Moufflon leg and Loch Riesling

October 15, 2009

Loch1

When I am at home in Trier, Mosel my mother cooks for me. This time Heinz had shot a young moufflon (a kind of wild sheep) in Schoden. He prepared a leg of the lamb and we had it the traditional way. It was simmering on low heat for ages. The meat was tender and had a fine gamy taste.

This feast was accompanied by a wine from the same place, a ‘2008 Schodener Herrenberg “Stier” by Weinhof Herrenberg and the Loch family in Schoden. This Riesling shows that it was made by hand. It has a fine character, is minerally and fruity with good acidity and length, a perfect Saar wine to be enjoyed right away or cellared for a couple of years.

Nothing could be more perfect, I thought. The moufflons might have roamed the very location of the Herrenberg, the vineyard where the Loch Riesling was produced. I consumed the fruits of the land, the forests of Schoden and the dedicated vintners from the Saar. I am glad my mum is such a good cook. Cheers

Loch2

It’s vintage time at the Saar right now. Why not go on an outing and drive along the romantic Saar river, visit wineries and enjoy rustic German food?

Address:
Claudia and Manfred Loch
Weinhof Herrenberg
D-54441 Schoden/Saar
Tel.: +49-6581-1258
Fax: +49-6581-995438
info@lochriesling.de
www.lochriesling.de

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2008 Loch Riesling

October 10, 2009

Loch0

When I opened the first bottle produced by Weinhof Herrenberg, a ‘2008 Loch Riesling’, a was quite surprised when I found a it to be closed with a metal cap.

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This was the first time in my life that I was confronted with such a kind of enclosure. In the process of getting to the wine unwrapping some of the plastic, I first thought it would be a glass stopper. But then I discovered the metal cap. Whow, all my traditional gear, my corkscrews, were useless and could be pushed aside and I searched for a beer bottle opener.

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The above picture shows all the elements of the metal cap including the plastic covering it.

The Loch Riesling is a clean wine typical for the Saar. Aromas of tropical fruit, fully ripened, were displayed. The wine was fresh, a little spicy, with good structure and a medium finish. I had it without food, just like that, on a beautiful autumn afternoon. The golden colour of the wine reflecting the golden autumn sun. I recommend you try it.

Address:
Claudia and Manfred Loch
Weinhof Herrenberg
D-54441 Schoden/Saar
Tel.: +49-6581-1258
Fax: +49-6581-995438
info@lochriesling.de
www.lochriesling.de

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Weinhof Herrenberg – Loch Riesling, Schoden, Saar

October 8, 2009

My friend Heinz was kind enough to help me out. He dropped by the Weinhof Herrenberg in Schoden, Saar, on his way back from the hunt and bought three bottles of Loch Riesling. I had planned to visit the Loch family winery for some time but never managed to get there. There was always something else when visiting Trier, my hometown nearby, a birthday, a visit, a train to catch etc.

Heinz brought back the box shown below and three different Loch Riesling wines, all of the 2008 vintage. Regular visitors of my blog know that I am a Riesling lover, especially if they were grown along the Saar, my favorite provenance of German Riesling wines.

LochRiesling2

The treasures from Weinhof Herrenberg and the two brochures

The three wines were a ‘2008 LochRiesling’ (8.90 Euro/bottle), a blend of Riesling grapes from various vineyards, a ‘2008 Schodener Herrenberg “Stier”‘ (12.90) and a ‘2008 Schodener Herrenberg “Stoveler”‘ (13.90), both wines from my favorite ‘terroir’, a very steep vineyard called “Herrenberg” bordering a forest and enticing large groups of wild pigs and deer to visit and taste the sweet grapes during vintage time. I had walked the vineyard and heard about the Loch wines but never tried a single drop. It was high time to change that.

LochRiesling3

2008 Loch Riesling wines from Schoden, Saar

I also love the brochure with the “whole” (the “Loch” in German) explaining the philosophy of Claudia and Manfred Loch, the proprietors and vintners of the boutique winery “Weinhof Herrenberg”, which is the basis for their wine-making. In short, the Loch’s aim for authenticity, uniqueness, they reject designer wines but quest for a unique character and truthfulness.

The brochure is a very unusual one, telling people why to keep their hands off LochRiesling wines and what the weaknesses of the wines are: for instance that their wines are unknown, consumer hostile, old fashioned, egoistic, lawless, dangerous and limited (in numbers of bottles!). I like this brochure.

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The “Loch” brochure with a whole in it

The wine list also includes wines from locations in Ockfen and Wiltingen, two famous Saar wine villages. The “Beerenauslese” wines are not available any longer. The Loch’s also produce a dry, sparkling wine. All wines are reasonably priced.

