This is just a photo blog entry. One could sense spring when I visited my hometown Trier in March. I deliberately went to the hight at “Perisberg” and have a good look around the vineyards and the city. I love Olewig and its wine festival. Come to Trier, the oldest city in Germany, it’s worth a visit.
The village of Olewig
Steep slope vineyards
The vines are pruned and ready for another season
The main cathedral in Trier
5 Comments | 
vineyards, wine regions | Tagged: Augusta Treverorum, Mosel, Mosel river, Olewig, Riesling, Trier | 
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Posted by themanfrommoselriver
Inside Wine Bar Rutz, Berlin (before renovation)
Well, lent has just started, so why not write about the good life? Since a long time I wanted to tell you about “Weinebar Rutz”, a gourmet restaurant in the middle of Berlin.
My wine-lover-gourmet-wine blogger friend Swetlana Kittke took me there on a beautiful evening. We had a meal together and enjoyed a wonderful German Riesling wine. At the time, I thought I will never forget the wine, but now 3-4 years later I admit that I do not remember which Riesling we had chosen (and I cannot find my notes any more). Nonetheless, the Wine Bar Rutz is a fabulous place.
While surfing the internet today, I learned that the wine bar and restaurant was closed for renovations. It will open again on April 1st. But the event of the year will be its 10 anniversary celebration on April 9th with a special offer of a gourmet meal (249 EURO/person, I hope the wine is included) called “10 years -10 courses – 10 star cooks”.
The modern cuisine
I am usually not a fan of the “designer cuisine” (as a true country boy I like the rustic food of the Mediterranean better) but I must admit that the taste of the dish above, though difficult to identify, was just marvellous.
The team at Wine Bar Rutz is composed of Marco Mueller, a one-star Micheline cook, one of the most innovative cooks in Germany, it is said, Billy Wagner, sommelier and Carsten Schmidt, the general manager. Last year the wine and food guide Gault Millau awarded 17 of 20 point to the restaurant. The wine list with about 600 different wines is very impressive too. Most of my favourite Rieslings can be found there.
Address:
Wine Bar Rutz Restaurant
Chausseestrasse 8
10115 Berlin Mitte, Germany
Tel.:+49-30-24628760
info@weinbar-rutz.de
www.weinbar-rutz.de
Leave a Comment » | food, Restaurant Review, wine | Tagged: Berlin, Billy Wagner, Carsten Schmidt, Gault Millau, German Riesling, German wine, Marco Mueller, Riesling, wine, Wine Bar Rutz | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
University Cafe on a glass of wine
According to the Trip Advisor website visited today, the University Cafe in Melbourne is ranked 665 of 2,131 restaurants in the second largest metropolis of Australia.
When on the farm and vineyard in Glenburn we rarely come to town. This was an exceptional day.
We had visited Melbourne University to inform ourselves about the place since both our daughters, Lucy and Charlotte, intend to enrol their after they have finished their IB in Bangkok. The university people were very friendly and we had an appointment for lunch in Carlton with some very old friends.
Without further ado we jumped into the University Cafe, an eatery right in middle of Lygon street in the heart of Carlton. Before even considering food, we ordered a bottle of crisp Riesling from Delatite Winery, located near Mansfield in the Upper Goulburn Wine Region.
Ah, wine from Upper Goulburn, our wine region. Our own little vineyard is located at the most southern tip of this new wine region of Victoria. Delatite Winery, near Mansfield, planted in 1968 is one of the oldest vineyards there.
Delatite is committed to organic practices in the vineyard and winery. The winery was established in 1982 by Robert and Vivienne Ritchie. Today, their son David is running the family business. Delatite is famous for its aromatic wines. Their Riesling has won many international and national awards. The ‘2009 Delatite Riesling’ was a natural choice.
2009 Delatite Riesling
The wine went beautifully with the food, mostly fish and other seafood dishes. The crisp apple and citrus aromas with its finely balanced acids is a great refreshment during a warm summers day. Frankly speaking, I think the Delatite Riesling is the best Riesling the Upper Goulburn has to offer.
Mixed side salad
Ruccola with parmesan
Seafood risotto
Delicious mussels
Seafood pasta
The happy diners: Joe Mauch, Anthony Arthur, Charlotte, Lucy, Rainer and Margit Adam
Overall, the service was good, the quality of the food decent, and the atmosphere despite the lunchtime crowed, to our liking. It was good to meet up with friends and relax.
