Greetings from Down Under: Two Hills Vineyard in Glenburn, Victoria

July 15, 2009

Down Under

Greetings from down under

Finally, I am on leave and I will enjoy a month long break at the family vineyard in Glenburn, Victoria. It is winter in the southern hemisphere but after many months in the tropics the cool temperatures of a Victorian winter do not scare me. After the devastating bush fires in February, a lot of cleaning up work awaits us.

Glen1

Lucy and Charlotte collecting debris from the fires

Every meal is accompanied by Two Hills wines. There are just a few bottles of the 2001 and 2004 vintages left which we consume with our meals. The ‘2006 Two Hills Merlot’ is very fruity, the intense cherry taste knocks you over. We have to organise the new labels for the 2006 vintage before going back to Bangkok.

But we drank also a lot of local wines, for instance from Giant Steps Vignerons in Healesville (2006 Harry’s Monster) in the Yarra Valley or from Rees Miller Estate (2004 Cotton’s Pinch Merlot) and Kinloch Wines (2003 Pinot Meunier) in the Upper Goulburn. Both Merlot wines went well with a Spanish omelette with mushrooms collected from our paddocks. Winter in Glenburn is just wonderful. The Pinot Meunier we had with a pasta.

Glen3

The mushroom omelette

Glen2

Lashings of Merlot from Rees Miller and Two Hills

Glen4

The lucky vintner

1 Comment | vineyards | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

Beautiful Bavaria: Fischen, Ammersee

July 14, 2009

Ammersee0

Photo of the Ammersee and the church in Diessen, just opposite of Fischen

After the visiting program for our MPs from Malaysia had come to an end in Munich, I had just about 24 hours before my return flight to Bangkok. I decided to visit good old friends from our time in Jakarta: Maria and Christian Hegemer who live in Fischen, a small hamlet at the Ammersee, one of the Upper Bavarian lakes. Fischen is part of the village of Pähl and was first mentioned in a deed in 776. The region is a very popular recreation area just about 45 minutes from Munich and attracts many tourists.

Ammersee1

Community members assembling in traditional Bavarian dress

Christian picked me up from the train station. What a happy reunion that was. I was lucky that the villagers had planned a village event. They had hired one of the larger cruising boats for an afternoon on the lake. The local brass band entertained the 200 guests. I was, what we call in Australia a “ring in” but was warmly welcomed.

Ammersee3

The Fischen Brass Band

We got on to the boat in Herrsching, then went south to Fischen and turned north on the other side of the lake. The scenery is very lovely, green forests, villages, churches and many beautiful lakeside houses. It was a wonderful summer’s day with bright blue sky. The brass band played jolly good music. The villagers were cheerful and we had a great time on the boat.

Ammersee5

Christian and Maria

The natural drink in Bavaria is beer, though wine was also on offer. It came from Wachau, Austria, was drinkable though not a memorable drop.

Ammersee4

The tour ended in the early evening. Shortly before we landed in Herrsching a fire works greeted us. The evening concluded in the inn of Maria’s brother Beni (Benedict) in Aidenried where Christian shared a cheese platter with me. More beers found their way into my stomach. It was a most wonderful day in Upper Bavaria.

1 Comment | culture | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

The other Pizza

July 9, 2009

P7080055w

While in Jakarta I learned of a very special pizza. At Izzi Pizza we spotted on the menue a so called “Obama Pizza”. This pizza is a kind of fusion food combining chicken rendang with mozarella cheese, capsicum and spring onions. Being a traditionalist I did not try it.

P7080056w

The menue explained why this specific combination was used for the pizza to honor Barak Obama. Chicken rendang is a rather un-traditional ingredient for a pizza. But I guess it will sell well in Indonesia. Cheers to the indgenious Indonesian cooks.

Leave a Comment » | food | Tagged: , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

German wines: delight in red and white

July 4, 2009

Traveling in Germany I had the opportunity to taste some marvelous wines with some of my friends. Two of these I would like to briefly present to you, one red, one white wine, one from the Pfalz and one from my native land, the Mosel or to be precise the Saar.

Over a dinner at “Schneeweiss”, a fashionable restaurant in the eastern part of Berlin offering “cuisine from the Alp mountain lands”, we had a bottle of ‘2008 Schneider Ursprung’, a cuveé made of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Portugieser by Markus Schneider.

Markus Schneider is one of the young but accomplished vintners who earned the highest praise from wine critics and experts from the wine and hospitality industry. This cuveé is made from grapes grown on a rather warm location at the “Feuerberg”, a terroir known for its capacity of heat retention by the local gravel stones which allows the grapes to fully ripen.

The wine is of a deep purple colour. It displays flavours of a lot of fruit, plum, some mint, chocolate and shows some peppery notes. The wine is very round and extremely smooth, for me just a bit too perfect in the mouth, I must say. It went extremely well with the food that I had ordered (Italian pasta filled with mushrooms). The wine is perfect and was a good choice. It retails for about 8 to 11 EURO but is worth the money.