LochRiesling4

The current wine list

You might wonder what they taste like? Well, I will tell you more about this at a later blog entry. But if you are near Schoden or in the vicinity of the Saar, please visit the Loch family vineyard at Weinhof Herrenberg. If you cannot visit in person, visit the website which is very informative.

Address:
Claudia and Manfred Loch
Weinhof Herrenberg
D-54441 Schoden/Saar
Tel.: +49-6581-1258
Fax: +49-6581-995438
info@lochriesling.de
www.lochriesling.de

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Autumn views – wild berries ripening

October 7, 2009

Autumn is an exciting time in Europe not just for grape growers but also for other nature lovers. In the forests and along the many paths, rural roads, and highways various types of berries and other fruit can be spotted. The photos below are from Schoden, Saar. I took them last week.

Autumn1

Rose hip

Autumn2

Wild apple

Autumn3

Hawthorn

Autumn4

Sloes

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Vintage time: Schodener Herrenberg

October 6, 2009

Schoden1

Schodener Herrenberg, in the background the village of Schioden with the Saar

One of my favourite places along the Saar river is Schoden, a small hamlet about 30 minutes southwest of Trier, my hometown. I visit regularly, because my friend Heinz together with some friends has rented the local hunting territory and when I visit Trier, we often go together on the hunt.

Schoden has also some vineyards and wineries. The location (terroir) “Herrenberg” is one of them. The vineyards are quite steep, which is difficult to depict in a photograph as you can see from the comparison of the two pictures above and below. It is realy a steep site, and the best location for producing Saar Riesling wines of superior quality.

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Schodener Herrenberg: vineyards from the South

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Schodener Herrenberg: the vineyards from below

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A promising vintage?

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Beautiful Riesling fruit

The fruit on the vines looked very healthy. In a couple of days or weeks, depending on the weather, the pickers will come to harvest. Needless to say that no machinery can be used, all the work will be done by hand. The vineyards workers will have to navigate the steep hills and balance on the slate pebbels which can be tricky when they are wet.

Needless to say that Schodener Herrenberg produces outstanding Riesling wines. Learn more about these Saar wines on my blog soon. Cheers

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Also the foxes like sweet grapes

October 4, 2009

Fuchs00

Ripe Riesling grapes, Herrenberg in Schoden/Saar

Right now it is vintage time in Germany and along the Mosel and the Saar one can admire ripening grapes. What a beautiful picture.

The weather was warm and dry when I accompanied my friend Heinz on a morning hunt in Schoden, Saar. We sat on a raised hide from about 5:30 until 8 in the morning. We watched two red deer does with their young ones making their way through the meadow. Later we went through the hunting territory and checked out a couple of places.

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I found the above turd of a red fox. Obviously the beast loves what humans love: the juicy fresh and sweet grapes. Also other wild animals love to nibble from the vines, especially red deer and wild pigs. They can be a quite a nuisance.

Autumn is just such a beautiful time in Germany. I will share more with you soon. Watch my blog entries.

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Restaurant review: Schlosshotel Cecilienhof, Potsdam

October 1, 2009

cecilienhof

Schlosshotel Cecilienhof

I had the great pleasure to participate in a formal dinner at Schlosshotel Cecilienhof in Potsdam. This hotel is part of a historic castle of great significance: it was the site for the Potsdam Conference which brought peace to Europe at the end of World War II. It was in this building that Truman, Churchill and Stalin (among others) negotiated the fate of Germany in 1945. But I will not bore you with too much history today.

The dinner was a very enjoyable affair: I had great company, the food was excellent, the wines were very, very drinkable and the service was eminently suitable. I went for the seafood choice below: first a salmon starter followed by a “Zander” (pike perch) fillet.

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The starter made of salmon

Zander

“Zander”/pike perch fillet for main course

I also tried both wines on offer. The choice for white consisted of a ‘2007 Weingut Schloss Sommerhausen Riesling dry’ from Frankonia in Germany and was an excellent pairing with the starter. Schloss Sommerhausen is located between Ochsenfurt and Wuerzburg, the home of my maternal grandfather who introduced me to the wines from Frankonia.

I just love Riesling and Silvaner wines from Frankonia, but they also produce excellent Spaetburgunder and many other wines. The shape of the Frankonian wine bottles is unique (only the sweet Meteus wines from Portugal can also be found in such bottles), they are called “Bocksbeutel”.

Sommerhausen Riesling

But I also wanted to taste the Pinot Noir, a young wine from 2008, ‘Alde Gott Spaetburgunder dry’ from Baden. This was my second Pinot Noir from Baden since I arrived in Germany and I must say, both wines (the other one was from Affental) were excellent.

Both are produced by wine co-operatives. “Alde Gott” is located in Sasbachwalden, a village near the cities of Buehl and Baden-Baden were also the wine co-operative of Affental can be found.

