Summer lunch with Vinho Verde in Bangkok

May 21, 2012

Casal Mendes Vinho Verde

At the end of the dry season in tropical Bangkok temperatures reach above the 40 Celsius. Fortunately, the humidity is rather low at this time of the year, at least before the casual tropical rain shower goes down. These showeres become more and more frequent over the next weeks until the transition to the rainy season is completed.

Therefore, light lunches are the go. Nobody wants rich and filling food but instead prefers salads, grilled vegetables and maybe something fresh from the water.

Regarding the wine selection low alcohol Riesling wines are my preferred choice. But another wine which is ideally suited to the conditions are whites from Portugal, especially Vinho Verde. Fortunately for us in Bangkok some Casal Mendes Vinho Verde is available.

We had such a lunch last Staurday, with grilled green asparagus, an insalata caprese, and some grilled scampi. The olive oil we are using is of first quality. Needless to say the disheses were just delicious.

Green asparagus

Mozzarella with organic tomatoes

Grilled scampi

What a meal

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Restaurant review: Weintor, Palatinate, Germany

May 12, 2012

My parents in front of the German “Weintor”

My parents came to see me when I was in Karlsruhe for a business meeting a couple of weeks ago. They took me for a drive around the southern Pfalz region, which is a major wine producing area in Germany.

It was a beautiful day in spring with mild temperatures and fast moving clouds. After a short rain, the sun came out for a while.

We ended up at a small village called Schweigen-Rechtenbach to have a look at the German “Weintor”, literally translated as the “German wine gate”.

It was built in 1936 and marks the starts of the German wine route which ends in about 85 km further north in a village called Bockenheim.

The terrace

We planned to have lunch in the restaurant at the “Weintor”. The large terrace was very inviting but it was still too cold to sit outside.

The foyer

The stone building looks very traditional from the outside. However, the foyer of the restaurant has a kind of post-modern funky look, “retro” one could also call it.

The entrance to the restaurant

The inside of the restaurant

We sat near the fire place. The staff was very friendly, and convinced us to get started with a sparkling Pinot Meunier, or in German “Schwarzriesling”.

Sparkling Schwarzriesling – Pinot Meunier

This was followed by “greetings from the cook”: a delicious pate, which was just the right starter. It wetted our appetite.

Courtesy of the cook

I could not resist and ordered the house Riesling, a dry wine from the Pfalz region.

Dry Riesling from the Pfalz

My main dish was a trout with almonds, with potatoes and salad. Just wonderfully delicious. It was the right hearty meal which made me forget my jet-lag. I had arrived the very same morning from Bangkok and needed some stimulation to stay awake. That’s why I could not resist the ice cream either.

Trout with almonds

Dessert

Espresso

We had a jolly good time. The food was delicious, the staff extremely friendly, the spring outside inspiring and the company just great. I could not imagine a better welcome to Germany.

On our way out, I noticed the table with the informations about wine events and other local festivities. It was a pity that I could not stay a couple of days longer. The wine route through the Pfalz/Palatinate has so much to offer.

Address:
Deutsches Weintor Restaurant
Weinstraße 4
D-76889 Schweigen-Rechtenbach
T +49 (0) 6342 – 922 788 8
F +49 (0) 6342 – 922 788 9
www.weintor.de/restaurant.html

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Wissembourg, jewel of northern Alsace

May 10, 2012

Half-timbered houses in Wissembourg opposite the cathedral of St Pierre and Paul

One of the loveliest little towns in northern Alsace is Wissembourg. During my recent visit to the Palatinate (Pfalz), the German wine region just north of Alsace, we did a side trip to see this picturesque place.

We had come after lunch just to have a little walk around town. It was a pleasant spring day with mild temperatures and some sunshine although heavy rain clowds graced the sky.

