Top Australian Riesling wines

December 21, 2010

Riesling grape

I admit that as a German Riesling aficionado I have my problems with Australian Riesling wines. I try them again and again but, and to my great chagrin, I have not found what I am looking for.

Australian Riesling wines from the Adelaide Hills, the Clare Valley, the Eden Valley, Tasmania, Canberra District and from Great Southern in Western Australia enjoy a good reputation.

Also our own wine region, the Upper Goulburn Wine Region, produces some beautiful Riesling wines.

The September/October issue of the Australian and New Zealand Wine Industry Journal summarised the tasting of 26 Australian Riesling wines. All of them were under crew caps! Impossible in my native Germany.

Only one of them came from Victoria (Paradigm Hill 2009 Riesling from the Mornington Peninsula). The price range was from A$ 22 to A$ 45 (16.75 to 34.2 EURO). The four top rates wines were:

– 2010 Jacob’s Creek “Steingarten” Riesling (it is German for “stone garden”), a tank sample, Barossa Valley, South Australia

– 2009 “The Florita” Riesling by Jim Barry Wines, Clare Valley, South Australia

– 2009 Premium Riesling by Helm Wines, Canberra District, New South Wales

– 2009 Riesling by Plantagenet Wines, Mount Barker, Western Australia

The magazine carried also a photo of the vineyard where the Jacob’s Creek “Steingarten” Riesling is produced. It reminded me of my home region along the Mosel and Saar river. Here every vine has a single “stick” and is “wrapped” around it with no wire between the posts, nothing.

The “Steingarten” vineyard is entirely worked by hand because of it’s steepness. Also this reminds me of the Mosel with its ultra-steep slopes. The stones are of red colour, though, whereas the Mosel has blue and grey slate.

And believe me these Australian wine producers are not modest. At the recent International Riesling Challenge in Canberra they gave the top wine the title: Best Riesling in the World. Can you imagine. Modesty used to be a virtue which must have jumped out of the window down under.

The trophy was given to a ‘2005 Pauletts Aged Release Polish Hill Riesling’ from Polish Hill in the Clare valley, South Australia by Paulett Wines.

I cannot even try this wine because it is sold out. My search continues. I keep you posted.

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4. Sunday of Advent with German Riesling

December 19, 2010

It was my time to cook Sunday lunch. Anyway, the three gorgeous women I share my life with were due to travel to Australia later today. In order to give them time to pack, I prepared lunch. I admit, however, that Margit helped me quite a lot. Otherwise, I guess, I would not have accomplished the task.

So what did I cook? A strange dish, I must say, straight out of the Jamie Oliver cookery book titled “Jamies does…”. It is a recipe from the Maghreb, Marrakesh to be precise. It consists of spicy vermicelli stuffed with prawns in a courgettes-tomato kind of sauce and on top a large fish is positioned (sea bass, snapper, etc.). Since we did not have a whole fish, we used fillets of sea bass.

The whole process is too complicated to be recited here. The recipe can be found on the internet, one of Jamie’s websites. Boy that dish is delicious, just wonderful. I would like to encourage you to try it, especially if you like spicy food.

The prawn-stuffed spicy vermicelli with fish

The fish is succulent but crisp

On the plate

As the title of this blog entry suggest, Riesling was the wine of my choice. German Riesling is my favourite. Wine does not age in my care here in Bangkok in the tropics. I selected a ‘2008 Riesling Kabinett’ by Schloss Johannisberg, one of the oldest Riesling producers in the Rheingau and Germany as a whole.

2008 Riesling Kabinett Schloss Johannisberg

A Kabinett was just the right wine because of its relative high “rest sugar” it’s off-dry or semi-dry, “halbtrocken” or “feinherb”, as the Germans say. However, the label did not say if the wine was dry or semi-dry. But my palate told me the sugar level must be at about 9 grams or so. Alcohol was 11.5%.

In any case the wine went extremely well with the very spicy vermicelli. I just love the bouquet, this slight petrol note on the nose. This is a wonderful rich wine, with a fine balanced acidity, the taste of apples and peaches are prominent.

2008 Riesling Kabinett Schloss Johannisberg

I wish we had more of this drop

If you buy this wine directly from the producer, you have to spend 17 Euro for a 0.75 litres bottle.

The meal with this wine was just perfect for the occasion. Time fly’s. Christmas is approaching fast and soon I will be back in Glenburn, Australia and taste many new-world wines.

Address:
Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg’sche Domäne
Schloss Johannisberg
D-65366 Geisenheim
Tel.: +49 (0) 6722-7009-0
E-Mail info@schloss-johannisberg.de
Restaurant
Tel:. +49 (0)6722 96090
E-Mail restaurant@schloss-johannisberg.de
www.schloss-johannisberg.de

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Christmas season lunch in Bangkok

December 18, 2010

While Europe is going under in snow, Bangkok is enjoying coolish winter days, some of them nice and sunny with temperatures in the mid twenties. Then a light lunch is what we need.

