Riesling from the Rheingau, Germany: Baltasar Ress “Von Unserem”

May 6, 2009

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Beautiful sole

Another delicious lunch. We had sole, asparagus and potatoes . The wine I had selected to go with the meal, I had found by accident in Tops supermarket in Thonglor, Bangkok. Frankly speaking I had never heard about Balthasar Ress and his wines.

From the website I learned later that the winery is managed by the 5th generation of the Ress family and that it had been founded in 1870. Unbelievable for us Australians. The estate is listed in the 2009 issues of the “800 Best Wineries in Germany” but rated as going donw in quality somewhat. Well, I cannot confirm this.

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As you know, I just love Riesling wines. For someone from the Mosel it is just heavan on a stick, paradise so to say. The dry Riesling which I selected, a bottle ‘2006 “Von Unserem” Balthasar Ress’ (11.5% Vol. Alc.) from the Rheingau, Germany was not cheap.

Thailand’s wine prices are high due to the tax imposed on imported wines. I paid about 1,000 Bath, which is a little more than 20 EURO whereas the same vintage can be bought in Germany for about 5.10 or so Euro. “Von Unserem” roughly translates into English stands for “of our own drop” indicating that the vintner and his family have made this wine to their preferred drink, solely for them, so to say.

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The quality of this dry Riesling is very good; the price in Germany very reasonable. Having access to it here in Bangkok is a treat, a wonderful thing and we enjoyed this bottle tremendously with our seafood meal.

The colour is light straw, the wine is zesty and fresh with beautiful citrus and tropical fruit aromas. It has structure and substance and a nice finish, lingering on for quite some time. Citrus bomb of the noble kind, I would say.

The next day we went back and bought all the bottles left of this wine on the shelf in Tops supermarket. Putting them into my wine fridge was a great satisfaction. More Sunday lunches with a good German Riesling wine are ahead of us. The good life, Epicurus would be proud of me. Life is just so beautiful.

If you visit the Rheingau, please check also out the villeages of Eltville and Hattenheim. It’s so beautiful there along the Rhein river. Indonesian colleagues I once took their thanked me from the bottom of their hearts and tears in their eyes. The term “paradise” comes to mind as the appropriate label.

Address:
Balthasar Ress
OT Hattenheim,
Rheinallee 7
65347 Eltville am Rhein
Tel.: +49-6734-91950
www.balthasar-ress.de

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Charming Hotels in Asia: The Savoy in Yangon, Myanmar

May 1, 2009

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The entry to the hotel

Yesterday I got my visa from the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok so that I can attend a meeting in Yangon next week. Last year I visited for the first time and stayed in a charming little hotel, called the Savoy.

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The reception area

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The rooms

I know there are many more charming places in Yangon. I love the Savoy’s colonial atmosphere, the transquility and the quiet. I alos liked the food and the wines. However, because of time constraints last time, I did not have a chance to talk to the cook. Why the cook you might ask? Well he is supposed to come from Luxemburg. That’s my Mosel neighbourhood. This time I am going to talk to him about food and wine.

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Restaurant at the second floor, Kipling’s what an enticing name.

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The Rossini, Italian restaurant at the ground floor

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The wine cabinet at the Rossini restaurant

The wine selection is quite interesting; I remember Italian, Chilean and Australian wines. I will check them out next week. I’ll tell you more after my return. Keep tuned in.

Please visit the hotel’s website for more information.

Address:
Savoy Hotel
129 Dhammazedi Road, Yangon, Myanmar
Tel: +95-1 526289 526298 526305
Fax:+95-1 524891 524892

Email: res-savoy@myanmar.com.mm
gm-savoy@myanmar.com.mm
Website: http://www.savoy-myanmar.com

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Saar Riesling: Ayler Kupp

April 19, 2009

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Spaghetti alle Vongole

Spaghetti alle Vongole was the right pasta to be enjoyed with one of my “treasure” Riesling wines. From my last trip to Germany I had brought two bottles of Riesling back to Thailand.

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One of them was a ‘2007 Ayler Kupp Riesling Kabinett’ (dry), Saar from Bischoefliches Konvikt Trier. Nothing special, you might say, but a very decent Saar Riesling for sure (price: about 10 Euro/bottle). The terroir “Ayler Kupp” is world famous for producing excellent Riesling wines.