Wissembourg has about 8,000 inhabitents and was the location of various battles fought in the French revolutionary wars in 1793 between French and Austrian, Prussian, Bavarian, Hessian and other German forces. After the second battle of Wissembourg, France was able to take over the whole of Alsace. In 1870 the tables were turned. This time the Prussian forces won and made their way to Paris.

I remember that during my student days at Bonn University I once attended a play by a theatre group from Alsace. The play depicted the history of the region and how it moved from being indpendent to becoming a part of France and Germany, but that the people remained the same.

The following pictures will give you a rough idea about Wissembourg, but I suggest you go and see for yourself, stay a couple of days to also indulge in the food and wines of Alsace.

Another well preserved half-timbered house

About twenty years ago when I came to Wissembourg for the first time with my wife Margit, we almost bought a half-timbered house. We were so enchanted by these houses, that we almost could not resist to invest in such a house. They were not expensive at the time, 80-90.000 Deutschmark only. Since my brother lived and worked jsut a little north of France in southern Palatinate, we thought he and his family could live in the house. But it did not work out and we discarded the idea.

The stream crossing the town is called the “Lauter”

I would have loved to enter this restaurant but we just came from lunch

Medieval music was presented by these two bards

“Winstub” is what the sign says in the local dialect. It means wine bar

The wine bar wedged between two houses

Spring invites everybody to buy fresh flowers

Various types of bread and cake were on offer

Wine for sale

Of course wine was everywhere. I did not buy any since I had to travel and drag my suitcae around. And wine is, unfortunately, very heavy.

But I will come back to Wissembourg, that’s for sure. Maybe next July when I spend some time in my home town Trier. Not far from Wissembourg is my favourite restaurant, “Auberge du Cheval Blanc” in Lembach in the Vosges mountains.

Spring blossoms all over the place

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My first whisky tasting (single malts only)

May 7, 2012

The evening program with the first single malt

The Goethe Institute in Bangkok invited me to an interesting new format: “a literary whisky tasting”, which I admit I could not resist. About 20 selected invitees followed the invitation and had assembled in the Institutes library for this innovative event.

Mr Johannes Scherer from the German stock exchange association of the German book traders (Boersenverein des deutschen Buchhandels) who was in Bangkok for the German photo-book price award exhibition, was the presenter.

Johannes Scherer

He read five short stories in German from a collection of stories about whisky. For the ones of you who read German, I write them down in chronological order:

– Elke Schleich: Begegnung mit Whisky
– Markus Niebios: Der perfekte Augenblick
– Reinhart Hummel: Miese Zeiten
– Angelika Brox: Teufelszeug
– Fenna Williams: Goldenes Versprechen

They all came from a book titled “Aqua Vitae – a literary whisky tasting”.

The sequence was as follows: First the art (production process etc.) of making single malts was explained. Then the story was red to us. And finally the specific single malt, his history, the making, and the tasting notes were presented. We tasted the single malts together, and exchanged the experience. Questions could be asked, comments shared. Often the specific whisky was part of the short story.

A slide from the presentation

The five single malts were:

– Lowlands – Auchentoshan 10 years old

– Highlands – Dalmore 12 years old

– Speyside – Craggenmore 12 years old

– Isle of Skye – Talisker 10 years old

– Islay – Caol Ila 12 years old

I had drunk the last three before (especially Caol Ila). Dalmore I had heard of, and Auchentoshan was completely new to me.

We moved from a no-peat content (the first three) to a higher peat content (the last two) so to say. Lots of interesting information about the history of the production of single malts was imparted on us. I loved the tasting notes, I must say – maybe because they reminded me of fine wines?

I usually prefer the malts with peat aromas. However, this tasting brought the more subtle ones closer to my heart.

The five single malts we tasted in the library

Conclusions
This was a great evening. I loved the wonderful atmosphere and the playfulness in the exploration of new “taste territories”. I also enjoyed the stories, some of them funny, some sad, others sombre but always with the bit of wit, some detachment, which allowed them to touch the heart.

Thank you Dr. Spitz for inviting me.

