5 year anniversary! :P

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So last weekend my blog turned 5 ! And actually I wouldn’t even have realized it, didn’t I flip through my archives last week way back to the first post. Anyway, so I was in Berlin for the weekend doing some sight-seeing in our lovely capital and stopped by for a quick hello at Martin’s Berlin Riesling Cup 2010 event which was just going on.

And what luck, I just arrived at the right time participating for 2 flights that contained the top 3 wines of the evening! Happy Birthday to me I thought when I left, and thanks of course to Martin who’s probably the most relaxed wine lover I know.

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serious work going on…

As soon as I “crashed” the party he passed me a glass of Forster Kirchenstück by Bürklin-Wolf. It appeared monolithic, somewhat astringent and powerful in a hidden kind of way, like a clenched fist that was trying to hide something inside. Was it a bit green or just in an early phase of development? I couldn’t say…

Then a flight of 2 wines: In the first glass a nose of chalk; brutal but also appealing minerality. When mixed to the gentle sweetness of the palate the whole wine appeared like a cotton candy cloud of minerality. It turned out to be the first wine of one of KP kellers interns, a 2009 Piesporter Goldtröpfchen Riesling trocken, by Andreas Adam and Julian Haart. Unbelievably good!

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Next a wine with power, fruit and minerality. Captivating in balance and elegance! A body with just a hint of botrytis that accounted for a further layer of complexity! A rarity since this wine, 2009 La Borne by Wittmann from Rheinhessen was only sold at the annual VDP auction! Martin explained that the bulk of the wines will stay in Wittmann’s cellar for his own pleasure.

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The next flight started with a heavy flintstone or firestone nose covering a tense body. It was like a mystique fog above a lake of minerality that hid underneath; also the body had beautiful balance while still being powerful. Calm and tense at the same time. Beautiful length. And in fact, Kellers G-Max would later turn out to be the winner of the evening.

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In the second glass surged a more floral feminine nose, but not less appealing. That wine had the more beautiful acidity, the kind that stands in the spotlight linking all elements of the wine. It felt like a piece of pristine exotic fruit melting on your palate- think of a corner of mango with a drop of passion fruit on it in between minerality and power. Elegant and enticing! One sip leads to another with this Halenberg by Emrich-Schönleber from the Nahe. It was hard to decide between the elegance of this wine on the palate and the thrilling nose of the G-Max. What a flight!

And then I had to leave as quickly as I arrived with the lucky feeling of just having lived a great birthday party for my blog. Thanks again, Martin!

But now back to my 5 year anniversary speech. I thought maybe I should say something poignant about those past 5 years… hehe
What comes to my mind first is: incredible how fast time goes by! But that’s nothing extraordinary. More interesting of course is what the whole blogging thing represents to me now.

When I decided to start a blog back then, it was meant as a way of having something like a wine diary with the little extra kick of it being public. And actually that’s still what it is to me now. This blog is mostly useful to myself, helping me out when I want to look back on a tasting note or check whether I already tried that particular wine or not. Of course I’m not sure if it’s useful for others as well.

I can only speak for myself when I say that reading blogs has added a new dimension of information sourcing to my habits. Of course nowadays there are many discussions of how commercial the whole blogging thing has become. But even if some are commercial, I still see the merits of this type of media as an enriching form of information. I don’t know how much useful information I gathered, how much I learned through reading my favorite blogs, but it is certainly a quantity and quality of information that was impossible to obtain before blogging.

But what is even more interesting is how the blogosphere brings together people with the same interests. In fact, I had numerous eye-opening exchanges and nice contacts. And especially for that, I’m pretty grateful to be part a part of this type of media.

Looking back, here are a few posts that describe highlights of my past 5 years of blogging:

A memorable dinner at El Bulli in 2007

A meal with my brother at El Poblet just a week later

Being able to visit the German VDP Vintage tastings as a “journalist”.

Realizing that great wines can age well, even some German Rieslings.

Trying some brilliant mature Grand Crus from Bordeaux

Having dinner with a wine loving friend in the French countryside and discovering the merits of Quart de Chaume, a sweet wine from the Loire.

Making new foodie friends in far away cities that I love like New York. Tips from insiders are most valuable. I discovered the much talked about Momofuku in 2007 thanks to Steve. A recent example might be a dinner at Degustation this year.

