Es hat sich in den letzten Tagen abgezeichnet, Deutschlands sympathischer Master of Wine Hendrik Thoma geht seinen eigenen Weg. Fast hätte ich gedacht, er belässt es nach dem Weggang von Tvino allein beim Bloggen über seine Facebook Page – die Updates dort führen fast immer zu angeregten Diskussionen – doch nun hat er den Videoblog Wein am Limit ins Netz gestellt. Die ersten zwei Folgen sind jedenfalls schon sehenswert, und ich bin gespannt auf die Kommenden. Viel Erfolg!

Restaurant “De Pastorale” in Reet.

At the beginning of the week, the Belgian “chapter” of the Gault-Millau guide also unveiled its ratings, showing a handful of restaurants on the move.

In particular, I am very happy to see Bart de Pooter awarded “Chef of the year“. Our meal at his restaurant “De Pastorale” back in June was a stunning parade of ingenious dishes with compelling purity of flavors. This well deserved title is underlined by a rating raised to 18 points.

Further, I am glad to see Sang Hoon Degeimbre‘s “L’Air du Temps” received 18 points, although this rating is unchanged since last year. The meal we had there was equally stunning, with molecular techniques only used as a clever means to an end, putting the product in the center. I am sure the new restaurant which is currently under construction will further boost Degeimbre‘s creative cooking. Read the rest of this entry »

For many lovers of German Rieslings… err I mean for all folks of the trade that love German Riesling this is probably the event of the year.

All VDP estates are gathering in the Rheingoldhalle in Mainz and present their new collection to a public of journalists and professionals. The focus is on the entry and mid level wines since most of the top level wines are still bubbling in the cellars. Read the rest of this entry »

No matter what opinion we have on tv-chef Jamie Oliver, his fight for a new food culture where children are being educated about genuine and healthy food is a cause we all should support. I believe everyone needs a bit of junk food now and then, but it should remain the exception to your weekly or monthly diet as much as a fine dining meal should remain a rewarding exception.
Check out Jamie Oliver’s speech for his TED prize award:

I first thought that Finkus Bripp was the only rock star in the wine world. Yesterday though I got hold of a movie trailer that could well fit into that same wine with rock n roll “niche”. “Blood Into Wine” – coming to theaters from February 19th on – tells the story of former rockstar Maynard James Keenan who is one of the pioneers of winemaking in Arizona. I thought for making a movie about one man and wine this must be one hell of a guy and indeed his description on Wikipedia is kinda interesting. I quote:

Keenan has a reputation for being reclusive, elliptical and controlling of his public image. He dislikes the manner in which rock stars are worshipped, and at one point carried business cards with the name “Jesus H. Christ” printed on them. Often having to deal with stalkers, Keenan has resorted to using a paintball rifle to run trespassing fans from his property. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is one of Keenan’s pursuits, and he studied under Rickson Gracie, who is widely considered one of the martial art’s greatest practitioners.

But besides himself and his partner Eric Glomski, quite a bunch of stars are participating in this movie including the charming Milla Jovovich and the funny Patton Oswalt. For us wine geeks, one of the big authorities – wine Pope James Suckling– has an appearance as himself in the movie.
Here’s the trailer:

Interessanter Bericht der FAZ. In einem Pilotprojekt wurden an der Bergstraße Zinfandel Reben gepflanzt.
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Rebsortenexperte Andreas Jung hatte zuvor in einer Untersuchung herausgefunden, daß an der Bergstraße 82 Sorten angebaut wurden welche in Vergessenheit geraten sind.
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Zinfandel (auch Primitivo genannt) wurde demnach vermutlich 400 Jahre lang dort angebaut und wird jetzt im Kontext des Klimawandels wieder aktuell. Ob Bergsträßer “Zins” irgendwann in Konkurrenz treten können mit Italiener und Kalifornier bleibt natürlich abzuwarten.
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