I am contemplating to copy the format and to set something up on “liberalism and the art of drinking whisky and/or wine”.

PS: It turned out that Mr Scherer was a wine connoisseur with a large knowledge about fine wines and an even larger wine cellar.

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Boetzinger, wine from Baden, Germany

May 5, 2012

Boetziner wine co-operative

When I attended the party convention of the German Free Democratic Party (FDP) in Karlsruhe a couple of week ago, I was not so sure that I would have the time for some wine tasting. Alas, the Saturday night party of the FDP showed that there was no reason to worry.

Karlsruhe is located on the right side of the Rhine river in Baden, one of the smaller German wine regions in the South-west, just across the Rhine river from another famous German wine region: the Pfalz (Palatinate).

It goes without saying that wine from Baden was the choice of the organizers, and a good choice it was. One does not expect a “grand cru” to be served at such an occasion. After an excruciating day of debate and discussion the hundreds of party delegates just want to get on with their lives.

However, a decent drop of wine is very much appreciated. Two wines were on offer, a ‘2011 Boetzinger Pinot Gris, Kabinett dry’ and a ‘2011 Boetzinger Pinot Noir, Kabinett dry’, both in their dry variant.

Boetzinger is a wine co-operative, the oldest wine co-operative at the Kaiserstuhl in Baden. It has about 500 vintner members who produce first quality grapes.

We started with the white and followed through with the red, both wines were very pleasant, clean and crisp for easy drinking and dry: in short excellent specimen of their kind.

We drank lots. The waiters kept bringing the stuff. When we got up at about two o’clock in the morning we had a good fill.

And the next morning, you might ask? Well, just fine. The wine not only had a decent taste, it showed its quality also after a huge consumption.

From the Boetzinger website I found that the bottle of Pinot Gris costs only EURO 5.75 and the bottle of Pinot Noir is EURO 6.30, both very decent prices especially when you are dealing with the exorbitant wine prices here in Thailand.

Try the wines of Boetzinger.

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Spring in the vineyards of Palatinate/Pfalz, Germany

May 1, 2012

The border region in Schweigen-Rechtenbach, just north of Wissembourg, Alsace

Spring is a beautiful time in the vineyard. The other day, when we visited the Southern Palatinate wine region, just north of the French border, I was able to witness the spring awakening of the vines.

It was a beautiful day; the sun was out. It was fresh and crisp, but the warmth of the earth was tangible. Needless to say, the birds were singing.

The vineyards were ready to “burst the buds” of the leaves among the fields of yellow rape seed flowers and the willow trees clad in their fresh new green.

The grass in the vineyards was already high, lush and full of vigour. Soon the first tractor will come along and mulch it.

The cane-pruned older vines looked very good, healthy and ready to go.

And the leaves were “breaking out” in full force. One could almost watch them grow with the bare eye. What a time, what a beautiful time.

Visit vineyards in spring; visit Germany now.

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Culture, food and music in Shanghai, China

April 15, 2012

Pudong skyline at night

I used my recent business trip to Shanghai, China to also indulge in some cultural activities. First, I participated in a new program of “Shanghai Flaneur”, a walking think-tank founded by one of my friends, Katja Hellkoetter.

The topic of this newly designed walk was “Shanghai’s historical ballrooms and it’s ballroom culture”. Katja had invited me to join and get an idea what her Shanghai Flaneur initiative was all about.

But before I take you any further, let us start with a re-union dinner on the river-terrace of The Seagull on the Bund Hotel – 海鸥饭店. From here, one has a wonderful view of the river, the Pudong skyline and the Bund. The hotel is in a perfect spot, at the confluence of the Suzhou and the Hungpu river.

View of the Bund from the Seagull Hotel

Re-union dinners are never perfect as far as the quality of the photo extraction is concerned. In fact I show you only three of the many dishes the two of us consumed. The first is a composition of doufu with leach and pine nuts, the second is shredded mushrooms with dried pork strips, and the third a puff-rice filled with various colourful vegetables and shrimps. These dishes did not only look good, they were super-delicious.

