Wine bars – Le Sommelier in Metz, Lorraine, France

August 22, 2011

One of the good things when in Trier is that one is very close to Luxembourg and France. Both countries are ideal destinations for day tours. It was a cloudy day when we set out. Our first stop was at Nennig where we visited the Roman villa with its fantastic tessellated floor.

When the weather changed and the sun cam out, we spontaneously decided to continue our tour and visit Metz, the capital of the Lorraine region of France, just about an hour from the German-French border.

My last visit to this historic and picturesque town was when I was at the gymnasium, about 40 years ago. Because I belonged to the “French branch” of my high school, and French was our first foreign language, school trip brought us regularly to neighbouring French regions. My family had never been there, and of course Metz is also situated at my beloved Mosel river, and French vintner produce good wines as well.

When another rain shower surprised us during our city walk, we found refuge in a wine bar which we had spotted earlier; Le Sommelier, it was called. While writing this blog entry I learned that Le Sommelier gets extremely good ratings in trip advisor which doesn’t surprise me at all. The service was just excellent.

Wine bar Le Sommelier ‘cave à vin’

The entrance to ‘Le Sommelier’ with the blackboards with wine list

The bar

Shelves with wine bottles

The lady behind the counter was very friendly, rearranged chairs and tables to accommodate the four of us. The children had soft drinks and we adults embarked on a tasting of Moselle wines. We were also served a platter of various cheeses and cold cuts, delicious stuff. The wine list if short but there are many more bottles on the shelves which one can buy.

A well kept secret: Pinot Noir from the Moselle

The Saint-Stephen Cathedral of Metz just opposite of ‘Le Sommelier’ with some stained glass windows by Marc Chagall

We settled for two wines by ‘Le Domaine les Béliers’ in d’Ancy-sur-Moselle, Moselle. The Maurice family is working the vineyards at ‘Domaine les Béliers’ since 1650. The total area under vines is only about 4 ha. This is a small vintner to my liking. The main varieties are Auxerrois, Pinot Noir, Gamay and Pinot Gris. No Riesling, as the Riesling lovers will notice.

We tasted the Auxerrois and the Pinot Noir, which we liked best. Needless to say that we bought some bottles of these wines. More about the wines and the winery another time.

Visit the cities of the Moselle/Mosel Metz, Thionville, Trier and all the rest. Its truly worth it.

Address:
Le Sommelier
Cave à vins
27 place de chambre, 57000 METZ, France
Te.: +33-3 87 36 84 91
Open Weekdays 9:30am-1pm, 3pm-8:30pm; Sat 9:30am-1pm, 9:30pm-8:30pm;
also open Sun

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Domaines Schlumberger: Pinot Blanc Les Princes Abbés 2006

June 26, 2011

Our super market in Bangkok, the Villa Market in Thonglor, offered for a couple of weeks the ‘2006 Pinot Blanc Les Princes Abbés’ by Domaines Schlumberger, Alsace, France.

Pinot Blanc is not one of my favourite grape varieties but I like the wines from Domaines Schlumberger including its Pinot Blanc.. The 2006 vintage, though, needs to be drunk fast. This is why the super market offered the last batch of its remaining stock of Pinot Blanc Les Princes Abbés at a discount.

Instead of charging about 1,500 Bath (about 34 EURO) per bottle, the price dropped to 999 bath (about 22 EURO) which is pretty cheap for Bangkok, although wine prices are terribly high in this Asian metropolis.

If you get some of these bottles in Bangkok you must drink it fast though. Recently we had a bottle just at the edge.

I like the wine which is a a blend of 30% Pinot Blanc and 70% Auxerrois. Citrus fruit and lemon peel is what you can taste in your mouth. The wine is dry (residual sugar 5.6 gr./l) has fine acidity (3.46 gr./l), a good balance and a spritzy kind of feeling.

It can be combined with many foods but especially with Asian cuisine and seafood. In the tropics one has to make sure that the wine is appropriately cooled.

Address:
Domaines Schlumberger
100 rue Théodore Deck
68501 Guebwiller Cedex
France

Tel.: +33 3 89 74 27 00
Fax : +33 3 89 74 85 75
www.domaines-schlumberger.com

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How about some bubbly?

April 25, 2011

Easter, as any Christian holiday, lends itself for a treat and why not celebrate with some “bubbly” as we say in Australia. I had just the right stuff in my wine fridge, a bottle of ‘Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut Cuvée Réservée’ by Florens-Louis Heidsieck from Reims, France.

