop by have a drink and surf the net.

The inside of the Cafe, opposite the entry to the Vinothek

Espresso

The Vinothek has a great selection of local Mosel, other German and international wines. I drank a local Rielsing which was delicious of course.

Address:
Palais Walderdorff’s
Domfreihof 1a
54290 Trier

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