Wine TV – Polt’s way

October 16, 2008

You all might know about Gary Vaynerchuk and his Wine Library TV. You might also know the German match to Gary, Marlene Duffy at “bottleplot“.

Both are doing a good job in promoting wine and wine knowledge. Do not get me wrong. However, for me personally, Gary’s video pieces are just too long (15-20 minutes is just not what I am willing to watch), and Marlene’s shorter pieces (6-7 minutes) I find often just too nerve racking.
There are others out there, of course. Though most of them are not as good (informative and lively) as Gary and Marlene. Just search on Youtube or google them.

But long before any of the wine geeks started to talk about wine on the air, Gerhard Polt, a German (and my favourite) commedian (from Bavaria), had done a beautiful persiflage about wine, wine tasting and wine connoisseurs.

Unfortunately, the video clip is in German only but you might guess the message just by looking. Basically, the bottle gives it away. The price is given in DM, an indication of the age of the clip. Today, you can buy such wines for EURO 1.49. Polt was very handsome at that time. Enjoy.

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Portugal – Quinta de Gatão

October 10, 2008

This summer we spent a wonderful week on Quinta de Gatão (www.quintagatao.com), near Penafiel, about 40 km east of Porto. “Quinta” is either translated as “Farm/Vineyard/Winery” or “Manor house”.

Quinta de Gatão is owned and managed by Mr. Jorge Coelho da Silva, a very lovely man who’s day job is being a professor at a teachers college in Porto. The property has been with the family since four generations. Five peasant families used to live and work there. Today, the vineyards are only cultivated every other year to produce vinho verde., a bottle of which waited for us in the fridge. In the mornings, fresh bread is delivred and you can find it hanging on the door. What a treat! The horse stable and the riding school were the main attractions for our daughters. The old folks were equally attracted by the vineyard feature.

The Quinta de Gatão consists of a manor house with a chapel surrounded by various farm buildings. Some of these were converted into cottage type accommodation. We had rented one of them. Because of its elevation one has a magnificent view of the area which is quite densely populated. In comparison to the rural Australia we are used to around Glenburn, the housing sprawl in Penafiel is a bit too much. However, it does not seem fair to compare quasi empty rural Australia to the vicinity of a bustling port city such as Porto.

The Manor house from the backside

The entrance to our cottage

We loved our cottage. With its rustic rural charm it put a spell on all of us. The walls consisted of big granite stone blocks. It has a fire place in the kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom with a loft (just as our home in Australia).

This is the place where we prepared delicious country meals

The vines are providing shade, originally to produce vegetables and other crops underneath.

A typical snack in the afternoon consisted of Vinho Verde (here ni rose), country cheese, some sausages, olives and bread.

An Australian vintner in a Portugeuse vineyard

The swimming pool with a great view of the surroundings

Apart from the riding stable and the riding arena, Quinta de Gatão has other facilities to offer its visitors. Among them is the beautiful swimming pool, a tennis court, and a large field to play all kinds of ball games; indoor entertainment such as kicker etc. and billyard is also available. One can have long walks in the vineyards and the surrounding forests.

The entrance to the chapel

We had a great time there and I can only highly recommend the place. Actually, we plan to return next year and spend some more time in this region. We had juts not sufficient time to explore the region. There is so much to see. The Douro is close by. Porto less an an hour away. But it is the hospitality of Mr. da Silva and his family which will draw us back. There are no words to describe the welcome we received on Quinta de Gatão.

Address:
Quinta de Gatão

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Life in the City – Bangkok

October 5, 2008

Well, it’s a month now that the family has been living in Bangkok. From a spacious house with a grand garden (I had one rose apple, two mango and five rambutan trees) in suburban Jakarta into a serviced apartment on the 11th floor in Bangkok, that’s quite a change.

The view from Centre Point Thong Lo in the evening

Both cities are mega cities in Asia with millions of inhabitants, and in fact we lived most of our 20 years in Asia in these kinds of cities (Beijing, New Delhi were the others, the only exception was maybe Singapore which was small in comparison, with only 3.5 million inhabitants). But in Jakarta we lived as if we were in one of the millions of villages on Java island, with roosters crowing in the mornings, goats bleating, a motorcycle passing, the call of the chatib from the local mosque, these were the sounds we were used to. The garden was green, which had a calming down effect on me. My tropical garden was where I could forget where I was.