Florens-Louis Heidsieck was the founder of the champagne house Heidsieck (in 1785). He was the son of a Lutheran minister who had migrated from Westphalia to France. In October 1839 the name of Piper, another descendent of Florens-Louis, was added to the band name.

Great fizz from the Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut Cuvée Réservée

The bottle was a present from our friends Emmie and Rob. We had kept it for for some time, for a special occasion of course. This had just arrived, I guess.

The champagne is a non-vintage but very classy sparkling wine with 12% alcohol. It is a blend of 55% Pinot Noir, 15% Chardonnay and 30% Pinot Meunier. The nose shows some citrus notes. The acids are finely balanced. I just loved the fact that the bubbles were “big,round and slow”.

This is a highly recommendable drop. Great stuff this Piper-Heidsieck.

The front label of the Piper-Heidsieck Champagne Brut Cuvée Réservée

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Restaurant review: Sjoebaren in Gothenburg, Sweden

September 13, 2010

While walking the streets of Gothenburg, Sweden (which is a very lovely city) where I attended an international conference, I noticed the many Japanese sushi restaurants. Well, I thought the Swedes love to eat fish; why not Japanese?

For dinner, however, my colleague Jules and I, we wanted to check out the original, a Swedish fish restaurant. The receptionist at the hotel pointed us to a couple of interesting places. We decided on a restaurant nearby, the Sjoebaren as it was called (freely translated as “seal” or “sea bear”). We were told that there are two restaurants with that name. We went to the one in Lorensberg.

The entrance of the restaurant

We had not made a booking and the place was full when we arrived. Fortunately, the waiters were very kind and accepted a booking for 20 h. We had an hour and a half of additional time to kill but that was not a problem for us (more about this later).

Kuentz-Bas, 2007 Pinot Gris Tradition from Alsace, France

It was clear, we wanted to eat fish. The first thing I selected was the wine. I opted for a ‘2007 Pinot Gris Tradition’ by Kuentz-Bas from Alsace, France. Decanter awarded 87 points to this wine.

The vintner of Kuentz-Bas is Jean-Baptiste Adam, an icon of the Alsatian wine industry. He runs his vineyards following biodynamic production methods. I am not related to Jean-Baptiste despite the coincidence with the family name.

Wine prices in Sweden are a bit on the high side. We went for only a glass. I loved the Pinot Gris. It was not overpowering, but fine and firm with a complex acidity and an impressive finish.

The starter

The herring was just too good to not order it. We did not expect what was put in front of us by the cheerful waiter. Look at that. This beautiful arrangement was just amazing. One piece of herring was marinated in a cinnamon heavy marinade, the other piece came with fish eggs on top in a white sauce. In addition we were given potatoes, onions, cream cheese and some other delicacies. I t,ell you this starter is to die for. My taste buds went ballistic. What a wonderful start to an Swedish meal.

Two kinds of herring

Fish of the day

My friend Jules ordered the fish of the day. Very tasty.

Graved lachs

I went for “graved lachs” (marinated salmon), my favourite dish from Sweden. Ever since a Swedish friend of ours had introduced us to this delicacy and ever since my wife makes her own version of it, I just cannot resist this fish. The portion was huge. And for the first time ever, I could not finish my plate. It was just to much. Unbelievable. I had to apologize to the waiter with a compliment to the kitchen.

Potatoes in dill-cream sauce

The painting in the middle of the restaurant.

Sjoebaren Lorensberg, when we left it

Sjoebaren is a hot tip if you are in Gothenburg. Do yourself a favor and treat you to something very special. The service is great, prices affordable and the quality extraordinary.

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Restaurant review: Chez Clément, Paris, France

September 8, 2010

Champs-Élysées

During our summer vacation we also visited Paris for a few days. It is only about 2 1/2 hours by train from my hometown Trier. So why not seeing the French capital?

One of the highlights of the visit was a lunch on the Champs-Élysées. We chose a nice “little” place (the inside is huge but quite lovely, as we discovered when looking for the bathrooms) called ‘Chez Clément’ , a chain restaurant though, but nevertheless very attractive.

The entrance of Chez Clément

Oysters was one of the starters we could not refuse. The unpasteurized Camembert was the other. For the main course three of us went for the Toulouse sausages, one took the Charolais beef tartar. The house white was just the right wine, a Sancerre if I am not mistaken.

The food was just divinely delicious. The service was great. It might have helped that we arrives slightly before the lunch time crowd did. It was one of the best meals we had in Paris during our stay. I can highly recommend the place. Just walk up to the triumphal arch and look out for Chez Clément.