Grilled vegetables and some cold cuts are just the right food. And what do you drink with it?

Well, a ‘2007 Sauvignon Blanc’ by Mount Nelson from New Zealand is just the right wine. Apart from Riesling and Silvaner (only from Franconia), Sauvignon Blanc is my favourite white. Moreover, it goes well with light summer lunches, I think.

Grilled ‘veggies’

Cold cuts

Golden Sauvignon Blanc

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Bodega Berberana – Wine from Rioja

December 12, 2010

Pasta ai funghi porcini

A pasta ai funghi porcini needs a strong wine as accompaniment. Therefore I selected a ‘2003 Carta de Oro Crianza Rioja’ by Bodega Berberana, one of the oldest Rioja wine producers.

The ‘2003 Carta de Oro Rioja’ by Berberana

I believe it is high time that the 2003 vintage is consumed. The wine’s colour is already changing from dark red to the brick brown. But it has still the strength, the flavour and the body which makes this Rioja wine so superb. This blend of 80% Tempranillo and 20% Grenache is just the perfect wine for a “heavy” pasta. It is velvety and smooth with a long finish, a complex wine for every day drinking. Just honest and good stuff.

The back label of the Berberana Rioja

The colour is slowly changing

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Red Mountain Estate – Wines from Burma

December 11, 2010

Pinot Noir by Red Mountain Estate

My friend Moritz brought some bottles of wine from a trip to Burma back to Bangkok. He gave me a ‘2009 Pinot Noir Taunggyi Wine’ by Red Mountain Estate which is located in the Southern Shan State at the picturesque Inle lake. The vineyard was planted in 2003 at about 1000 meters altitude.

When I opened the bottle and found a plastic “cork” my enthusiasm declined rapidly. Well, what will the wine taste like, I thought, with such an enclosure?

To say it from the outset, the wine is a project in the making. The technology used by Red Mountain Estate may be ultra modern. All equipment is imported from Europe and the wine is aged in Hungarian oak. However, the tropical conditions, as customary to New Latitude wines, is still a challenge.

The colour of the wine is a dark red. It is medium bodied and has 12.5 % alcohol. The taste is a mixture of saw dust and rubber, not unpleasant though, and perfectly drinkable.

I had the chance to taste some more of the Red Mountain Estate products at Moritz’s house. I liked the Chardonnay best followed by the Rose. The reds were not particularly strong, a bit thin, for my taste. As I said, work in progress.

Front label of Red Mountain Estate Pinot Noir

The location of Red Mountain Estate is very beautiful, almost spectacular. Photos of the Inle Lake, the vineyard and the winery can be found on the estate’s webpage (Moritz has some on his facebook site). I should visit this region and have a look myself.

The back label of the Pinot Noir by Red Mountain Estate

PS: We had some antipasti – fried salami – before the main course, a pasta. The recipe is from a Jamie Oliver cookery book. Wonderful, so tasty, with olive oil and fresh Parmesan cheese.

The fried salami antipasti

Address:
Red Mountain Estate
Taung Chay Village Group, Nyaungshwe Township,
Southern Shan State, Myanmar.
Tel: +95-081-209366 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +95-081-209366      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
      +95-081-209554
Fax: +95-081-209475
Mobile: +95-09-5174312
www.redmountain-estate.com

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A wine tasting at the airline lounge of Lufthansa

December 4, 2010

The two wines of my sample

The only consolation for an “economy-class-only-frequent-traveller” is the use of the airline lounges. Although Beijing does not offer wine, Shanghai does even if one has to drink the fermented grape juice from paper cups.

My favourite airline lounge is the Lufthansa Lounge at Berlin Tegel Airport, but the one in Frankfurt is also acceptable.

If time permits I usually conduct a private tasting. That’s what I did last time.

The white was a ‘2009 Hugl Gruener Veltliner’, very fresh, spicy and very pleasant. Weingut Hugl, a family-owned wine business, is located in Ketzelsdorf-Poysdorf, a part of Austria they call the northern “Weinviertel”. Martin Hugl and his wife Sylvia are young and enthusiastic vintners. About 70% of their production is Gruener Veltliner.

The red I tasted was a Rioja Barbaro, a bit oaky but still with lots of fruit and very round. Overall a pleasant experience and the highlight of my trip.

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Dr Mayer Riesling – fine wine from the Remstal, Germany

December 1, 2010

‘2009 Dr. Mayer Riesling’, Remstal, Wuerttemberg, Germany

We were lucky that Timo Mayer, vintner and wine-maker of the Mayer Vineyard in the Yarra Valley, Victoria, carried with him a bottle of the ‘2009 Dr. Mayer Riesling’ with him when he dropped by recently here in Bangkok.