The doufu with pine nuts

Dried pork and mushrooms

The “veggie rolls”

Needless to say, we drank beer with the meal.

The Tsingtao beer

Unfortunately, it started to rain and we had to look for shelter. This did not bode well for the walk later that evening which was about to start in the Astor Hotel nearby.

I will not give you an account of the walk proper, just of its beginning and the end. The walk was conducted by Andrew Field, a university teacher of Chinese history.

From the Astor Hotel we walked along the Bund (fortunately, some of the participants had brought umbrellas otherwise I would have been drenched). And we ended the very interesting and entertaining culture-walk about two hours later at The House of Blues and Jazz.

The House of Blues and Jazz is a great place. that very night the Greg Lattrell Band from Boston, USA played blues and soul music, what a treat.

The Greg Lattrell Band

I just loved the music, especially the blues pieces they played, and stayed until the very end. This was a perfect day, re-union dinner with Katja at the banks of the Huangpu river, the walk with the Shanghai Flaneur along the Bund, and the blues music of Greg and his band.

Come and see, feel and experience Shanghai, the Paris of the Far East.

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One of these days – food by phone

April 9, 2012

During the holidays there is always the odd day out where nobody wants to cook and/or prepare a meal but people are still hungry. The natural solution to such a challenge is: yes, right – food by phone.

We all know it, we all experienced it. Here in Bangkok, food by phone is well organized. We all craved for pizza, and pizza it was. Needless to say, it was a delicious pizza.

Pizza Margeritha, my favourite

From the super market, we brought home a bottle of ‘2009 Jacob’s Creek Shiraz’. According to the bottle, it had won a gold (in 2011) and a bronze medal (in 2010) at some wine competition. However, ever since our days in China (1990-96), my wife hates Jacob’s Creek wines, regardless what medals the wine has won.

Jacob’s Creek Shiraz

I did not let it breathe enough, I guess. But after “warming up” it was a very nice wine, with supple plum aromas, a good structure and a reasonable long finish.

I was very pleased with myself, that I had bought this wine despite the strong negative feelings my wife holds towards this brand, and anyway we needed a bottle of wine to go with the pizza.

Hurrah, we had a great dinner, and all four of us went to bed duly satisfied.

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Easter Sunday at the Great Hornbill Bistro in Sukhumvit 39, Bangkok

April 8, 2012

The Great Hornbill bistro

It was a glorious Sunday morning, this Easter in Bangkok. The four of us had booked a table at the Great Hornbill Bistro in Sukhumvit 39 which is basically the urban cellar door for PB Valley Wines.

We came for a late breakfast and had planned to spend a couple of hours at the Great Hornbill so that we could also have lunch. I also intended to buy some of PB Valley’s wines.

The inside, light, but the tree in front provides some shade

From the grand opening, we knew that the Great Hornbill offers excellent food and great service. Moreover, we also like the wines of PB Valley Winery. We had not been back since that event, somehow it never worked out with all my travels, school and sport events and so on.

So let us see what we had: Breakfast first.

We start the day at around 5.30-6.00 in the morning, usually on our terrace where we read and linger. So we had had our morning coffee (cappuccino) and a cookie with it. Naturally we were ravenous at about 10 when we got to the Great Hornbill Bistro. At this time of day, the place was not crowded, the waiters were very attentive and very accommodating to our needs.

So what did we have?

Egg Benedictine seemed just the right stuff, one was with salmon the other regular. The girls went for the sweet stuff, a banana pancake. All very yummy. What a good beginning this was.

Salmon

Regular

The sweet stuff

Then (after we had some pleasant parent-teenager conversation) came lunch.

(I admit we ordered a bottle of ‘2010 PB Valley Reserve Chenin Blanc’ with the breakfast. Not because we are alcoholics, no, but because it felt like the first full meal of the day which warranted a proper glass of wine.)