Oysters from Brittany

Croustilland de Camembert

Toulouse sausage

Charolais beef tartar

Rucola salad with parmesan

And a espresso afterwards

Address:
Chez Clément
Champs-Élysées
Paris, France
http://www.chezclement.com

PS: I was traveling in Vietnam and had no access to wordpress.com for that time. This is why I had to postpone updating my blog. The above story is form this summer.

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Riesling – Domaines Schlumberger, Alsace

May 25, 2010

Mussels

These days mussels are inexpensive in Bangkok. So why not having a large pot of mussels of Sunday lunch? Done. I like them cooked with chorizo sausages. In this combination of flavours the mussels are amazing. The pork sausage with the red paprika somehow bring the shells from the sea “to land”, so to say. The dish has bite.

Mussels with chorizo

What to drink with it, was the question? White, OK. But I could not think of any better wine than a Riesling from Alsace. Fortunately, such a Riesling was just at hand. The ‘2006 Les Princes Abbés Riesling’ from Domaines Schlumberger in Guebwiller, about 20 km south of Colmar, Alsace, France, was the ideal wine to go with our food.

Front label

Since 1810 this estate is in the hands of the Schlumberger family. That’s lot’s of tradition in an Australian context. It started with 20 ha under vines. Today the family farms (in sixth generation) about 140 ha of vines of which about half is classified as “Grand Cru”, best locations.

The location (terroir), “The Princes Abbés” ,originally belonged to the monastery in Murbach. Monks always knew what was good for body and spirit. Today “The Princes Abbés” label offers seven Alsatian wine varieties. It is does not belong to the Grand Cru locations of the estate (4 “terroirs” : Kitterlé, Kessler, Saering, Spiegel).

The back label

The Schlumberger’s grow all the fruit for their wines themselves. Yields are kept low. Many vineyards are very very steep. The Schlumberger’s also use drought horses to work their vineyard. This is also one of my dreams when finally settling in Glenburn, Victoria. I intend to buy a pair of Percheron horses for farm work.

The Schlumberger’s farm more land in the vicinity of their vineyards according to organic and bio dynamic principles. Total wine production per year is about 70,000 cases. Well, I should acquire some more of their bottles.

Light golden coulor, gorgeous liquid

“The Princes Abbés” Riesling has great character. It has zest and structure and is a citrus bomb with the oily characteristic of the Alsatian Riesling.

A cork to close the bottle

I should visit the Alsace again. It’s such a wonderful region, easy to reach, just about a two to three hours drive south from Frankfurt. See you there, maybe?

Address:
Domaines Schlumberger
100 rue Théodore Deck
68501 Guebwiller Cedex –
France
Téléphone: +33 3 89 74 27 00,
Fax : +33 3 89 74 85 75

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Les Ormes de Cambras – Merlot from France

May 9, 2010

I grabbed the bottle from the supermarket shelve. Just like that. Again, I liked the label. This time a traditional one, with some trees, an alley. Later I learned that they were elm trees. I also liked the price, below 450 Bath (about 11 EURO) which is cheap for Thai conditions. That of course also meant that this wine was a “cheap” one, considered the many import duties and the exorbitantly high Thai alcohol taxes.

‘Les Ormes de Cambras Merlot’, the wine is called (2008 vintage). It’s alcohol content is quite low (12.5%), the colour is a beautiful dark red. Since we produce Merlot ourselves, I am often intrigued to buy other peoples Merlot to see what it is like.

The website of Les Ormes de Cambras told me that the Merlot could be had for 2.30 EURO/bottle in France if you also buy the three other wines produced by this enterprise (a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Sauvignon Blanc and a Cinsault).

2.3 versus 11 EURO for the bottle. I wonder how much the producer of the wine gets from this? What is his profit? 20 cents? 30 cents?

Since the website does not say anything about a vineyard, I assume this is a mass wine of industrial dimensions. But it tasted much nicer than expected. I might consider to get some more bottles.

‘2008 Les Ormes de Cambras Merlot’, Vin de pays d’Oc, France

We always have food with our wine. It was a light dinner, just the celery salad with olives, carrots, peppers and garlic and some self-baked white bread. Delicious, and so healthy.

The Merlot was sufficiently well balanced, not heavy, a fruity almost elegant wine which went well with the salad.

A salad for dinner

The celery salad

By the way, Les Ormes de Cambras is located near the city of Béziers in Languedoc in the South-west of France.