Schneider Ursprung

A very simple label on the bottle: “Schneider Ursprung”

Schneider ursprung2

What a beautiful deep purple colour

Later the same evening, we tasted a dessert wine from my native lands, the Mosel, actually from the Saar river. It was a ‘1992 Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Spaetlese’ from “Staatliche Weinbaudomaene Trier”.

OckBockRiesAus

What a delight this wine was, a drop from heaven. It had aged well, was fresh and round. Although low in alcohol (only 8%), the acids were vibrant so that the wine was extremely well balanced, honey sweet, just wonderful. Only my friend Gerhard can wait for a wine like this to ripen in the cellar and patiently await the right moment to open a treasure like this.

I know the terroir quite well, Ockfener Bockstein, just a couple of meters away from the boundaries of the hunting grounds of my friend Heinz in Schoden, Saar which borders on Ockfen. The vineyards here are extremely steep and all work in manual. The 1992 vintage of this Riesling Auslese is just wonderful. I have no words to describe this nectar and do justice to the wine.

Address:
Schneeweiss
Kern Ranogajec GbR
Simplonstraße 16
10245 Berlin
Proprietors: Denis Ranogajec and Ralf Kern
Tel.: +49-30/29 04 97 04
Fax: +49-30/29 04 97 05

Weingut Markus Schneider
Am Hohen Weg 1
67158 Ellerstadt
(near Wachenheim, Pfalz)
Tel.: +49 (0)62…
Fax.: +49 (0)6237 – 977230

Administration:
Georg-Fitz-Straße 12
67158 Ellerstadt
info@black-print.net
http://www.black-print.net

Staatliche Weinbaudomänen Trier
Deworastr. 3
54290 Trier, Germany
+49 651 97598-0
www.staatsweingueter.rlp.de

Leave a Comment » | wine | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

Restaurant review: La Villa – Il Ristorante, Bangkok

June 27, 2009

LaVilla

We are so blessed. Living in Thonglor, Bangkok, we have quite a number of first class restaurants just in walking distance from our flat. The other day, we explored La Villa – The restaurant, a classic Italian place at the corner of some smaller lanes right in the heart of Thonglor.

The building is a 1930 architectural style modern replica villa with a large parking lot in front. After one has entered the restaurant, the hassle of the corner block traffic, is left behind and the cozy atmosphere of a true Italian family restaurant engulfs the eager dinner guests.

After an entree of bruscette, we went right for the main course. It was a Friday night and the four of us were hungry and tired. I went for my favorite pizza, a pizza margherita. the girls had some ravioli and Margit ordered a seafood pasta. To cut a long story short, the food is superb.

LaVilla2

The pizza margherita

LaVilla3

The ravioli

LaVilla4

Seafood pasta in aluminum foil

My knowledge of Italian wine is negligible. Having lived in Italy for almost three years but so little expertise, I am ashamed. Ordering the wine therefore, was a challenge. I choose a bottle of red, despite Margit’s seafood dish but with her consent (I admit of not caring much for the traditional tenet of having white wine with fish and seafood dishes).

LaVilla1

My choice was a ‘2006 Castello di Farnetella – Chianti di Colli Senesi’, a wine from the lower price range of the restaurants extensive wine list. As I learned later from my research, this was an excellent choice. Colli Senesi is a sub zone of Chianti which does not have the “classico” designation. As a consequence prices are ridiculously low for the quality. Whereas just across the road the classico wines sell for about US$ 30-40, they are only about about half at non designated side.

LaVilla5

The wine is medium bodied and has a good structure. It feels silky in the mouth and shows aromas of raspberry, prune, floral notes and licorice.

We had a great evening at La Villa. With its very competent and friendly service, this classic Italian restaurant is an excellent choice for a family meal in a homely environment. Check it out when next in Bangkok.

Address:
La Villa Wine Lounge and Restaurant
Bangkok
131 Thonglor, Soi 9
Sukhumvit 53
Bangkok 10110
Tel.: +66-2-7129991
www.lavillabangkok.com
Opening hours: 11:00-14:00 AM/PM and 18:00-23:00 PM

1 Comment | food, wine | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

The Australian Wine Regions

June 21, 2009

On the blog of Geoff Bilbrough I found a most useful tool: the Australian Wine Region Map. If you are planning a trip to Australian and you want to visit some wine country, this map is exactly what you always wanted.

On Geoff’s link, the “Wine Wine Wine” (which by the way is a wonderful informative site) the map looks like the sketch below in the left corner:

Snapshot wine regions web

I played a little around with the Google based map, and found it amazing, especially the Yarra Valley part. Unfortunately, our wine region, the Upper Goulburn Wine Region is not (yet) on the list of Australian wine regions.

Australian wine regions map web

The interactive map allows you to select a wine region and/or a winery so that you can plan your winery tour. It prints out the map as well, if you like. Precondition is of course that the wine region and the vineyard/winery you intend to visit are somehow included in the system.