Travelling and sharing odd findings like this advertisment for goat milk in Melaka

Well well, and of course all the nice blogs I discovered and read regularly which you can find in my blogroll.

Finally I’d like to thank everyone who’s been reading and commenting on this blog, those exchanges have all been of great value to me and I hope there are much more to come in the future.

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  1. Felix Said,

    Hey Alex, congratulations! Cannot believe it’s been 5 years already.
    You have at least 1 loyal reader =). Keep up the writing, hugs.

  2. Wine Rambler Said,

    Congratulations and happy birthday/anniversary! Five years is a very long time in the blogosphere, and it is great to see that you are still going.

    Also, thanks for sharing the impressions from the tasting. I particularly liked that Wittmann makes a wine mostly “for his own pleasure”!

    Torsten

  3. alexis2 Said,

    Thanks a lot! :) I just read that the 240 Wittmann La Borne wines were auctionned at 63 Euro a bottle, not bad!

  4. Christian G.E. Schiller Said,

    Congratulations from Madagascar, where I currently travel. But as a loyal reader, I follow you even from here, if the internet allows me to do so. Cheers and keep up the good work. Christian

  5. Luxeat Said,

    Congratulations! By the way, my blog turned 5 years as well this September, we started blogging at the same time.

  6. alexis2 Said,

    Thanks Christian, enjoy your stay in Mada!

    Thanks Aiste and congratulations to yourself then! :=) I guess we’re somehow the dinosaurs of blogging :P I think only a handful of the blogs I read have been around since 5 years..

  7. Barry Said,

    Five years drinking good wines…traveling the world…feeding your face with various foods….no wonder the time went quickly….you are probably permanently in a daze!

  8. BerlinKitchen Said,

    Gratuliere!!!! Tolle Photos! Die klaue ich Dir gleich mal. hahahaha

    Freut mich sehr, dass es Dir gefallen hat. :-)

    Halt die Ohren steif,
    Martin

  9. Chef Wai Yee Said,

    Congratulations from Malaysia with love :) I hope to see your 10th years anniversary :) keep up the good work!!!

  10. alexis2 Said,

    You seem to know me by now, Barry! :P

    Martin, was ist denn mit den Urheberrechten ;) ?! Ja war der Hammer, vor allem, dass ich ausgerechnet die beiden super-Flights erwischt hab lol. Nochmal Danke!

  11. alexis2 Said,

    Thanks Wai Yee! :)

  12. BerlinKitchen Said,

    So, so………. :)

    Ich will Dich mal daran erinnern, Du hast Weine verkosten können, wovon andere nur träumen bzw. bis zum Frühjahr 2011 warten müssen.

    War schön das Du kurz vorbeigekommen bist!

  13. Weinschlumpf Said,

    Hi Alex,

    das warst also Du, alter Tiefstapler;) “..ja,ich interessiere mich auch für Weine :))..”
    Herzlichen Glückwunsch zu Deinem tollen Blogg, ich lese schon 3-4Jahren immer mal wieder gerne vorbei und bleibe dann immer länger hängen.

    Beste Grüße

    Nikolai

  14. alexis2 Said,

    Hehehe, ist doch eine ganz aussagekräftiges Zitat oder? :P Danke für die Glückwünsche! Grüße, Alex

  15. Didier G. Said,

    Just saw this news on Decanter about the Keller 2009 G-max (double-mag) being the most expensive dry Riesling ever auctioned.
    http://www.decanter.com/news/wine-news/502528/most-expensive-riesling-auctioned

    Is it really that good?

  16. alexis2 Said,

    Yeah it’s pretty good – that nose is unreal. But of the top 3 Rieslings from the tasting the price quality definitely isn’t on Keller’s side. The E-S Halenberg is just too good to be true for 35 Euro for example. BTW have you noticed the pic on the Decanter page stems from me lol.

  17. alexis2 Said,

    And check out the full blog report by the same author http://www.connectionstowine.com/wine-tasting/german-wines/top-german-rieslings-tasted-blind-time-to-try-dry/ . Very sharp and good descriptions I find!

  18. Blind Tasting Club - Wine Tasting Notes and more Said,

    […] has been a hell of a Riesling vintage in Germany with plenty outsanding bottles. But a glass of 2009 G-Max by Keller, tasted even before it got out to customers was certainly a memorable Riesling […]

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