Much less traffic in the morning

Without the double glazing here on the 11th floor, we would be engulfed in motorcar noise. Thong Lo is the name of the neighbourhood and it’s a lovely place with many small shops and restaurants. Most of the people living here seem to be Thai, interspersed with the odd foreigner here and there. There a quite a few wine shops and wine bars in the vicinity. I will have to explore them and report to you. Soon you will hear more about fine wines in Bangkok.

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Trier, Mosel: Wine Auction 2008

October 4, 2008

The wine city of Trier (from the Petrisberg side)

According to the website www.riesling.de the annual wine auction of the “grosser Ring” (freely translated as ‘big ring’) a subdivision of the regional section of the Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates (that is how on the website of the association, the German title: “Verband der Deutschen Prädikatsweingüter” is translated) was a full success. The association has about 200 members German wide. About 13,000 bottles of wine were auctioned off. The sale brought in an amount of € 1.3 million.

The top prices were earned by wines from Weingut Egon Müller (Saar), Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm, and Weingut Dr. Loosen, all top producers of the Mosel wine region.

The most expensive wine of the auction was a single bottle of a ‘1959 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese’ by Weingut Joh. Jos. Prüm which was sold for € 5.097.96. Wow, isn’t that amazing.

But also prices for recent vintages were quite high. A ‘2007 Scharzhofberger Auslese Goldkapsel’ by Weingut Egon Müller sold for € 582.62 , a ‘2007 Graacher Himmelreich Auslese Lange Goldkapsel’ by Weingut Jo. Jos. Prüm for € 485.52 and a ‘2007 Erdener Prälat Auslese Lange Goldkapsel’ by Weingut Dr. Loosen for € 449.11

Wine bar Kesselstadt in Trier just opposite the church of Liebfrauen

The auction lasted for more than 5 hours much longer than a marathon run. The general trend as far as bottle size is concerned seems to be heading towards magnum bottles. For wines filled in such size bottles premiums were paid.

The tasting prior to the auction revealed the very high quality standard of the 2007 vintage Rieling wines. On www.riesling.de you can find the detallied rating of the individual wines and the prices paid for the various lots sold.

Even for ordinary mortals like me, the auction is good news. The superior quality of the 2007 Mosel Riesling vintage will also apply for more everyday wines which I can afford. Next time in Trier I will indulge myself again. Why don’t you come with me.

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To be or not to be – a wine blogger !

September 30, 2008

I am a wine blogger since almost two years and I have seen and visited many blogs on wine and food, wine tastings, viticulture and wine-making. Some of these blogs I frequent often, others, only from time to time. It is always informative and I learned many things about the wine industry and how people think and feel about wine.

The romantics view of wine blogging: A glass of White Porto from Quinta do Castelinho in the Douro wine region, Portugal

Last night was another one of those nights when I could not sleep and so I started to surf the internet’s wine websites and blogs. I was reminded what a terrific world is out there. Goodness me, how interesting this is. I could not stop looking around. Amazing what I found. The wine and food bloggers come in many types, colours, shapes, characters, personalities, professions, etc.

Some are

professionals

and others are

amateurs

some are

expert connoisseurs

others are

wild enthusiasts

some are

profit oriented businesses and wine journalists

others, however, are

enthusiastic hobby writers

some are

cellar door and wine distributors

others are

private individuals and consumers

some of them are

sophisticated, polished urbane wine freaks

others are

rural folks (like me), vintners and wine makers

some write

all alone (like me)

others

work in teams and thereby share the burden to produce content and attempt to avoid boredom.

Some do it for money, most do it to have fun. It goes without saying that some, while doing it for money, have fun as well.

The reality of the modern blogger.

Let me share with you some of my findings and conclusions.

First, I felt pretty small and amateurish, technically as well as subject matter wise. There are so many knowledgeable people out there, amazing.

My own blog which I tend with loving care since January 2007 is a rather simple affair. Out there in cyberspace there are sites with podcasts, with videos, with music, with slide shows, presentations, breathtaking links and so on. Exciting stuff.

I have only stories and some pictures.