I will try to use the tool soon when we all go to Australian for the winter break. I’ll report back to you.

1 Comment | general | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

Saturday lunch: Irish lamb chop stew

June 20, 2009

For many Germans lamb is not their favourite meat but for Australians it is a kind of a staple. We had four lamb recipes to choose from and decided on an Irish lamb chop stew. The recipe came from Best Recipes where you can find it.

I show you what the stew looks like.

Lamb1

Five kinds of veggies as the base (potatoes, onions, carrots, broccolini and leeks).

Lamb2

The lamb chops with some ham.

Lamb3

All of the above in layers.

Lamb4

Until you reach the top.

Lamb5

Hm, yummy food. Even for a not so enthusiastic lamb lover such as me, the chops were just great.
The children gobbled it up in no time.

How about the wine, you might ask?

GranMonteS

Well, I had no Cabernet Sauvignon left, therefore my ‘2006 Primavera Syrah’ from Gran Monte in Asoke Valley, Khao Yai, Thailand was the natural choice. This Thai wine is wonderful, spicy, peppery and with “umpf”, my favourite wine from Thailand. It went very well with the lamb chops.

THM06

But after this delicious meal, we were longing for something else, something homely, maybe Victoria? I grabbed the only bottle of ‘2006 Two Hills Merlot’, still unlabelled, which I have, ah, now had, a fruitbomb. I tell you this wine feels like biting into pure cherries. Incredible. I was glad I had not opened it with the lamb. It is a wine which stands on it’s own, so to say; ideal with cheeses, I would say.

It made all of us homesick in the most positive way one can imagine.

Soon we’ll be on the farm in Glenburn again.

Leave a Comment » | food, wine | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

Thailand’s Best Restaurant – Patara

June 18, 2009

We are so lucky in Bangkok. Our humble home in Thonglor is just around the corner from some major eateries. One of them is Patara Restaurant which we patronize from time to time. During a recent visit we discovered that Patara was bestowed with the Best Restaurant of Thailand award. They deserve it. I tell you, the food is delicious as the following pictures suggest.

PPatara1

PPatara3

When Jasmin from Jakarta visited us recently, we took her out to Patara and had a wonderful meal. The two entrees below are fabulous. We drank beer with the Thai food. The Phuket beer is not bad. But Patara has also a fine wine list, we just did not feel like wine.

PPatara6

Fltr: Charlotte, Margit, Rainer, Jasmin, and Lucy

PPatara4

PPatara5

PPatara55

PPatara2

Finally, we discovered that Patara restaurant is also offering a cooking book. If in Bangkok next time Patara is a must for you and any gourmet traveler.

2 Comments | food, wine | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

Two Hills Wine arrived in Germany

June 15, 2009

Winearrived1

Winearrived2

Winearrived4

My friend Uli sent me the above pictures of a 15 t truck delivering two pallets of Two Hills Merlot to his residence in Ramsdorf, Muensterland. It was not an easy manoeuvre. But they got the bottles safely into place.

The shipment consist of the last Merlot bottles from our 2001 and 2004 vintages. We also had some 2004 Merlot, which was somehow left behind, re-bottled so that the two pallets could be fully filled. Only the next shipment will contain the Two Hills 2006 vintage which is officially not yet released in Germany.

The sale is on. If you are interested in our wine, please contact Uli and make an appointment to pick up your bottles. In case that you need it to be sent to you directly, I will try to arrange it myself through a mail service in Trier.

Cheers everybody and thank you Uli for doing this for us again.

Address:
Dr. Ulrich Hillejan
Holthausener Strasse 19,
46342 Velen
Tel.: +49-2863-6802 (p)
+49-2863-95135 (w)
Mobil:+49-1732755342
Fax: +49-2863-6807
E-mail: ulrich.hillejan@s-h-r.de

Leave a Comment » | vineyards, wine | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

Heaven on a stick

June 14, 2009

As you all know life in the tropics is sweet, and can therefore be described as “heaven on a stick”, as we say in Australia. This is even more so since (finally) the best beer of the world arrived in our local neighbourhood super market, the Villa Market in Thonglor, Bangkok.

There are of course many “best” beers in the world depending on ones taste, upbringing, and the general circumstances. But since I come from the Mosel river, my favourite beer is “Bitburger Pilsener“, brewed in the small town of Bitburg about 30 km north of my home town Trier.

BitteeinBit

Bitburger Pilsener

After patronizing this supermarket for about nine month and browsing the beer section consisting mostly of Japanese, Thai and Bavarian beers, you cannot imagine my joy to find a few bottles of Bitburger beer.

Apart from a good beer, a glass of wine and a good meal, the tropical pleasures are simple: enjoy the fragrance of a Frangipani flower (Plumeria), a dash in the pool, and company of family and friends.

Franjipani

A potted Frangipani tree on my terrace in Bangkok

Pool

It’s just too hot these days

Hope you all have a good weekend. Cheers.

Leave a Comment » | culture | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »