November 22, 2012
The other day, while I was waiting for my flight home to Bangkok, I discovered to my great amazement in the business class airline lounge of EVA Air, that a wine from my native Mosel was on offer.
What a pleasant surprise, I thought, when I spotted the label in the wine cooler. It was a ‘2011 Bockstein Kabinett Grand Cru’ by St. Urbans-Hof in Leiwen, Mosel. The wine village of Leiwen is only a couple of kilometers away from my home town Trier.
I have visited the winery and love their crisp-dry Rieslings. For the first time I had the opportunity to taste one of their off-dry wines. The terroir, “Bockstein” in Ockfen, a small village at the Saar river, a tributary to the Mosel, is also a place very dear to me.
From the raised hides in the hunting territory of Schoden (another village at the banks of the Saar river) one could have a glimpse of the “Bockstein”, a rock formation towering over the Saar valley. It’s vineyards are very steep and the Riesling grapes grown are famous for their high quality.
Off-dry whites are not my favourites, but of course this wine showed it’s outstanding quality. It was full and lush, smooth as silk in the mouth, with intensive and mellow Riesling aromas. It had also a long finish, and I loved the balance of sugar and acidity.
Moreover, I found my beloved Mosel (Saar) here, thousands of miles away in a place of Asia where I least expected it.
1 Comment | 
wine, wine regions, wineries | Tagged: Bockstein, Eva Air, German wine, grand cru, Kabinett, Leiwen, Mosel, Mosel wine, Ockfen, Riesling, Saar, Schoden, St Urbans-Hof, Taipei, Taiwan, Trier | 
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Posted by themanfrommoselriver
November 20, 2012
Selecting the wine
If you want to imagine me happy, imagine me in “Weinsinnig”, my favourite wine bar in Trier, Mosel.
Manuela Schewe and her team are doing a great job. I just love, that the wine bar is also a kind of cellar door for quite a few wineries. Most of them do have a cellar door of their own. However, with Weinsinnig they have a cellar door right in the middle of town.
I love this concept.
Among the wine producers you can find: Winery
Bender
Deutschherrenhof
Heymann-Löwenstein
Jakoby Pur
Lauer
Markus Molitor
Maximin Grünhaus
Nick Köwerich
Pauly
Philipp Kettern
Stephan Steinmetz
Van Volxem
Von Hövel and
von Othegraven
The selection of these, mostly local, wineries guarantees to the wine lover that he or she can choose from a broad range of different wine styles, varieties, terroir and even wine regions.
So far I was not able to try all of them as yet, but believe me I am working on it whenever I visit my lovely Trier. Stay tuned.
Cheers
Address:
WEINSINNIG
Weinbar & Verkauf
Palaststraße 12
54290 Trier
Tel.: +49-651-979 01 56
info@weinsinnig.com
Leave a Comment » | history and culture, wine, wine bars | Tagged: German wine, Manuela Schewe, markus molitor, Maximin Grünhaus, Mosel, Riesling, Trier, Weinbar Weinsinnig, Weinsinnig, wine bar, wine producers | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
November 17, 2012
‘Schwenkbraten’
Actually, ‘traditional German ‘Schwenkbraten’ is when the pork is on a movable gridiron which is beeing moved over a coal fire. The above picture is more of a rolled piece of pork on a rotisserie.
However, that may be, the German love to grill as much as the Australians do. And since the summers in Germany tend to be unpredictable, often short, every opportunity to be outside and operate a grill is used to everybodies delight.
What a delicious piece of meat?
The pork is stuffed with onions, bacon, maybe herbs
My friend Juergen doing the carving job
Ready to be served
Note: Let me tell you that the above pictures were taken in Eitelsbach, Ruwer. My old friends Elisabeth and Juergen Olk had organised a family reunion to which we were kindly invited. It was a lovely summers afternoon, with little children darting through the garden, and adults chatting, telling stories, and drinking and eating. Apart from some Ruwer wines, mostly Riesling, the preferred drink was beer. We had a delightful time. What a beautiful day that was.