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The wine is a typical young Saar Riesling. Actually the wine region’s official name is Mosel, but I stick to Saar, Saar being the river where the grapes for this wine are grown in a small hamlet with the name of Ayl.

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We poured the wine, which had a light straw colour and is low in alcohol (11%), so that I could take a picture. I love the Saar Rieslings, they are wines to die for. They are well balanced, acidity, sugar and alcohol in a perfect combination. They have character, texture and structure. Aromas of melon, citrus, passion fruit, peach and/or floral notes are to be found.

The match of the food with the wine was perfect. The slight spiciness of the seafood pasta and the basil went very well with the citrus aromas of the young, slightly bubbly Riesling. The wine was very fruity, a citrus bomb, so to say, marvellous. If you have a chance to visit the Saar region, please take your time and taste some of the local wines.

PS: After the extensive lunch, by the way, we had some chocolate, espresso and port of course. I smoked a big Cuban cigar. The tropical heat made us feel mellow; what a joyful day.

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Back in Bangkok, homesick and nostalgia

March 26, 2009

Being back in the warmth of Bangkok and reunited with the family is not bad after all. And I brought back a bottle of Mosel Riesling. To be correct, a bottle of ‘2007 Ayler Kupp Riesling Bischoefliches Konvikt’ from the Saar. (It’s a pity that wine bottles are so heavy).

But I still feel torn somehow. The short visit to my mum in Trier was lovely as always. My heart is in at least three different places: Bangkok, Trier and Glenburn.

I apologize to my non-German speaking visitors and put here a short video by Helmut Leiendecker from the band Leiendecker Bloas, a local music group from Trier.

The topic is “zobben” and even people who do not understand our local vernacular will get an idea what Helmut Leidendecker is talking about in this beautiful poem.

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Bleak arrival

March 15, 2009

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Wild pig from Schoden, Saar

January 31, 2009

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The village of Schoden (left) at the Saar River

The Saar is one of my favourite tributaries of the Mosel river. I love its wines, the landscape, the villages and the people. In early December I was roaming the region again, and visited Schoden, a small village near Wiltingen, where my friend Heinz and his mates have rented a hunting territory for many years.

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Herrenberg, one of the best terroirs in Schoden, left the Saar river

There is also a vineyard and boutique winery called Herrenberg which is owned and operated by Claudia and Manfred Loch. The vineyard above belongs to them. Their wines are hand crafted and award winning.

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The vines are ready for pruning, single vines where two canes are tied down

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A young wild boar killed in early December offering good quality game

The forest along the Saar are inhabited by various wild animals. Particularly numerous and very difficult to hunt down are wild pigs. Wild pigs inflict huge damages to fields, orchards, paddocks and from time to time even on vineyards. But if a young pig has been successfully killed, the meat makes a wonderful lunch or dinner or both.

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Liver and kidneys of the wild pig above

Here is a wild pig goulash recipe:
-500 to 800 gr. of wild pig meat
-some bacon
-onions
-some oil
-tomato paste
-150 ml red wine
-350 ml of extract from boiling game
-sour cream
-laurel, tyme and juniper berries
-salt and pepper.

If you want to enjoy it with mushrooms, you could add a selection of various wild forest mushrooms, preferably “funghi porcini” (Steinpilze in German). I just love them; they are great with wild pig.

The cooking process is like any other goulash. Add the sour cream at the end so that the goulash is not too watery.

My tip: buy the wild pig meat from the hunter if you can and make sure the animal was “not too old” (buy meat from year-old animals). This is easy if you live in Germany.

As the pairing with wine is concerned, I suggest a good red (14% alcohol), preferably a Malbec from Argentina or a Tempranilo from Spain or a Barolo from Italy. A GMT from Australia, maybe from McLaren Vale, would also do. Of course you could also have a Saar Riesling with it. From Schoden I recommend a Riesling from the Loch family of Herrenberg.