Address:
The University Cafe
255 Lygon Street | Carlton,
Melbourne 3053, Australia
Te.: +61-03-9347 0328
1 Comment | food, food and wine, wine, wine regions | Tagged: Australian Riesling, Australian wine, Melbourne, Riesling, Upper Goulburn Valley, Upper Goulburn Wine region, Upper Goulburn Winegrowers Association | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
Flat vineyards around the St. Urbanshof winery in Leiwen
There are not only steep slopes and stony vineyards along the Mosel but also flat bits, as in the picture above which shows the vineyards around the winery of St. Urbans-Hof in Leiwen, Mosel.
St. Urbans-Hof Oekonomierat Nic. Weiss Estate is member in the prestigeous VDP, the association of the top wineries in Germany. I visited the cellar door on a bleak November morning last year.
The winery
The entrance to the estate
Cellar door
Cellar door
Cellar door
My purchase
Wine box with label
2009 Laurentiuslay Riesling GG St. Urbans-Hof
The tasting of German “grand cru” (GG=grosses Gewaechs) Riesling wines by the German wine magazine “Weinwelt” awarded 91 points to the ‘2009 Leiwen Laurentiuslay Riesling GG’ by St. Urbans-Hof. I bought a couple of bottles, one of which I openend with a meal of game prepared by my friend Heinz. The wine is a wonderful specimen of Mosel Riesling and shows all the marvelleous characteristics they posses.
My conclusion is that any visitor to the Mosel river should visit the wine village of Leiwen, and – ergo – the fantastic wineries and vineyards to taste these georgeous Riesling wines.
Address:
Weingut St. Urbans-Hof
Urbanusstraße 16
D-54340 Leiwen/Mosel
Tel.: +49 65 07 / 93 77-0
Fax: +49 65 07 / 93 77-30
www.urbans-hof.de
5 Comments | vineyards, wine, wine regions, wineries | Tagged: German wine, Leiwen, Mosel, Mosel Riesling, Riesling, St. Urbanshof, wine | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
Beautiful fish
Pomfret, or Bawal Putih, as we call it in Indonesia, is a wonderful fish; in fact it is one of my favourites. I also love “fish-Sundays” which always lends itself to a beautiful white wine. Mind you, I also drink red wine with fish, but if I have some Riesling in my fridge….
Pomfret
With the chilli-garlic-ginger sauce, the pomfret was just wonderful.
From the outset, I was clear about the wine. Well, actually our wine fridge is quite empty. But from my last trip to Germany in November last year, I brought with me two bottles of precious liquid: Riesling wines from my beloved Mosel river.
You might guess it, yes. I opened a bottle of ‘2009 Dhron Hofberg GG Riesling’ by Grans-Fassian Estate in Leiwen, Mosel. This grand cru (or Grosses Gewaechs as the German call it) is just wonderful.
2009 Dhroner Hofberg Riesling GG by Grans-Fassian Estate
Wine tastings last year by Weinwelt, a German wine magazine, awarded it with 95 Parker points. The wine is luscious and complex, with beautiful peach and citrus aromas. It has the minerality of the Mosel Riesling. The fine acids and the balance of the wine are just mind blowing.
Wine prices in Bangkok are astronomical. For a 5 EURO wine in Germany one has to fork out about 20-30 EURO here. You can have the Dhron Hofberg Riesling for a price below 20 EURO from the cellar door. The trip is worth it. Leiwen is a treasure trove for wine lovers and Riesling geeks.
I wrote about the Grans-Fassian Estate in an earlier blog entry. The winery is also member in the prestigious VDP (the Association of German Quality Wine Estates).
Cheers and “zum Wohl”
Address:
Weingut Grans-Fassian
Römerstraße 28
54340 Leiwen, Mosel
Tel.: +49-6507-3170
Fax: +49-6507-8167
E-Mail: weingut@grans-fassian.de
Openng hours: Mon. to Fri.
8.00-12.00 und 13.30-16.30 h
www.grans-fassian.de
3 Comments | food, wine, wine regions, wineries | Tagged: German wine, Grans-Fassian Estate, Leiwen, Mosel, Mosel river, Mosel wine, Riesling, Weingut Grans-Fassian | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
Grans-Fassian Estate in Leiwen
When I drove along the Mosel on a grey Saturday morning last November, I was heading to Leiwen to buy some good Riesling wines.
There were three reasons for this trip. It all started at Frankfurt airport when I bought the December issue of “Weinwelt” (World of Wine), the German wine magazine.