PB Valley Chenin Blanc

This is a very nice wine, medium bodied with a good structure, with tropical fruit flavours and some vanilla from the oak barrels the wine is aged in (12 months). Very refreshing in the tropics, just the right wine to go with breakfast and a light lunch.

..and lunch was????

Lucy ordered the duck a l’orange

Margit went for the spicy penne with sausage

Charlotte had a chicken curry with roti

And I had this lovely pasta

Needless to say, we had a second delicious bottle of PB Valley Reserve Chenin Blanc.

The food was very good, fresh and with great taste. The pasta was “al dente” which in Asia is not easy to get (cooks often seem to think “noodles are noodles”). We had a great time, placed our wine order (the Great Hornbill delivers the wine to your home), and will be back soon.

Do you look for a pleasant place to have breakfast? The Great Hornbill Bistro is it.

Address:
The Great Hornbill Bistro
59/3 Sukhumvit 39 Road
Klongton Nua, Wattana,
Bangkok 10110, Thailand
Tel:+66 2 262 0030 Ext. 118
Fax:+66 2 262 0029
Mobile: +66 81 834 7910
Email: hospitality@pb-partners.com
GPS Location: 13°44’15.58”N 100°34’17.62”E

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Glorious days in the vineyard

April 6, 2012

Visitrs have arrived at Two Hills Vineyard

As the cars indicate, we had visitors at Two Hills Vineyard in Glenburn, Victoria. It was one of these occasions when we wanted to dine and wine with old friends. There is never enough time. We usually take it, as it comes and fortunately, Tony, Helen and Joe dropped by for a meal. My brother-in-law, Michael and his wife Helen completed the group of diners.

The weather was wonderful, warm and dry, a typical summer’s day when farmers all were busy taking care of their hay. In the background of the picture above you can see the hay bales produced by our neighbour Victor.

The table was ready

We were busy since the morning to prepare various dishes. And as is customary in Australia, the senior male in the family is in charge of the grill. Alas, under the watchful eyes of my brother-in-law Michael my barbecue skills have improved over the years.

My “little” barby in the shed

Australian beef

The quality of Australian meat is outstanding. We usually buy it from the butcher in Yea, a lovely little country town about 30 k to the north of Glenburn.

I am always a bit nervous when grilling the meat. I am afraid to ruin these wonderful raw materials. We had pork, lamb and beef, various vegetables and some Italian salad. Needless to say, all delicious stuff.

The diners on “the lawn” under the gum trees

What a glorious day in the vineyard

Having friends over it always a great opportunity to sample all kinds of wine from Australia as well as abroad. With the strength of the Australian dollar, imported wines become more and more affordable. In fact there are more and more imported wines available these days.

The ‘2010 Casano Nero d’Avola’ from Masala, Sicily was one of the many different wines we had with our meal. Casano Vini was founded in 1940. Ever since it is producing quality wines. Remarkable are their ‘TerrAntiqua’ and the ‘Classics selection’. The bottle we had was one of the Casano table wines. The red fruit aromas and the solid structure make this a great wine with red meats.

Casano, Sicilia – Nero d’Avola

But we also sampled a few local wines. From our neighbours in nearby Murrindindi (this is also the name of our shire), we had a ‘2008 Family Reserve Shiraz’ by Murrindindi Vineyards was an excellent choice for the meal.

Murrindindi Vineyards produces the family reserve wines only in outstanding years of high quality fruit. The Shiraz was spicy and full of flavours. In our cool climate Shiraz produces outstanding wines, not every year though, but often enough.

Shiraz Family Reserve – Murrindindi Vineyard

After the meal, we had to move into the shade. We opened the shed doors and sat in the cool of the mud brick building. The sampling of wine did not stop, of course. What a jolly good day that was.

“Those were the days, my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
We’d fight and never lose
Those were the days
Oh, yes, those were the days”.

These song lines from my youth (Mary Hopkin) come to mind.

Come on, sing along with me.

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