1 Comment | culture, food, food and wine | Tagged: coal fire, Eitelsbach, food, German food, German wine, grill, Mosel, pork, Riesling, rotisserie, Ruwer, Trier, wine | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
October 29, 2012
My own flash mob in Bangkok
About a week ago history was made when the first “wine flash-mob” was conducted in Koblenz, and a much smaller one in my home town Trier. I learned it from facebook, and I wished I were there.
Funny is that the word flash of the term “flash-mob” sounds like “Flasche” which translates into German as “bottle”. So it is a “bottle mob”. Indeed about 200 wine lovers followed the invitation in Koblenz and congregated at the “German corner” (Deutsches Eck), a public square, where Rhine and Mosel river merge.
It was maybe the last warm autumn’s day (according to the organizers 21 Celsius) with blues sky, coloured leaves on trees, soft air with the hint that winter was not far away. Jan Wilhelm Buhrmann and Marco Pusceddu from the wine bar “Gavino” in Koblenz had invited to this un-usual event.
The event was part of an initiative by the German Wine Institute (DWI) to promote German wine. The title of the campaign was “become a wine spotter” (or discoverer) and it was conducted in the third week of October. In more than 400 restaurants all over Germany various events were held to promote German wine.
The bottle flash mob in Koblenz, planned for only 20 minutes, muted into a two hour public tasting and wine sharing where German “Gemuetlichkeit” reigned. Great stuff. I hope I can be there when they do it next time.
1 Comment | culture, wine, wine regions | Tagged: climate, flashmob, German wine, german wine institute, Jan Wilhelm Buhrmann, Koblenz, Marco Pusceddu, Mosel, nature, Rhine, science, transportation, Trier, wine, wine bar Gavino | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
October 19, 2012
View of the cathedral and the vineyards towards Olewig
I just left my beloved Trier behind me. Now I am in Berlin, the capital of the Federal Republic which is far to the east from my native land. From Trier it is easier to reach Paris than Berlin. And the Mosel river comes from France before forming the frontier between Luxemburg and Germany.
It is a splendid town, small and beautiful. Traces of the Roman empire can be found everywhere. Come and visit.
Leave a Comment » | culture, wine, wine regions | Tagged: architecture, Augusta Treverorum, Mosel, Mosel river, Roman history, Trier | Permalink
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October 10, 2012
The Mosel river near Schweich
I am rapping things up here in Bangkok. Only two more days to go. Friday night I will be on the midnight flight to Germany. After about 11 hours on the plane, I will land in Frankfurt early in the morning. I might have a coffee and breakfast at the train station.
Then I will catch a train to Tier, my home town to see my parents. The train ride will be wonderful regardless of the weather. Autumn might extend its magic with colourful leaves in red, brown and yellow.
First, my trip will lead me along the Rhine river, then I’ll change trains in Koblenz. The next leg of the journey will be along the Mosel river. Some of the views will be spectacular.
I will admire the vineyards of both valleys, the Rhine and the Mosel. On the hilltops will be castles here and there. The slopes are steep, and I will think of all the hard work the vintners put into their vineyards. How can one work these terrible steep slopes? Backbreaking work, done for generations.
Vineyards and wine production have been a feature of the place for more than 2.000 years, incredible. I will have only about 24 hours there before I will move on for a business trip to Berlin.
Saturday night I will patronize my favourite wine bar, Weinsinnig. It will be my cellar door so to speak since I plan to pick up a few bottles of my favourite Mosel wines. There will be certainly a crisp Riesling among them.
I very much look forward to going home.
1 Comment | culture, food and wine, wine, wine regions | Tagged: German wine, Koblenz, Mosel, Mosel river, mosel wines, nature, outdoors, Rhine river, Riesling, Schweich, steep slopes, travel, Trier, trip to berlin, Weinsinnig, wine | Permalink
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September 23, 2012
Karthäuserhof Estate, main gate
A winery I always wanted to visit is the Weingut Karthäuserhof in Eitelsbach, a small hamlet which is part of Ruwer, a suburb of Trier, just a couple of kilometres away from my home in the city centre.