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Pierre Sparr Riesling, Alsace

May 8, 2010

Pomfret con alceitunas y alcaparras

We had fish for dinner. Following a Spanish recipe, we had “Bonito con Aceitunas y Alcaparras” (tuna with olives and capers) from the “Culinaria Spain – Spanish Specialities” cookery book by Koenemann, 1998, Cologne, which is a wonderful book. It has not only breathtaking recipes but great pictures, stories about the food and the people, the various regions of Spain and, of course on Spanish wines.

We deviated from the original recipe by replacing the tuna fillets by whole pomfret fish but used all the other ingredients for the preparation of the dish. Needless to say, it was delicious. The recipe worked also with pomfret, one of my favourite fishes here in Asia.

2008 Pierre Sparr Riesling, extreme, Alsace

I had no Spanish wine in my wine fridge, but a Riesling from Alsace which I had bought a couple of days earlier because of its funky modern label. Pierre Sparr is the name of the estate. The 2008 vintage Riesling is still young and exuberant, just the right stuff for pairing it with the strong taste of the olives and the capers. The acidity made all the difference.

Pierre Sparr Riesling extreme

2008 Pierre Sparr Riesling, extreme, Alsace

I tried to find the same label on the Pierre Sparr website but could not. It must have been a special label for the export market. Back home in Alsace the same wines have more traditional wine labels. The Sparr family winery goes back to 1680. Pierre Sparr is representing the ninth (!!!) generation of Sparr family wine-makers and vignerons. The winery is located in Sigolsheim at the heart of the Alsace region. The family owns and operates 34 ha under vines and contracts fruit from about another 150 ha, usually small growers.

I love this wine region and have visited many times, especially during my student days. Alsace has a outstanding gastronomy, spread over the most picturesque region, right at the foot of the Vosges mountains down to the Rhine river. Vines have been cultivated since Roman times.

Pierre Sparr offers a wide range of wines (and also grappa). I guess the wine we had belongs to the lowest quality segment which you can buy in France for about 8.25-9.50 EURO/bottle. I paid much more for it here in Bangkok. It displays rose petal aromas, citrus, peach and honey. The wine is sprizzy and has zest, a good structure and a long finish. Its’ perfectly made and will last for some more years (12% alc/vol).

I hope we have the chance to visit Alsace again this year. And meanwhile I look out for Pierre Sparr wines here in Bangkok.

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At the winemakers home – Timo Mayer, Yarra Valley

April 30, 2010

Timo Mayer and his Mayer Vineyard are well known among the wine fraternity in Australia, Germany and the UK. Timo is wine maker at Gembrook Hills and he has his own vineyard in the Yarra Valley. The Mayer Vineyard is what is called a boutique vineyard. Timo is also member of The South Pack, a group of innovative and independent winemakers in Victoria.

We know each other since many years. In fact Timo made the second vintage of our Two Hills Sauvignon Blanc (2002), which won a bronze medal at the Singapore Wine Show. Since many years our two families have been together, usually for skiing on Mount Buller, eating and drinking, either at our vineyard in Glenburn or at Timo and Ronda’s place, the Mayer Vineyard.

Also this time Timo and Ronda invited us for a gourmet dinner after an afternoon of ice skating and a visit of the Victoria market in Melbourne. The latter program was only attended by our two daughters; the old folks were only in for the eating and drinking part. Needless to say, Timo is not just an excellent wine maker but also an excellent cook.

Timo Mayer in the kitchen

My pictures of the event were somehow heavily affected by the enthusiasm of our re-union, and maybe, maybe, the alcohol of the many wines we tasted. Anyway, I do not have excellent pictures to show you. The longer the evening went on, the more terrible my pictures became. Bear with me. It was a great evening.

But let us start with the food. Out of this fine piece of tuna below, Timo made a delicious sashimi (second picture below). After that we ha another entrée, garlic prawns. The fist main dish was mussels with chorizo sausage chunks followed by some fish (white-head for the kids, and tuna). We were not in the position to eat another main course, although there was beef and various other meats waiting for us. What a wonderful feast that was. Delicious stuff.

Tuna

Sashimi Timo style

Garlic prawns

Mussles with chorizo sausages and herbs

The wines we tasted before, during and after the meal were:

• 2006 Vintage Yarra Burn Sparkling, Yarra Valley

• 2009 Bloody Hill Chardonnay, Mayer Vineyard, Yarra Valley

• 2008 Bloody Hill Rose, Mayer Vineyard, Yarra Valley

• Grande Signature de Rapatel, Roussanne-Bourboulenc, by Gérard Eyraud, France

• 2008 Bloody Hill Pinot Noir, Mayer Vineyard (and we had the 2009 vintage as cleanskin)

• 2008 Les Griottes, Beaujolais, by Pierre-Marie Chermente, France

• 2007 Syrah, Domaine des Rapatel, Gérard Eyraud, France

• 2006 Big Betty Shiraz, Mayer Vineyard, Yarra Valley

• 1996 Cornas, by Thierry Allemand, France

I did not take tasting notes, this was a social event and not a formal wine tasting. Below you will find photos of some the bottles. The two bottles from Domaine de Rapatel are not represented. You can find reviews in my earlier blog entries.