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Riesling from the Upper Goulburn

January 23, 2009

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‘2005 Don’t Tell Dad Riesling’, Murrindindi Vineyards, Upper Goulburn Wine Region

Being a Man from the Mosel I love Mosel Riesling wines and find it hard at times to appreciate other styles of Rieslings. Australia produces out standing Riesling wines. Most of them are of the Alsatian style, they are thick bodied and coat the palate. Moreover, petrol is the dominant nose when you sniff it. Although finding petroleum notes is a common occurrence in aged Riesling wines, it is usually not to be found in young wines coming from the Mosel. And this might be why, though appreciative of those Rieslings from Alsace and Australia, I usually prefer a Mosel Riesling. Here I like the young freshness, the balance between acidity and minerality, the zest, and the exuberance.

But in my meandering search for new experiences, I always give Australian Rieslings a go, often reluctant I admit. The best Australian Rieslings come from Eden Valley and Clare Valley in South Australia.

In his 2009 edition of ‘The Australian Wine’, Jeremy Oliver, a famous Australian wine writer, ranks a Riesling from Victoria, the ‘2007 Seppelt Drumborg’ from Henty (98 points) as the best for the year. Henty, a little known wine region outside Australia, is located in South Western Victoria near the border to South Australia, between Hamilton and Portland. Henty has about 25 vineyards including 12 wineries. The nine Rieslings which follow in the rankings of Jeremy Oliver all come from Eden (4) and Clare (5).

The more I was pleased when James Halliday recently ranked a Riesling from our own wine region, the Upper Goulburn Wine Region, quite highly and gave 87 points to the ‘2006 Barwite Upper Goulburn Riesling’.

While browsing the shelves of the supermarket in Yea , I bought the above bottle of the ‘2005 Don’t Tell Dad Riesling’ from Murrindindi Vineyards, also a member of our wine growers association. Wines from Murrindindi Vineyards have won accolades of praise by wine critics and judges. To cite James Halliday again, he awarded the ‘2006 Murrindindi Don’t Tell Dad Shiraz’ 89 points, the ‘2006 Murrindindi Chardonnay’ 88 and the ‘2005 Murrindindi Family Reserve Cabernet’ 88. The 2005 Riesling even got 89 points.

I brought the above bottle to a dinner with my friends Hillary (from the end of our street), Beth and Richard and was amazed. The petroleum note was not as dominant as with some Rieslings, the wine has elegance and length which I liked. The ‘2005 Don’t Tell Dad Riesling’ retails for about 15 A$ and is a bargain. Check it out. I will drink it again when back in Glenburn.

PS: The Top 10 Australian Riesling wines according to Jeremy Oliver 2009:

1. 2007 Seppelt Drumborg, Henty, 98
2. 2007 Mountadam, Eden Valley, 96
3. 2003 Peter Lehman Reserve, Eden Valley, 96
4. 2005 Leasingham Classic Clare, Clare Valley, 96
5. 2002 Pewsey Vale Vineyard, Eden Valley, 96
6. 2007 Grosset Polish Hill, Clare Valley, 96
7. Kilikanoon Mort’s Reserve, Clare Valley, 95
8. 2005 Taylors St. Andrews, Clare Valley, 95
9. 2007 Grosset Springvale, Clare Valley, 95
10. 2008 Leo Buring Leonay DW L17, High Eden, 95

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Restaurant Review: Libertine in Melbourne

January 22, 2009

libertine

During the four weeks in Glenburn, Victoria I made it to the big city (= Melbourne) only once. My friend Tony Arthur had organised a lunch with Joe and Helen and myself at “Libertine”, a French restaurant in North Melbourne.

When Tony mentioned the name of the place we were supposed to meet in town over the phone, I was already enthralled. For a liberal like me, “libertine” augured well, promising freedom of French provenance.

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The restaurant is tucked away between various other entrances and not easily glimpsed. I came in my pick-up truck from the countryside and had to circle the place.

The dining area downstairs is rather small but I understand they have more facilities upstairs. When I arrived at 12:30 sharp, my friends had already assembled. Most tables were still empty but that would change very quickly. The place was packed just a little later.

Tony, Helen and Joe had been travelling together in France. As a native of Trier, Mosel, just a few kilometres from France I am not exactly a stranger to French culture and cuisine and consider myself a “francophile”.

We started with aperitifs. I was introduced to a Floc de Gascogne. Based on a XVI century local recipe, this is a fortified sweet wine, a blend so to say, between fresh grape juice (2/3) and Armagnac (1/3). It is kept for about 10 months in the cellar. The aromas it displays are almond, jasmine, roses and honey. The alcohol content of the drink varies between 16 and 18%.