AldeGott

Addresses:
Weingut Schloss Sommerhausen
Familie Steinmann
Ochsenfurter Straße 17–19
97286 Sommerhausen
Tel. 0 93 33/2 60
Fax 0 93 33/14 88

Wine sales at Schloss Sommerhausen
Steinmann family
Hauptstraße 25
97286 Sommerhausen
Tel. +49 – 93 33/2 60
Fax +49 – 93 33/14 88

Opening hours:
Mo. – Fr. von 9.00 – 18.00 Uhr
Sa. von 10.00 – 16.00 Uhr
Public holidays 10.00 – 14.00 Uhr

Wine Co-operative Sasbachwalden
Talstraße 2
D-77887 Sasbachwalden
Tel.: +49-07841 – 20 29 – 0
Fax: +49-7841 – 20 29 18
E-Mail: info@aldegott.de

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The sky is the limit

September 30, 2009

Sky1

It was at a Sunday afternoon, I had one hour for myself before our official meeting was about to start and I decided to have a glass of wine in Vapiano in Mittelstrasse which is near Friedrichstrasse in the centre of Berlin.

Vapiano is a worldwide operating chain restaurant in an Italian style, but at times I like to go there. The standardization means that you know in advance what you are getting.

Sky2

I went through the wine list and choose the Gavi (6 Euro/glass) which was nice but I should have odered the most expensive wine on the list, the Riesling (8.5 Euro).

GAVI »ORO« GAVI DOCG
La Scolca, Piemont, Italy.
fine, elegant, harmonious and fresh.

GEHEIMRAT »J« RIESLING, SPÄTLESE, TROCKEN
Weingüter Wegeler, Rheingau, Germany.
According to ‘Fine Wine Review’, of the USA, this Riesling is the best Spaetlese in Germany and award winner of the German Riesling competition.

I sat in the “garden” (or better: the yard) of Vapiano and enjoyed my glass of wine in the hope that I was not to be disappointed when later that day the election results would come in. What a splendid hours that was.

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Autumn in Berlin – Affentaler Spaetburgunder

September 27, 2009

Abendstimmung

Evening at Griebnitzsee, near Berlin and Potsdam

I am in Germany right now attending meetings and conferences. Ever since I landed in Hamburg, the weather has been fine, with mild and sunny autumn days.

Today is election day and at about 18 h we will know who is going to govern the Germans for the next four years. Last night we were all invited by our boss to dine at his home. He and his wife are known for their hospitality. One of the wines on offer came from Baden, a famous German wine region. I must admit that I am rather ignorant about it’s wines.

Affentaler

2008 Affentaler Spaetburgunder 1.5 liter bottle – look at the colour

I was presented with a glass of ‘2008 Affentaler Spaetburgunder’ (12.5% vol. alc.). Needless to say, that I had never heard of “Affentaler”. And only while writing this blog entry I learned that the producer of this excellent German Pinot Noir is a wine co-operative. “Affental” is located 10 km south of Baden-Baden and belong to the city of Buehl.

This is a very elegant wine, fruity, dry and very harmonious, a thorough enjoyment. The 2007 vintage had earned 87 Parker points. The 1.5 liter bottle lasted a while but it was difficult to drink any other wine after we finished it. All of us wished for more. I will look out for it when shopping for wine next time.

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A poem a day…

September 24, 2009

Franjipani

I have started to read an Italian classics: “Science in the Kitchen and Art of Eating Well”, by Pellegrino Artusi (in Italian: La scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiar bene), written in 1891 (!!!!). It’s a great book. The following poem depicts it’s spirit:

“Tutte le societa, tutte le feste
Cominciamo e finiscono in pappate
E prima che s’accomodin le teste
Voglion essere le pance accomodate.

I preti che non son dei meno accorti,
Fan dieci miglia per un desinare.
O che si faccia l’uffizio dei morti,
O la festa del santo titolare,
Se non v’e dopo la sua pappatoria
Il salmo non finisce con la gloria.”

In English:
Every social gathering and holiday
in s with a feats begun and terminated;
and before our heads can have their say
our bellies must be fully sated.

Priests, who are said to know a thing or two,
will walk ten miles for a meal.
Wheater giving last rites with little ado
or calling on the local saint to heal,
if food and drink don’t close the story,
they cannot end the psalm in glory.

I raise my virtual glass of wine and drink to the poet Filippo Pananti.

PS: My Yellow-vented Bulbul birds have left the nest today which came quite as a surprise. I wanted to check on them this morning and take a photo but there was only one bird in the nest. When I lifted my camera, the remaining bird flew away. Nobody could see my face, but I wonder what it looked like. They are gone. So fast. How could they grow up so quickly? Hope they survive, and come back from time to time. there are no cats on our terrace.

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