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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