1. I had looked at the results of a wine tasting of grand cru (GG = Grosses Gewaechs) Rieslings: two of the top wines from the Mosel came from Leiwen; one of them was a ‘2009 Dhroner Hofberg’ by Grans-Fassian Estate.
2. Leiwen is just a 30 minutes drive from my mothers home in Trier at one of the most beautiful bights of my beloved Mosel.
3. I love German Riesling especially if it comes from the Mosel river and I wanted to know what a 95 point wine would taste like.
The original Grans-Fassian Estate manor house with the cellar door
So off I went by car and cruised along down the Mosel. I was lucky, the cellar door was open. Here I met Catherina, one of the two daughters of the owner, Gerhard Grans who had taken over the estate from his father Matthias in 1982.
We had a bit of a chat about wine, life and the universe. Catherina is a charming young lady. She is going to be an oenology student at Geisenheim soon.
Catherina Grans showing me the top wines
I tasted two of the wines (the ones mentioned in the magazine): the ‘2009 Riesling Dhroner Hofberg’ (95 points) and the ‘2009 Riesling Leiwener Laurentiuslay’ (92 points). I tell you these are Rieslings how I like them. Wonderful wines indeed. Tropical fruit the first wine, and a kind of a citrus bomb the second. Both with a good structure, young, minerally, powerful with a long finish.
The treasure box with Grans-Fassian wines
Furthermore, I learned that the estate has about 10 ha under vines. Some of the vineyards are lokated in the best terroir of the region, for instance Dhroner Hofberg, Leiwener Laurentiuslay, Piesporter Goldtroepfchen, and Trittenheimer Apotheke.
About 88% of the vines are Riesling, 10% Pinot Blanc and 2% Pinot Gris. The brochure shows the steep slopes of some of the vineyards, most of them with a southern or western aspect. The micro climate is ideal for Riesling. The soils consisting of red, grey and blue slate.
I bought a couple of the two wines I had tasted. By the way for someone like me who pays obscene prices for wine in Bangkok, these top wines were very reasonably priced, in fact they were a true bargain. It’s a pity that wine bottles are so heavy. I knew that I could only take one, maximum two of them with me on my long journey back to Thailand. What a pity, I thought.
The wine bloggers delight
Here is another hot “secret” for your next trip to the Mosel river: Grans-Fassian Estate in Leiwen should be your destination. Trust me, you will not regret it.
Leave a Comment » | wineries | Tagged: Catherina Grans, Dhroner Hofberg, Gerhard Grans, Germany, Grans-Fassian Estate, Leiwen, Leiwener Laurentiuslay, Mosel, Mosel river, Piesporter Goldtroepfchen, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Trier, Trittenheimer Apotheke, Weinwelt, wine | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
It’s beautiful to drive along the Mosel river, even in the month of November. I had this opportunity last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Mosel wine route (Mosel Weinstrasse) is a fine example of a scenic drive along the vineyards and wine villages in this part of Germany which I still call home.
The winding Mosel with the slopes covered in vineyards
Steep slopes promise hard work and exquisite wines
Vines on blue slate soils
Blue slate ideal for Riesling grapes
Every individual vine got one stake
Low lying vineyards at the river bank
As many as you like
Famous terroir: Poelicher Held
Famous terroir: Kluesserather Bruderschaft
The Roman wine route
The country I come from is just beautiful. Visit the Mosel and remember the Romans did this too about 2000 years ago. Spring (and Mosel Riesling) is waiting for you.
Leave a Comment » | history and culture, vines, wine regions, wineries | Tagged: blue slate, German wine, Kluesserather Bruderschaft, Mosel, Mosel river, Poelicher Held, Riesling, steep slope viticulture, terroir, Trier, viticulture, wine | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
The wine village Leiwen at the Mosel river
Last November I had the opportunity to visit Leiwen just about 30 minutes down the Mosel river from my hometown Trier.
Grape press
Leiwen (about 1,600 inhabitants) is not only a village known as a holiday destination but it is also a famous wine village. Here quite a few of the top Mosel wineries and members of VDP, the association of the top producers are located.
Leiwen got it’s name from Livia, the wife of the Roman emperor Augustus and has a long tradition in grape growing and wine making.
Riesling vineyards
Vineyards on the flats
Riesling, the aromatic grape of the Mosel, is the dominant variety here. Many of the vineyards are located on extremely steep slopes which are hard to cultivate. The ground is mainly gray, blue and sometimes red slate.
Many signs indicate the way to the various wineries
Many, mainly small and family owned wineries call Leiwen their home. The tasting rooms and wine cellars are usually located in the middle of the village. Space is certainly an issue.
