I arrived from Bangkok on a bleak and cold morning in the middle of March. Three degrees Celsius but dry conditions, is what the pilot predicted. Well, what a chilly morning here in Frankfurt. Where was spring, I thought.
Nahe vineyards in March
I decided against the train, rented a car and drove off to the West. When passing the city of Mainz, I decided to go along the Nahe river, the birthplace of my father. It’s a lovely place. The Nahe is a little know German wine region. I will write a separate blog entry to tell you more about this jewel of a wine region. The Nahe region is very deer to me.
I passed the town of Bad Kreuznach but stopped in Bad Sobernheim. There a strolled through the small town just to move my legs little. It was 7 h in the morning, people were on their way to work. I was greeted by all the people I walked past. That’s the charm of those little German places.
Martinstein, river Nahe and vineyards in the back
I spent almost all my childhood holidays in the house of my grandfather in a small hamlet called Martinstein. Here the last vineyards are to be found. Further West are only rocks and forests. I paused and paid a visit to my grandparents grave. When overlooking the surrounding hills vivid memories of my youth danced before my inner eye. I remembered that my grandmother took me to fetch the milk and that I could never get enough from watching the cows and that I had to be taken by force to come home. I also remember rides on horse carts and later the first tractors.
The city of Kirn
My last stop was in Kirn, a small city and the birthplace of my father. This is a beer drinkers place since the famous Kirner Pils is (or was?) brewed here. I went to Dhauner Strasse to see the house were my father was born and where he grew up. From the castle, the Kyrburg, I took a good look around before heading through the mountains (where I found a lot of snow) to the Trier and the Mosel Valley.
On the 8th of March 21 years ago, I entered an Italian language class and sat next to a blonde girl from Australia. In the morning of the same day, my boss, Luciano Montesi, had send me out to buy flowers for all the women working in our service. This is how I learned about world women’s day.
It was a glorious day in Rome and I was glad that my friend Jim had taken me to his language class. What I did not know at the time was that I would marry that blonde Australian two years later.
Today, we felt like celebrating this first encounter and decided to go out for lunch. We called the Patara Restaurant which is only one Soi away from us in Thonglor, Bangkok, and they sent their tuck-tuck to pick us up at 13:20 h. All four of us like Thai food, so the choice of Patara came very natural.
Patara is located in Thonglor, Soi 19. The building used to be a private residence in a single house with a large garden, I guess. Inside you’ll find an elegant Thai restaurant, just the right place for such a celebration as ours was.
The interior of Patara
The decoration is very tasteful
We ordered two starter platters, a selection of various small Thai dishes and the three dumpling assortment. Don’t get fooled by the colours. The dumplings are most delicious.
This was the first starter platter
Three kinds of Thai dumplings
Then we ordered the main dishes, among them a tofu in red curry, a green chicken curry, an oxtail red curry, some green vegetables and some rice (which came in four colours, unfortunately my photo of the rice was blurred). All of us like spicy food, therefore we just followed our instincts when ordering.
The main dishes
Green chicken curry
The ossobucco-type dish
Green veggies
The food was so wonderful, so perfect, so delicious; our taste buds went from one sensation to the next. This is Thai food at its best, wow. I could not believe it. Margit and the kids had visited Patara earlier but for me it was the maiden visit. This was the best Thai food in ages.
What about the wine? Food and wine pairings in Asia are at times a challenge. Patara has a well assorted wine list. Since the first encounter had taken place in Italy, I choose an Italian wine. The ‘2005 Campogrande Orvieto DOC Classico Superiore’ by Antinori seemd to be just the right choice.
First, many times we had stopped in Orvieto when returning to Rome from Umbria so that a lot of happy memories are tied up with Orvieto Classico wines. Second, just a day earlier we had this wonderful ‘2005 Antinori Tignanello’, so I thought why not stay with the same producer.
Wine is expensive in Thailand. The bottle was under 2000 Bath, not bad for a restaurant offer. I know that this wine retails for about US$ 10-12 in other parts of the world. The wine has a pale straw colour. It is elegant and fresh. The wine has a good structure and a very pleasant palate of tropical fruit.
As typical for Orvieto Classico, the wine is a Trebbiano blend. Varieties include Procanico, Grechetto, Verdelho, Drupeggio, Malvasia and – surprise surprise – Chardonnay (15 %!). Antinori went up to the maximum allowed as regards Grechetto (27%). With the exception of Verdelho and Chardonnay, I have never tasted any of the individual varieties included in this blend as single wines.
Cheers
Happy children
After lunch the children entertained themselves in the garden.
These are the ingredients for Irish coffee. It’s worth to order it. It’s freshly made at the table, a spectacular show, truly amazing.