Second, the world of wine bloggers is pretty dynamic. Moreover, they seems to lead interesting lives.

Third, wine bloggers network quite a bit. Last year I followed the German wine bloggers workshop at an important wine expo (I forgot which one).

At the end of August the European Wine Blogger Conference (http://ewbc2008.wineblogger.info) was held in Spain (in Logrono!).

The American blogger community will follow suit in October in Sonoma County in California (http://winebloggersconference.org). The participants list is very impressive. What a large community there is.

German wine bloggers conduct regularly the so called “wine rally”, American wine bloggers have a format called “Wine Blogging Wednesday”. Both formats are used to share interesting stories about a given wine theme and publish them in a co-ordinated way. The Americans have even established a website for the purpose (www.winebloggingwednesday.org)

As with music and films wine bloggers are rated in “top” …. something. For instance the top 100 and other lists of top bloggers, either rated by links and/or traffic or after voting by users.

I found such a list from June this year. And can you imagine the top 100 is lead by a German wine blogger (Dr. Achim Becker of Wineterminator). The second blogger gets almost only a third of the top one’s votes. Wine Library TV (Gary Vaynerchuk) ranks only in 5th position. No. 6 is another German (Mario Scheuermann and his Planet Bordeaux) who ranks in 10th position with another blog (drink tank).

I suggest you explore this cyberworld yourself. And do not forget to visit wineries and vineyards from time to time. the real stuff.

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From North to South

September 28, 2008

Pinot Noir grapes at the Ahr.

It’s vintage time in my native Germany. Reports I am reading about the harvest conditions seem to indicate that everything is going well. Also my German wine blogger colleagues seem to be content.

Down under in Victoria, we have springtime. Spring is usually Victoria’s wettest season. However, weather reports indicate that this September will be one with the lowest precipitation in history of Victoria.

Melbourne recorded only 16 mm of rain in September, the lowest since recording began in 1855. The long-term average is about 59 mm. Also average day temperature was well above the long-term average (19 instaed of 17 degrees celsius) which make September 2008 the warmest September since 2001. The same trend could be observed regarding night temperatures.

Reservoirs around the state are at a record low as well. That’s no good news for vintners and grape growers.

I wonder how full our two dams at Two Hills Vineyard are. So far we had always had sufficient water to bridge the 4-6 weeks of high summer. Last year we had hoped that the draught would be finally broken. That seems not to be the case.

But as always, we hope for a good harvest.

Lake Eildon low on water (only 23% of capacity, 09/2008)

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Wine all over the place – a glimpse at Berlin wine shops

September 19, 2008

The wine industry receives confusing signals these days. In Germany and the EU the ban of advertisement for alcohol and alcoholic drinks is in the making. In some media the devastating effects of such regulations are already being discussed. There were also voices in favour of a ban supporting the current regulatory trend which attempts to further restrict our basic human freedoms and violating our rights.

After the bad news, the good one: In recent news the advent of wine distribution through Amazon was hinted at. The start of wine marketing through such a potent internet channel could not be a more distant twin of the current ascetic (fun and joy hating) trend described above, first hitting smokers and now (maybe) the wine lovers. However, history suggests that human freedoms can be curtailed for a short while only. Ultimately we will break free from such patronizing behaviour of the state, because we are all voters and tax payers and as we say in German, ‘where there is a will, there is a way’ (Wo ein Wille ist, da ist ein Weg).

I bring you good news from Berlin. The other day I strolled through the streets near Nollendorf Platz, and discovered to my great surprise a rather large number of wine shops in a rather small area. I randomly took pictures which I present to you below.

Most of the wine shops are specialised, usually carrying wines from one or more regions or a selection of countries. Above a Rioja specialist, below a shop selling mainly French wines.

Some shops try to offer a wider selection, despite being “small”.

Others, as above in Goltz street, offer broad choices.

I even found an Australian wine shop with remarkable decoration.

Others offer Italian wines combined with other shopping and relaxation capabilities.

‘European and overseas wines’, is what the writing says; wow that’s amobitious.