Timo came back from a wine making and wine selling visit to Germany where he had also made his ‘2009 Dr. Mayer Riesling’ from fruit sourced from his native Remstal (to be precise from a village called Grossheppach) in Wuerttemberg.

The dry Riesling has 12.5% alcohol

The wine is under a glass enclosure which gives it a very elegant appearance. It’s a beautiful dry Riesling, elegant and fruity with a good structure and a long and intensive finish, in short a treasure of a wine.

Mussels and clams with chorizo sausage

We saved the bottle for a special occasion, and surprise, surprise, the occasion should arrive very, very soon: a beautiful tropical Saturday afternoon lent itself for a delicious meal consisting of mussels, clams with chorizo sausages. This is a yummy dish and ideal light lunch.

The bad news is, one cannot buy this wine in Germany, the motherland of Riesling wines.

The good news is one can buy it from Timo Mayer in the Yarra Valley and the outlets carrying his wines in Victoria.

Timo got only about a pallet, so you have to be quick. Better rush.

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Gianni Masciarelli – Villa Gemma Montepulciano d’Abruzzo

November 26, 2010

Villa Gemma Montepulciano d’Abbruzzo

Another very nice wine which I tasted recently is the ‘2007 Villa Gemma Montepulciano d’Abruzzo’ by Masciarelli.

More than twenty years, Gianni Masciarelli started to produce grapes and wine from a 2.5 ha vineyard which has “grown” to more than 220 ha under vines today. Also the yield level with about 10 tonnes/ha is not particularly low.

However, I liked this fruity wine which shows the characteristic of the Montepulciano grape. The wine is round and smooth with lots of black fruit but also vanilla and spicy notes. It also went very well with the Asian food we had it with.

In the tropics we tend to drink wine young (very young indeed), because storage can be a problem. It is a pity that Gianni died in 2008 at the tender age of only 53.

Try is wine with Asian cuisine, you will not regret it.

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A great white wine – Pinot Blanc by Doerflinger

November 23, 2010

Pinot Blanc by the Doerflinger Winery

Recently I had the opportunity to enjoy a couple of glasses of a very yummy German Pinot Blanc, it was a ‘2009 Pinot Blanc Muellheimer Reggenhag dry’ (13%) by Doerflinger, a winery in Muellheim, Baden.

The wine guide Gault Millau awarded to the 2008 vintage 89 Parker points.

The winery was founded in 1900. Today, Hermann Doerflinger is the owner-vintner and he manages 16 ha under vines. The annual production is about 140,000 bottles.

Apart from Pinot Blanc, Doerflinger grows Gutedel, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes, the wines of which reached 85 to 89 points for the 2008 vintage.

I liked this wine, it was fresh and zesty, soft and round, a great summer wine.

Address:
Weingut Hermann Dörflinger
Mühlenstraße 7,
D-79379 Müllheim
Germany
Tel.: +49 7631 2207 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +49 7631 2207      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +49 7631 2207      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
Fax: +49 7631 4195
mail@weingut-doerflinger.de

Open:
Mo.–Fri. 08.00 – 12.30 h, 13.30 – 18.30 h
Sat. 09.00 – 16.00 h

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Restaurant review: Der Schützenhof, Würzburg, Frankonia

November 21, 2010

Der Schützenhof

A great place to eat and be merry in the town of Würzburg in Franconia is “Der Schützenhof“, a German country inn with a long and strong tradition. The views from it’s terrace are spectacular. You sit above the roofs of the historical city, so to say.

Great views

On top of the world and above the roofs – below: the city of Würzburg

The “Schützenhof” is not only famous for its views, but for it’s traditional German cuisine as well. I just love these tasty, robust, rural dishes made as if grandma had prepared them herself. Look at the pictures below, are they not mouthwatering? The food is just excellent, German country cuisine at it’s best.

Local Franconian sausages

Potato dumplings with roasted pork

Noodles/pasta with salmon

A local Franconian wine

I ordered the house wine, a local drop made from the Silvaner grape. My friends Romy and Friedel prefer other grapes for instance “Gutedel”, also known as Chasselas grape in France. But they also like Mueller-Thurgau, Pinot Blanc and Gris, Kernen etc.

With about 6,000 ha under vines Franconia produces excellent wines. It is famous for it’s dry Silvaner wines bottled in the so called “Bocksbeutel”, a rounded and flattened bottle type.

Franconia is a wine land (or German wine region) which wine enthusiast should explore. You’ll find amazing drops. Check it out.

Address:
Der Schützenhof
Mainleitenweg 48
97082 Würzburg,
Germany
Te.: +49-931-72422 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +49-931-72422      end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +49-931-72422      end_of_the_skype_highlighting
www.schuetzenhof-wuerzburg.de

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