The finished product: Irish coffee
Before we got on the tuck-tuck again, we were served refreshing towels. What a wonderful celebration this family meal was, a delight for the palate, a pleasure for the eyes. The staff at Patara is incredibly professional, very friendly and extremely helpful.
Happy diners
If you want to experience something special and you have the chance to drop in a Patara Restaurant, please do so. I highly recommend it. And if you are in Bangkok, the choice is clear: visit Patara, its’ worth it.
Our friends Lucija and Giuseppe came by on Saturday afternoon to treat us to a special treat. They brought with them a bottle of ‘2005 Antinori Tignanello’ from the Toscana.
Lucija and Giuseppe
Friends from Firenze had given them this wonderful wine and they wanted to enjoy it with us, and enjoy we did this heavenly drop. We sat on our terrace, I grabbed a couple of wine glasses and opened the bottle. Immediately, the djin was out: what a “profumo”. You could smell the scent from a distance.
My nose registered forest berries, dark fruit, moss and forest floor, hmm. In the mouth it felt round and silky. I loved the intense flavours of fresh fruit. The wine is full-bodied with very fine balanced tannins, a treat indeed.
2005 Tignanello
Later on the internet I found that Robert Parker had awarded 92 points to this wine. This blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc is a wonderful wine from Antinori which I can highly recommend. The Wine Spectator says it should be drank after 2011. We could not wait that long.
Captured by a wine
One bottle for four does not last long. But we had memorable minutes of utter pleasure. Thank you folks for this wonderful treat.
PS: Later that day we were joined by about 10 more people and had a barbecue on our terrace. It was a jolly good day with lashings of food and drink.
At about 10 at night I found myself laying on the terrace tiles, feeling the heat emitting, my head on a pillow which I shared with my two daughters Lucy and Charlotte, the crown of our heads touching and our bodies radiating out like the spokes of a wheel. We were watching the night sky of Bangkok, the moon and the clouds travelling fast elsewhere. We talked about life and the universe and our thoughts attached themselves to the clouds. Our dreams carried us away, and in a heartbeat we were gone into other worlds.
Speaking of health, there is the spiritual dimension of it. One of my favourite poets is Omar Khayyam, the famous 11th century Persian scientist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher and poet, and here is my poem of the day:
Some bread, some cheese and a jug of wine,
with you beside me beneath a lush vine!
I know a great king who would, if he could,
barter his crown for that which is mine.
Source: From “The Rubaiyat” (translation by Hazhir Teimourian)
Sitting on my terrace this Friday morning, I read, as always, my morning International Herald Tribune . On the second page new findings about the health benefits of wine are described by Roni Caryn Rabin. What a pleasant surprise.
After all the bad news, the fires in Victoria, the loss of our 2009 vintage, the downturn of the Australian wine industry, global warming and the general disaster of the global financial crisis, there is finally also something good in the news.
My paternal grandfather died of esophageal adenocarcinoma (Barretts’s esophagus), a cancer of the throat linked to heartburn and acid reflux. There is, however, another form of esophageal cancer, squamous cell carcinoma, where alcohol is a well established risk factor. So maybe the avoidance of one cancer might lead to the emergence of another?
Caution is warranted as with all kinds of nutritional studies. And after all, I do not drink wine to avoid a certain disease but because I enjoy the taste of the glorious liquid.
Maybe a flower a day will do as well?
A gardenia flower from my rooftop garden in Bangkok
You might think the guy is out of his mind. Come and visit me in Bangkok and experience first hand.
Coming back from a wedding in the North of Thailand, we stopped at the river Mae Ping. Mr. Chai’s restaurant with a large terrace just at the riverside was an ideal place to have a lavish Thai lunch.
Mr. Chai’s lovely place
We were ravenous, and before I could take pictures of the various Thai dishes they were gone. Needless to say, that the food was super delicious. I just love Thai food.
After the battle
The drink of choice at a hot day was beer (they did not have wine anyway). The Change draft was ideal to quench our thirst.
Chang draft beer
PS: I cannot provide you with the address of the place. Sorry folks. After 6 hours in the car, we were just interested in some rest and lots of good food.
The Open Wine Consortium is now one year old. Congratulations folks! On this innovative social network platform more than 3100 wine aficionados from all around the world, some of them from the wine industry (grape producers, vintners, wine-makers, as well as wine and food marketing people), some of them just passionate wine lovers and consumers, regularly meet and exchange ideas and information.
When I became a members, I honestly did not know what to do out there. And frankly speaking, I still do not grasp the full potential of this new way for social exchange. It also somehow conflicts with my writing and reading habits on the internet, and of course with my blogging work. I just do not have the time to do both.