But there are not only very specialised wine shops to be found but also very specialised restaurants. I do not refer to the Habibi Falafel, the Iranian, the Italian, the Turkish, Indian and Spanish restaurants. I found two eating places which were quite special. Many years ago I have dined in a Tibetan restaurant once in Kathmandu. Never before I have seen a Massai restaurant, even when I travelled through Tanzania and Kenia, there were no such eatery in sight. Berlin got it all.

What would you eat in a Buddha House? Answer: Tibetan, Napali and Thai cuisine. Bon appetit.

My tip: visit Berlin, it is such a fabulous place to explore and to discover.

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What is “rustic”?

September 6, 2008

In yesterdays International Herald Tribune, I stumbled across an article by Eric Asimov on a Côtes du Rhône wine tasting. In this context the author contemplated the use of the word “rustic” and its meaning in describing wine styles. Eric rightly pointed out that “rustic” means different things to different people which in the end leads to quite a degree of confusion.

Does “rustic” mean “rough” and “simple” as some users imply thereby giving the term a negative connotation? Or is it meant positively in admiration for wines that show true character of a regional nature, wines that cannot come from elsewhere but this one place, made under the specific conditions pertinent to the location. Whatever the intended meaning, one might better understand the complexity of the term if contrasting it with the opposite meaning.

For “rough” and “simple” one could think of “elegant” or “refined” and “complex”, “sophisticated” maybe “urbane”. And for “regional character” the opposite might be “national”, “placeless”, “cosmopolitan”, “pan-something”. Some of my vintner-winemaker friends use another term to describe the opposite of “regional character” wines. They call it “industrial” wines often faultless products, technically well made but lacking in “character”. In this case a “hand made” wine is contrasted with a “technical” product.

Another aspect of an “industrial” wine is the consistency of the taste. One knows what to expect, its predictable. In contrast we have the small single vineyard with the variability of season where you “drink” the terroir, the site and its climate of that particular year. Whereas the former wines are for the “layperson” and the “conservative” who does not want to make a “mistake” in the choice of the wine, the latter are for the “connoisseur” and the adventurer.

We as small and/or boutique vintners want of course to make “faultless” wines but at the same time our main selling point possibly lies in our “fault lines”, our uniqueness, our authenticity, our character, our variability, our unpredictability. The “roughness” and “simplicity” of our artisan efforts in producing great wines of character becomes the backbone of our art of wine-making and as long as there are enough adventurers out there, our life and work will be interesting and rewarding.

Whatever it is, the wine I had, was just delicious (July 2008 in Madrid)

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Songs of farewell

August 26, 2008

The last days in any one place, one is inclined to romanticize things.

But never forget “one man’s joy is another man’s torment”. It seems that the Chatib (in some places one calls them muezzins, the ones who call the faith to prayers) of the little mosque nearby is not calling for night and morning prayers as he used to. Maybe someone made a generous donation to the mosque to shut them up.

We did not sleep much the last couple of days in our little paradise in Lebak Bulus IV, No.9 C. In the past we used to struggle against the sound of the Chatib keeping us awake. Nonetheless, we long for the farewell signals of the call to prayer as we lie awake wondering about the life to come.

Our little mosque

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Elephants and vines

August 22, 2008

On a recent flight from Bangkok to Jakarta, I flicked through the airline magazine and found an interesting article about Thai wines. Yes, also the Thais grow grapes these days.

At Baan Khork Chang you can find the HuaHin vineyard (www.huahinhillsvineyard.com), near the seaside resort of Hua Hin.

As a unique feature they offer elephant rides in the vineyard. Who can beat this? The estate, though called a “boutique” vineyard, is not quite small but covering 400 acres (what would they call our 4 ha vineyard if 400 acres warrants the label “boutique”).

The article says that the vineyard was planted on the site of a former elephant corral. Another feature difficult to beat.

A photo collage from the magazine of Thai Airlines (see above) gives a glimpse of the adventure waiting for the casual visitor. Why the guy on the elephant’s back is holding a hoe is not clear but he must be up to something. When we finally live in Bangkok, I will check this vineyard out and sample some of its wines.

According to the website, Hua Hin grows Tempranillo, Brunello/Sangiaovese, Shiraz, Black Muscat, Chenin Blanc, and Colombard. The wines must be quite good because the Hua Hin Vineyard has been awarded four international wine medals. I will definitely see what this is all about.

Who of you has tasted the wines as yet?

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