Also the second aperitif, a Pommeau de Normandie was a “mistelle”, in this case a mixture of apple juice with Calvados. It’s usually aged in oak barrels for about 30 months and contains 17% alcohol. The drink displays aromas of vanilla, caramel and butterscotch flavours.

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The Pommeau de Normandie

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The Floc de Gascogne

The next two photos introduce the diners. A happy lot they were. We had not met for more than a year. It was easy to lure me down to town from my farm upcountry in the Upper Goulburn to meet up and dwell on the happenings of the past months.

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Tony and Joe

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Helen and me

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My steak

We all ordered the set menue were you have a couple of choices. I opted for the fresh onion soup, followed by a steak. The dessert I choose was a “tarte de pomme”, all very delicious. The service was relaxed but very attentive; the food of an excellent quality and taste for a very reasonable price.

We were also advised on the wines. We went with the house wine, all from bottles, a Roundstone Cabernet Merlot from the Yarra Valley. Helen had a Lis Neris Bianco from Italy. The blokes followed up with a glass of Tempranillo but by that time we were beyond producers and other wine information. I just did not record any of it any more because we were deep in philosophical conversation about love, life and the universe.

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The dessert

We had a coffee at the end, bid each other farewell and scattered in all direction with the sincere promise to repeat this as soon as possible but latest at our next visit in Australia.

The Libertine is a great restaurant. If you visit Melbourne you should schedule a meal either lunch or dinner with your friends in this atmospheric little place.

Address:
Libertine
500 Victoria Stret
North Melbourne 3051
Melbourne, Victoria
Australia
Tel.:+61-3-93295228
http://www.libertinedining.com.au

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The Christmas Market in Trier

December 15, 2008

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The main market square – Hauptmarkt in Trier

I had only about 24 hours for a family visit in Trier, my beloved home town. This is not much time and I needed to buy urgently some supplies. I was in a hurry which is not good when you end up in a Christmas market. Gee it was crowded. I had not expected so many people. After all the media lamented the economic crisis, the downturn, the loss of jobs and income in short a dark and insecure future. Nothing of that could be felt at the Christmas market in Trier. It was packed with people. I was pushed through the masses. One could hear many languages, French, English, Dutch, Luxembourgian and various German dialects.

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Children sing Christmas carols

We have learned from other economic crises that people try to forget the dire circumstances by celebrating even more and more intensely than in “normal’ times. Well, that must have been the case in Trier as well. Everywhere people were drinking mulled wine which is good against the cold but also beer and “normal” wines were on offer. It was a cheerful mood; joyous and happy faces wherever I looked. The pictures above and below give you an idea.

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Main market square towards Porta Nigra

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Steipe – the old town hall

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The St. Peter fountain

St. Peter must have been happy too with all these many cheerful Christmas shoppers. After a bath in the crowd I sought refuge in a quiet place and escaped to one of my favourite watering wholes, the wine bar Kesselstatt. I ordered a ‘2007 Kaseler Nies’chen Riesling’ from the Ruwer river, a tributary of the Mosel and listened to the conversations of my neighbours.

It’s good to be home and Christmas is an auspicious time. I let myself be taken in and my mind flowed through the narrow lanes and back streets of the old Roman town. I could smell the smells of my youth and saw faces of people long gone. I dreamt myself away for a while before strolling home. It’s s pity that 24 hours have only 1440 minutes.

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A secret revealed: So sorry!

December 2, 2008

I am so sorry, honestly. But the day we moved into our new apartment in Thonglor, Bangkok, our local supermarket promoted German food items and other German products (what an auspicious day!).

So I had to disappoint my friend Thomas (also a man from the Mosel) who suggested a very fine sparkling wine for the “move-in event”. I am not so sure what exactly he suggested in terms of sparkling that I should have gotten.

But instead, we only had something “ordinary”, I guess that’s what you would call it, a ‘Fuerst von Metternich’, a German Sekt, as sparkling is called in my native land.

Needless to say, we were very enthusiastic when we finally moved into our new apartment which is destined to become our new home for some years to come.

Thomas rest assured we had a great time.

Hurrah we have a new home and we feel very comfortable there.

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PS: Given the current political turmoil in Bangkok, I am not so sure how long we will enjoy our new home. Fingers crossed.

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