Vintage Yarra Burn Sparkling

This Yarra Burn is a wonderful cool climate sparkling wine, a classical blend of Pinot Noir (58%), Chardonnay (35%) and Pinot Meunier (7%), from the Yarra Valley. The price is about A$ 22/bottle, great price-value relationship.

2009 Bloody Hill Chardonnay, Mayer Vineyard

Just released, this young white wine from the Mayer Vineyard, although low in alcohol, is an easy drinking but very fine and delicate specimen of a modern Yarra Valley Chardonnay. It has funk, is zesty and very harmonious.

2008 Bloody Hill Rose, Mayer Vineyard

Great wine for hot days and not so hot days. We compared the Bloody Hill Rose with the Grand Signature de Rapatel and found to our amazement that both wines, despite being of such different origins, go well with the garlic prawns.

2008 Les Griottes, Beaujolais, France

Ha, this fine wine from Beaujolais by Marcel Lapierre of Domaine du Vissoux, is just a very seductive drink. Made of Gamay grapes it represents the traditional style of a truly grand Beaujolais. It is not as fruity (among them strawberry) as the “nouveau” wines but has the structure and depth we treasure so much. The carbonic maceration gives it some banana flavours. It is low in alcohol but rich in flavour. Get a bottle of it, if you can. The wine is young and you can enjoy it for some time to come.

The 1996 Cornas by Thiery Allemand

This wine is very powerful and just amazing. Thierry Allemand, the son of a factory worker and not blessed with a family history of wine making, is producing two blends, Les Chaillots and Reynard both from Cornas. The wines are made from low yielding, old vines. Thierry is one of the “wine gods”, the masters and spin doctors, producing “cult” wines. It has the “burned rubber” taste which needs some time to get used to in the beginning.

The Shiraz pannel

From left to right, we drank the Syrah by Domaine de Rapatel, 2008 and 2009 Big Betty Shiraz by the Mayer Vineyard and the 1996 Cornas by Thierry Allemand. Whereas the Domaine de Rapatel Syrah is “raisin” wine, made from very ripe fruit, heavy and full of fruit flavour, the Mayer wines try to be less of that style.

Timo sees the Cornas as a benchmark for his own Shiraz wines. Both Big Betty Shiraz vintages follow the traditional wine making of Burgundy. The Cornas has the “burnt rubber” taste, which is rejected by many wine lovers and seen by some as a fault (which is nonsense). It is also full of stalks and tannins on the palate resulting from the whole bunch fermented grapes. The range of different tastes, just from one grape variety, is amazing. I ended loving the Thierry Allemand style wines best.

The morning after a successful battle with delicious wines

The evening ended with coffee and water. We stayed over. It was just a wonderful evening, a great re-union and the sharing of experiences. We had to get up the next morning fairly early because Lucy and Charlotte were going horse riding. Getting up was not the slightest problem, we were still enchanted by the magical evening. Thanks folks.

PS: The Bloody Hill Pinot Noir wines I have not mentioned above but will do so in a separate entry.

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Food and wine pairing

March 31, 2010

Beautiful scrimps in garlic and olive oil

In the hot weather of March and April big meals are not very attractive. Alas, Thailand has a lot of choice in seafood and lighter dishes are the go. Some rice with tofu and green vegetables and plenty of scrimps are the right stuff for a light meal. The question is which wine to drink with it?

A simple “Chinese set” meal

There is a lot of choice actually. As far as white wines are concerned one could choose a Chenin Blanc from Gran Monte, Thailand, for instance. Or one could have a Pinot Grigio from Italy or Germany. Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc are other possible choices.

If the dish is spicy, and the above one was, the ‘Grande Signature de Rapatel’ by Gérard Eyraud, France, a blend of Roussanne and Bourboulenc, is a great choice. The wine is oily and thick and full of apricot flavour. It balances the spicyness of the food in a wonderful way. I never thought that a Roussanne could be such a good complement to Asian food. My tip of the day: try it.

PS: You can get bottles of this wine in Bangkok from Lake House and Comte de Sibour.

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