There is even more out there in the virtual world. New things which I have not explored as yet. For instance there is a group called “Twitter Taste Live”. On this platform you can tweet your latest tasting notes. I will try it right now for the first time.
And? it worked, hurrah. Web 2.0 in full swing. Here is the proof.
I guess I will have to extend the hours of the day from 24 to 28, or something like it.
I suggest: try it out.
Cheers
After so many years living in the tropics we finally decided to buy a wine fridge. Storing fine wine in a tropical climate is just no fun. In Jakarta we had a larder which was permanently air-conditioned. Wine would keep for some time but it was stored their with all the other food items a family of four needs.
Isn’t it a nice piece of furniture?
We bought only a small wine fridge here in Bangkok. Our kitchen is small and we did not want it to be too big. Anyway, strangely enough wine does not keep in our family. The fridge holds about 30 bottles which is usually sufficient. No cellaring folks.
Treasures, somehow
You might want to know what wine I store in this fridge. Well, some bottles of our house wine (Bushman’s Gully), some bottles of Thai wine (Gran Monte), some “rarities” given to me by friends (wines from China, Myanmar) and one lonely bottle of Saar Riesling (Van Volxem) for a Sunday treat.
For twelve years we were driving our old Mazda, a sedan, suitable for a family of four, a family which lives in the city, but not in the country side. I loved the car. I carried seedling, straw, fertilizer, wood and wine boxes with it so that it looked like a farm vehicle. Even an encounter with a kangerooh at dawn could not end the live of it.
But last year the Mazda had it. It broke down every week of our holidays which proved to be too cumbersome for us. It’s not funny breaking down with the car in rural Victoria miles from any habitation. It slows you down though you get to know how nice your fellow Australian citizens are.
Therefore, we bought a new vehicle, an old pick-up truck, from Chris and Lu Birchall of Yarra Glen. Our old friend Peter Brown put a lot of work into the “old lady” to make it a true treasure (he made the back dust proved, repainted some parts and many more things). Thank you Peter!
Two Hills new Nissan
This pick up truck is just what we needed. While in Glenburn over Christmas we transported all kind of farm gear and other items from growceries to wine boxes. It was a delight to go around in this Nissan. The “lady” was built in 1986 (!) but it looks like a spring chuck of a car. On long drives the back passenger seats are not so comfortable, so the kids find it sometimes hard to sit there, their legs a bit twisted.
When we visit again in winter, we will need the truck to carry posts and other material to rebuilt the fences which we lost to the fire. Do you want to join me?
Recently, my friend Holger from Berlin had given us a bottle of “Francis Coppola wine”. I had never tasted anything from this producer though I have read a couple of reviews on the net. Therefore, opening this bottle of Pinot Noir and enjoying it with a Sunday roast (chicken this time) promised to be an exciting experience.
The ‘2006 Francis Coppola, Diamond Series, Silver Label Pinot Noir’, originates from Monterey County, a cool climate wine region in central California. During an Agricultural Economist Conference in 1997 I had the opportunity to visit this wine region. It’s a marvellous place and I treasure my memories of tasting various delicious boutique vineyard wines.
The ‘2006 Francis Coppola Pinot Noir Diamond Collection Silver Label’
So tasting wine from this part of the world was exciting indeed. We do not drink very many wines from California so this wine extended our experience with USA-wines. Ratings of the 2006 vintage vary (87 or so points), but it is definitely not one of the best Californian Pinot Noirs. However, the price of US$ 20 in the USA indicates that there is quite a market out there for this “very drinkable” drop.
The medium-bodied wine showed plenty of fruit on the nose (cherries, raspberries), it felt silky in the mouth with some forest flavours, and displayed a nice finish. No bitterness could be detected as some tasters have reported earlier. To my taste buds the pairing of lemon chicken with Pinot Noir worked well.
Port wine from Portugal helped us to digest the meal
What a pleasurable tropical afternoon on our terrace we had. The 38 degrees Celsius did not feel that hot but the dry-hot seasons has definitely started. After the meal I had a port wine. I always liked port. Our visit to Porto last summer re-enforced this passion.
With the port (10 years old), I smoked a cigar from Nicaragua, a hand made ‘Casa de CT Torres, Nicaragua, Hecho a mano’. The “smoke” was very pleasant, not to heavy; the tobacco was mild but distinct. I should buy more cigars from Nicaragua.
Cigars relax me and that is what I needed between two very busy work weeks, some relaxation. Also the bad news that we would not have a vintage this year at Two Hills Vineyard needed to be digested. Well, so is nature, unpredictable, unsteady, volatile, but marvellous.
Posted by themanfrommoselriver 
The Man from Mosel River 