Family dinner – Little Yering Cabernet Sauvignon

May 13, 2011

To find a wine for every day which goes with many different dishes, nothing fancy, just for a family meal, can be challenging. To my great surprise, Yering Station Winery from Yarra Glen in the Yarra Valley in Victoria produces just that kind of stuff with its “Little Yering” brand. Moreover, here in Bangkok you can get a bottle of Yering wine for a decent price.

Established in 1838 Yering Station was Victoria’s first vineyard. That’s a awful long tradition in an Australian context. I like the place, the winery and the cellar door as well as the restaurant. Despite the fact that the vineyards are mostly planted on flat lands, one has a good view from the terrace.

2008 Little Yering Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz

The ‘2008 Little Yering Cabernet Shiraz’ is a blend of the two red grape varieties, an Australian classic so to say. It cost about 18 A$ if bought at the cellar door. In Bangkok you can have it from Villa Market for about 560 Bath, about 13 Euro.

The wine is aged in mainly old oak casks after it has undergone a malolactic fermentation. The vines are of medium age (7-11 years). I like the intense taste of red berries and the spiciness provided by the Shiraz grapes.

Dark red colour

We had ‘malanzane alla parmigiana’ for dinner. The photo below does not do justice to this delicious Italian dish.

Melanzane alla parmigiana

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Alamos – Cabernet Sauvignon from Argentina

May 11, 2011

2008 Alamos Cabernet Sauvignon

We had beautiful gnocchi for my farewell dinner at home before leaving for Taiwan again. On my way home from the office I dashed into a wine shop and bought a bottle of red. I selected a ‘2008 Alamos Cabernet Sauvignon’ from Mendoza, Argentina. I just wanted something else.

It turned out to be a good choice. The wine complemented the meal and harmonized well with the gnocchi in tomatoes. I loved the fine aroma of the wine, the long finish and the intense fruit flavours of red berries with some spicy notes.

Bodega Alamos produces a wide range of wines. The grapes are sourced from the Catena family vineyards in Mendoza located on high-altitude sites (3,000 to 5,000 feet). The chief wine-maker of Bodega Alamos is Felipe Stahlschmidt. I could not think of a more German name.

The price of the wine in Bangkok was, as are all wine prices, ludicrous (25 EURO/bottle). However, given the Catena family legacy regarding the production of the Malbec variety, I will try their Malbec wines next.

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Mediterranean cuisine

April 30, 2011

Skewers of lamb on the “home” grill

Lamb is not necessarily everybody’s favourite. In my native Germany the consumption of lamb is about less than one kilogram per capita. Only in the 18th century lamb and mutton was the main meat consumed in German lands. Sheep meat has a bad reputation because most people do not know how to properly prepare it. That;s at least my understanding of the matter.

Since I marries Margit I have learned my lesson about lamb. It can be a wonderful dish, you just have to cook it in the right way and, I might add, with the right spices.

The finished lamb skewers

A nice salad with onions and some chilies

Also some rice

The coriander and the other “Southern” spices as well as the lamb itself call for a Mediterranean wine. So why not a Nero d’Avola from Sicily?

This red grape variety is the most important one of the island. The grape is used in blends and for the production of fortified wines. The ‘2009 MandraRossa Nero d’ Avola, IGT’ was just the right wine for that meal.

A beautiful colour of the Nero d’Avola

Wines made from the indigenous Nero d’Avola grape is sometimes referred to as the ‘godfather’ of Sicilian wine. The MandraRossa Estate is located near Menfi in the southwest of the Island. When I visited Sicily in 1988 (oh god that’s so long ago), my first and last visit of this splendid place, we did not go that far West.

The front label

The wine shows beautiful flavours of plum, is spicy and richly textured. The MandraRossa is not a blend but a single variety wine. In my view this is a wine for every day consumption. In the “Timo Mayer classification”, it would qualify as an “umpf” wine: a wine with guts. My verdict: get a bottle and enjoy.

The back label

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How about some bubbly?

April 25, 2011

Easter, as any Christian holiday, lends itself for a treat and why not celebrate with some “bubbly” as we say in Australia. I had just the right stuff in my wine fridge, a bottle of ‘Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut Cuvée Réservée’ by Florens-Louis Heidsieck from Reims, France.

Florens-Louis Heidsieck was the founder of the champagne house Heidsieck (in 1785). He was the son of a Lutheran minister who had migrated from Westphalia to France. In October 1839 the name of Piper, another descendent of Florens-Louis, was added to the band name.

Great fizz from the Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut Cuvée Réservée

The bottle was a present from our friends Emmie and Rob. We had kept it for for some time, for a special occasion of course. This had just arrived, I guess.

The champagne is a non-vintage but very classy sparkling wine with 12% alcohol. It is a blend of 55% Pinot Noir, 15% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Meunier. The nose shows some citrus notes. The acids are finely balanced. I just loved the fact that the bubbles were “big,round and slow”.

This is a highly recommendable drop. Great stuff this Piper-Heidsieck.

The front label of the Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut Cuvée Réservée

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The “philosophers fish” with a St. Urbans-Hof Riesling

April 17, 2011

I love fish in all variations. “The Philosophers Kitchen”, a cookery book by Francine Segan offers great fish recipes. The red snapper in parchment recipe you can also find in my blog entry of 2007 titeled: A philosopher’s lunch.

Fish with olive and capers

Potato wedges

I had brought from Germany a great wine for exactly such an occasion, a ‘2009 Laurentiuslay GG Riesling’ by St. Urban’s Hof Estate in Leiwen, Mosel.

Refreshing 2009 Laurentiuslay GG Riesling

This grand cru Riesling is just wonderful. It not only scores high on Parker points but is a great example what top Riesling producers from the Mosel can do with this grape variety. The 2009 Laurentiuslay Riesling GG was one of the five best Riesling wines I tasted in 2010.

I can do only one more thing: suggest to you to get a bottle, soonest I would say.

The front label

The good news is that I have one more bottle in my fridge here in Bangkok, reserved for another special lunch with great food. Unfortunately, my fridge has no “magical properties”. I will have to bring more bottles from Germany via suitcase which is not very commodious.

Address:
St. Urbans-Hof Estate
Urbanusstraße 16
D-54340 Leiwen/Mosel
Germany

Tel.: +49 65 07 / 93 77-0
Fax: +49 65 07 / 93 77-30
www.urbans-hof.de

Winery’s opening hours:
Monday – friday: 9 am – 5 pm
Saturday: 9 am – 3 pm (on appointment)
Sundays and on holidays: closed

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Mother’s cooking: Venison with a Grans-Fassian Riesling, Leiwen, Mosel

April 13, 2011

I love nothing more than when my mother cooks venison or other game meat for me. She does not eat it herself because she does not like game meat at all. But my friend Heinz, a passionate hunter, and me, we just love it.

Mushrooms, Swabian “Spaezle” and venison from a ‘red deer’

In his freezer Heinz has stored all kinds of beautiful pieces of hare, roe deer, red deer, moufflon and wild boar from his hunting expeditions. And when I am home in Trier, we have a feast. This time they prepared a fillet from red deer for me.

And that’s the meal

No better wine with this al of game than a wine from the Saar river, I thought. Because the red deer was shot in Schoden, Saar where Heinz used to hunt. “Used to” because he lost his hunting territory. From the first of April other tenants has taken possession of it. The association of landowners, ‘Gehoeferschaft’ called in German, has decided to award the six year lease contract to another group of hunters.

But I had no wine from the Saar at hand. So what to drink with the delicious venison?

Well, there are plenty of good Riesling wines around. My choice then was a ‘2009 Laurentiuslay GG (grand cru) Riesling’ by Grans-Fassian a top Riesling producer from from Leiwen, Mosel.

Though I am not a “point drinker”, and this wine scores in the mid 90ies, is a ripper of a Riesling. As expected, it did not disappoint me. This is a “must buy” wine. I just love it. I even got a bottle here in my wine fridge in Bangkok.

So if you are traveling along the Mosel, visit Leiwen and buy a couple of cases from Grans-Fassian Estate. You will not regret it.

2009 Laurentiuslay Riesling GG by Grans-Fassian Estate

Address:
Weingut Grans-Fassian
Römerstraße 28
54340 Leiwen, Mosel

Tel.: +49- 6507 -3170
Fax: +49-6507 – 8167
E-Mail: weingut@grans-fassian.de

Monday-Friday
8.00-12.00 und 13.30-16.30 Uhr
or on prior appointment

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Wine bars in Trier: Weinstube Kesselstatt

April 10, 2011

Wine bar Kesselstatt in Trier

A place I just love to visit while in my home town Trier, Mosel is a cosy wine bar-cum-restaurant near the cathedral, called Weinstube (wine bar) Kesselstatt.

It is housed in the historic administrative building of the Estate Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, a well known winery with a long tradition (more than 600 years – difficult for us Australians to comprehend).

In front of the building is a replica of a tomb stone called the “Roman wine ship” found in Neumagen-Drohn, a village at the Mosel river, in 1878. In 220 it used to be one of two stones marking the grave of a Roman wine merchant. Honestly, I would love to get such a tombstone set on my own grave. What a hoot.

Today the winery is owned by the Reh family. Annegret Reh-Gartner manages the 36 ha of prime vineyards located along the rivers: Mosel (12 ha), Saar (12 ha) and Ruwer (12) ha. 98% of the area is under Riesling. The estate calls itself “the Riesling winery”.

When I strolled through the town at the end of March, I could not resist its magnetism and dropped in for a quick glass of wine.

The inside of wine bar Kesselstatt

Because the Kesselstatt estate owns vineyards along the three rivers constituting the former wine region of Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, one has a great choice of different Riesling wines.

I ordered a semi-dry Riesling from Scharzhofberg, a grand-cru of the outstanding Saar Riesling wines. Normally I avoid semi-dry wines but because of the early hours of my visit I just could not go for a dry Riesling.

2010 Scharzhofberger Riesling semi-dry, Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt

What a delight this wine is! I dissolved, so to say, this is Riesling at its best, and I tend to argue that none in the world is better. Lush and full, round but with zest, a titillating pleasure for the palate.

Below you will find pictures of the inside of the bar. There are old barrels filled with bottles, a old wooden press, and a side room with a map of the estates’ vineyard locations and other interesting wine paraphernalia.

Wine bottles in old barrels

A huge wooden wine press with a church bench in front

The function room

When I left the Kesselstatt wine bar revitalized and in high spirits, I walked out to a cherry tree in full blossom with a splendid view of the adjacent church of St. Liebfrauen and the cathedral (Dom, left).

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The first signs of spring in the vineyards of Olewig, Trier

March 31, 2011

This is just a photo blog entry. One could sense spring when I visited my hometown Trier in March. I deliberately went to the hight at “Perisberg” and have a good look around the vineyards and the city. I love Olewig and its wine festival. Come to Trier, the oldest city in Germany, it’s worth a visit.

The village of Olewig

Steep slope vineyards

The vines are pruned and ready for another season

The main cathedral in Trier

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Braided River Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand

March 14, 2011

It was about a week ago that we had a wonderful simple but tasty Sunday meal at our home in Thonglor, Bangkok. It consisted of a French fish soup or bouillabaisse.

The ingredients for the fish soup

The soup, ingredients and other dishes

The wine we selected for the meal was a ‘2010 Braided River Sauvignon Blanc’ from new Zealand. Braided River Wines is a family run boutique vineyard near Christchurch which produces hand crafted wines. The winery takes it’s name from the Waimakariri river and it’s braided arms.

The wine comes with a price in Bangkok which is about three times the price in New Zealand. But it’s worth it, I should say. It is what one expects from a typical New Zealand SB. Straw colour with aromas of tropical fruit and grass, beautiful texture, and a long finish. We did not regret to have paid the exorbitant price. In a country with less taxes on alcohol this wine is very affordable. You should try it.

2010 Braided River Sauvignon Blanc

Address:
Braided River Wines
24 Langdales Road
West Melton, Christchurch 7676
Tel.: 03-3421184

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Lunch at the University Cafe in Melbourne

March 6, 2011

University Cafe on a glass of wine

According to the Trip Advisor website visited today, the University Cafe in Melbourne is ranked 665 of 2,131 restaurants in the second largest metropolis of Australia.

When on the farm and vineyard in Glenburn we rarely come to town. This was an exceptional day.

We had visited Melbourne University to inform ourselves about the place since both our daughters, Lucy and Charlotte, intend to enrol their after they have finished their IB in Bangkok. The university people were very friendly and we had an appointment for lunch in Carlton with some very old friends.

Without further ado we jumped into the University Cafe, an eatery right in middle of Lygon street in the heart of Carlton. Before even considering food, we ordered a bottle of crisp Riesling from Delatite Winery, located near Mansfield in the Upper Goulburn Wine Region.

Ah, wine from Upper Goulburn, our wine region. Our own little vineyard is located at the most southern tip of this new wine region of Victoria. Delatite Winery, near Mansfield, planted in 1968 is one of the oldest vineyards there.

Delatite is committed to organic practices in the vineyard and winery. The winery was established in 1982 by Robert and Vivienne Ritchie. Today, their son David is running the family business. Delatite is famous for its aromatic wines. Their Riesling has won many international and national awards. The ‘2009 Delatite Riesling’ was a natural choice.

2009 Delatite Riesling

The wine went beautifully with the food, mostly fish and other seafood dishes. The crisp apple and citrus aromas with its finely balanced acids is a great refreshment during a warm summers day. Frankly speaking, I think the Delatite Riesling is the best Riesling the Upper Goulburn has to offer.

Mixed side salad

Ruccola with parmesan

Seafood risotto

Delicious mussels

Seafood pasta

The happy diners: Joe Mauch, Anthony Arthur, Charlotte, Lucy, Rainer and Margit Adam

Overall, the service was good, the quality of the food decent, and the atmosphere despite the lunchtime crowed, to our liking. It was good to meet up with friends and relax.

Address:
The University Cafe
255 Lygon Street | Carlton,
Melbourne 3053, Australia
Te.: +61-03-9347 0328

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