On a quiet Saturday morning, the village was almost deserted. No tourist can be found during these times of the year. Vintners were in the vineyards busy pruning their vines. But I went to taste some wines of which I will tell you more soon.
But visit if you can, next spring or summer, any time is a good time. The wines are worth it.
1 Comment | wine regions, wineries | Tagged: German Riesling, German wine, Leiwen, Mosel, Riesling, Trier, wine | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
What a beautiful red snapper
My friend Brett Travis had given us the above red snapper before leaving on a fishing trip to Samoa. This was a wonderful opportunity for another wonderful lunch at our vineyard. We prepared the fish for a six persons meal.
Yummy veggies
It was a beautiful summers day. The fish was “crying” for a white wine too. We took the opportunity to open one of the recently acquired bottles from Sevenhill Cellars in the Clare Valley in South Australia where our mate Neville Rowe is the general manager.
The ‘2009 Inigo Riesling’ is a typical Clare Valley wine. It is young and fresh and lively. Of course I prefer German Riesling wines, and it is my view that Australian Riesling cannot reach that ultimate Riesling level which I love so much.
Sevenhill Cellars is the oldest wineries in the Clare Valley. It was founded by Jesuits in 1851 to produce sacramental wines. We enjoyed the “sacrament” with the delicious fish, and thank all our benefactors. Cheers mate.
2009 Inigo Riesling by Sevenhill, Clare Valley
Leave a Comment » | food, vineyards, wine, wine regions, wineries | Tagged: Australian Riesling, Australian wine, Brett Travis, Clare Valley, Glenburn, Inigo Riesling, red snapper, Riesling, Sevenhill, Sevenhill Cellars, South Australia, Two Hills Vineyard, Victoria | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
It was my time to cook Sunday lunch. Anyway, the three gorgeous women I share my life with were due to travel to Australia later today. In order to give them time to pack, I prepared lunch. I admit, however, that Margit helped me quite a lot. Otherwise, I guess, I would not have accomplished the task.
So what did I cook? A strange dish, I must say, straight out of the Jamie Oliver cookery book titled “Jamies does…”. It is a recipe from the Maghreb, Marrakesh to be precise. It consists of spicy vermicelli stuffed with prawns in a courgettes-tomato kind of sauce and on top a large fish is positioned (sea bass, snapper, etc.). Since we did not have a whole fish, we used fillets of sea bass.
The whole process is too complicated to be recited here. The recipe can be found on the internet, one of Jamie’s websites. Boy that dish is delicious, just wonderful. I would like to encourage you to try it, especially if you like spicy food.
The prawn-stuffed spicy vermicelli with fish
The fish is succulent but crisp
On the plate
As the title of this blog entry suggest, Riesling was the wine of my choice. German Riesling is my favourite. Wine does not age in my care here in Bangkok in the tropics. I selected a ‘2008 Riesling Kabinett’ by Schloss Johannisberg, one of the oldest Riesling producers in the Rheingau and Germany as a whole.
2008 Riesling Kabinett Schloss Johannisberg
A Kabinett was just the right wine because of its relative high “rest sugar” it’s off-dry or semi-dry, “halbtrocken” or “feinherb”, as the Germans say. However, the label did not say if the wine was dry or semi-dry. But my palate told me the sugar level must be at about 9 grams or so. Alcohol was 11.5%.
In any case the wine went extremely well with the very spicy vermicelli. I just love the bouquet, this slight petrol note on the nose. This is a wonderful rich wine, with a fine balanced acidity, the taste of apples and peaches are prominent.
2008 Riesling Kabinett Schloss Johannisberg
I wish we had more of this drop
If you buy this wine directly from the producer, you have to spend 17 Euro for a 0.75 litres bottle.
The meal with this wine was just perfect for the occasion. Time fly’s. Christmas is approaching fast and soon I will be back in Glenburn, Australia and taste many new-world wines.
Address:
Fürst von Metternich-Winneburg’sche Domäne
Schloss Johannisberg
D-65366 Geisenheim
Tel.: +49 (0) 6722-7009-0
E-Mail info@schloss-johannisberg.de
Restaurant
Tel:. +49 (0)6722 96090
E-Mail restaurant@schloss-johannisberg.de
www.schloss-johannisberg.de
Leave a Comment » | food, wine, wine regions, wineries | Tagged: German Riesling, German wine, Jamie Oliver, Rheingau, Riesling, Schloss Johannisberg | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
The Man from Mosel River
The Man from Mosel River 