The wine estate Karthäuserhof is a member of the elite club of German wine estates, the VDP. It is a prime producer of outstanding Riesling wines. The estate if farmed by the sixth generation of the Tyrell family. The vintner Christoph Tyrell is well known in the region and beyond.
Every year on the second weekend in August, Karthäuserhof is hosting a wine tasting conducted in co-operation with about a dozen other top German wineries from various wine regions. The 2012 tasting was a very special occasion since it marked the 200 anniversary and jubilee vintage of the Tyrell family.
The 11 August 2012 was a special day indeed; it was our last full day in Germany before our departure to Bangkok. My wife Margit and I, we were looking forward to the event despite the fact that we knew we could not buy a lot since our suitcases were already full with various bottles of wine which we had already purchased.
Our view from the bathroom window
Since we stayed with friends right across from the estate, we had a great view of the location “Karthäuserhofberg”, one of the ‘grand cru terroir’ of Karthäuserhof.
The vineyard has an inclination of about 50%. The soil is Devon grey and blue slate. It is situated right next to the winery and exclusively in the ownership of the Tyrell family. The total area under vines in one plots (very unusual for Germany, I would say) is about 19 ha, 17.7 of which are under Riesling, the rest under Pinot Blanc grapes.
I hope I have wetted your appetite. My next blog entry will deal with the wine tasting, the various wineries represented and their wines. Stay tuned.
Address:
Weingut Karthäuserhof
Karthäuser Straße,
54292 Trier,
Germany
Tel.: +49-651-5121
http://www.karthaeuserhof.com
1 Comment | vineyards, wine, wine regions, wineries | Tagged: Christoph Tyrell, Eitelsbach, german wineries, Mosel, Riesling, Ruwer, Trier, Weingut Karthäuserhof | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
September 14, 2012
2011 Maximin Grünhäuser Riesling trocken
One of the nicest dry Mosel Riesling wine I tasted during our summer vacation in Trier was a ‘2011 Maximin Grünhäuser Riesling trocken’ by Schlosskellerei Maximin Grünhaus C. von Schubert in Mertesdorf, Ruwer.
It was at Weinsinnig, one of my favourite wine bars in Trier, that we sampled this wine with its romantic and old fashioned label. The wine has character. Although just from their “ordinary” dry Riesling class, you get value for money (9.90 EURO/0.75 l. bottle).
2011 Maximin Grünhäuser Riesling trocken
It has the zest, the exuberance, the fine balance of acids, the opulent aromas, the structure and long finish one longs for in a Mosel Riesling. Although I had driven past the winery many times before, I had never tasted a wine from this first class producer in the Ruwer valley.
The MUNDUS VINI award for the best dry white wine in Germany 2011 and the “Big Gold Medal” were bestowed on the ‘2009 Maximin Grünhäuser Abtsberg Riesling Qualitätswein old vines’, of the estate. I wonder what this wine would taste like.
But I tell you, I will return, and include some more of their wines when I visit the Mosel next time.
Address:
Dr. Carl von Schubert
Hauptstr. 1
54318 Mertesdorf
Tel.: +49 (651) 5111
Fax : +49 (651) 52122
info@vonschubert.de
Maximin Grünhaus
Leave a Comment » | wine, wine bars, wine regions, wineries | Tagged: Dr. Carl von Schubert, Germany, Maximin Grünhaus, Maximin Grünhäuser Riesling trocken, Mertesdorf, Mosel Riesling, Mosel river, MUNDUS VINI, Riesling, Ruwer, Trier, vacation, Weinsinnig | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
September 10, 2012
The city of Trier – photo taken from Kockelsberg
During the month of July, we spend some glorious days in my home town Trier. On a splendid Sunday, wen went to have brunch with music at a country inn called Altenhof, at the edge of the forest surrounding the city.
A leisurly walk through a lovely forest (mainly sweet chestnut trees) of about one or one and a half hours will get you there.
Signpost in the forest
So what is the place like, you might ask? Well, it is a former forester’s lodge cum country inn, which was built in 1874 on the site of an old farm going back to 1406.
Country inn – Forthaus Altenhof
In my youth the place was a popular destination for family outings to enjoy a drink or two in the company of family and friends.
We went there for a breakfast brunch with music. The duo Wollmann and Brauner was playing blues and jazz.
We got there quite early, and the garden of the Altenhof was still empty. But it should fill up fast. Many families made the pilgrimage and brought their young children as well as their old parents along. In the early afternoon, it was difficult to find an empty table.
Wollmann and Brauner Duo
We were craving for some blues our most favourite music, reminiscing about lovely live music events in Yarra Glen and Healesville, Victoria. The two musicians did not disappoint us. They played among others some of the classic songs from Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton; so just the right stuff. It was great music and we had great fun.
Viez – local apple & pear cider
One of the specialities is the apple and pear cider called Viez in the local German dialect. I love it. It is usually very dry (one could say sour), and so it should be.
Riesling by Weingut Linden
My wife preferred the Rieslnig wine on offer by Weingut Linden, Mosel. The ‘2010 Riesling Spaetlese dry’ is a very solid wine, and displays the wonderful character of the Mosel terroir and climate.
Riesling Spaetlese
We also had food, hearty German delicacies. Unfortunately, I have no photo of the various dishes we consumed from morning to afternoon. But rest assured you get value for money. These were the best prices offered to me while I was in Germany.
It was such a pleasant day. The ambience was just wonderful. Everybody was relaxed. Because of the spatious surroundings, children could play ball, horse rider could tether their horses, people could walk around etc. If you have the time and opportunity visit this extraordinary place.
Address:
Forsthaus Altenhof
Aacher Weg 86
D-54293 Trier
http://www.altenhof-trier.de
5 Comments | culture, food, food and wine, history and culture, Restaurant Review, wine, wine regions | Tagged: Altenhof, apple cider, chestnut trees, Forsthaus Altenhof, german dialect, German Riesling, Mosel, pear cider, playing blues, Riesling wine, Spaetlese, travel, Trier, vacation, Viez, Weingut Linden, Wollmann and Brauner Duo, Yarra Glen | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
September 5, 2012
Cheers – ‘Es ist nie zu frueh’, is the slogan of the Frueh Brewery in Cologne
Our family holidays in Germany are what a Thai colleague of mine called “edu-tainment”, we combine fun with some educative elements.
Since my twin daughters are very interested in history and culture, it was inevitable that we should end up visiting Koeln/Cologne just about 200 km north of my home town Trier.
After our walk through the historic city centre, we needed nurishment. A good place to experience the local food and the local culture is the outlet of the Frueh Brewery right in the centre of town.
‘It’s never to early’ for a beer by Frueh
‘Koelsch’, as the beer is called, is a speciality of Cologne. There is even a ‘Koelsch Convention’ specifying how this beer has to be brewed and what quality criteria it must fulfill.
So what is ‘Koelsch’ you might ask?
‘Koelsch’ is a pale and hoppy top-fermenting beer. The beer is warm-fermented and cold-conditioned. It is rather light, less bitter than most other German beers and therefore very refreshing ; in summer as well as in winter, I might point out. During my university time in the neighbouring city of Bonn, I had ample time to sample various brands of ‘Koelsch’.
The beer is served by a so called ‘Koebes’, the local name for an excusively male waiter. They are easily recognized by their dark blue aprons. Be prepared for a culture-clash of some sort. But do not worry, in the end they are very friendly and very proud of their heritage.
Herring with potatoes
German cullinary delights are many. I opted for a fish dish, a marinated herring with potatoes. I tell you it was super delicious.
In case you visit Cologne and you want to experience something authentic, go and check out the Frueh Brewery.
Address:
Cölner Hofbräu P. Josef Früh KG
Gastronomie und Verwaltung
Am Hof 12-18
50667 Köln
Tel.: +49-221 / 2613 – 0
Leave a Comment » | culture, history and culture | Tagged: beer, Coelner Hofbraeu, Cologne, education, family holidays in germany, fish dish, Frueh Brewery, German beer, german beers, German food, holidays in germany, Koelsch, Mosel, Peter Josef Frueh, Rhine river, travel, Trier, vacation | Permalink
Posted by themanfrommoselriver
The Man from Mosel River 