Da war ja noch was! Vor Eröffnung der ProWein fand im Rahmenprogramm der Messe (ProWein goes City) noch die Falstaff Big Bottle Party statt. Und das Kommen hat sich wohl für jeden Weinbegeisterten gelohnt. Einerseits, weil ein Großteil des “Who is Who” der Weinwelt anwesend war, andererseits, weil diese jede Menge Großflaschen im Gepäck hatten Aber auch die Location (das urige “Les Halles”) und das leckere Buffet von Fernsehkoch Nelson Müller haben Ihren Teil zu einem gelungenen Abend beigetragen. Hier meine knappen Impressionen. Read the rest of this entry »

Just a day after that VDP wine auction for the Rheingau region, I returned to Kloster Eberbach for the big public presentation of 2010 Great Growth wines of all VDP member estates. Since I missed previous opportunities to taste these wines, I was more than happy to attend this brilliant event.

The 2010 vintage didn’t have an easy start as numerous media already condemned it as a sour (white) wine vintage at a time when harvest wasn’t even fully brought in. And it’s true that for many of the estate’s basic Rieslings, qualities are rather heterogenous. For the Great Growths however, I read more and more opinons that are highly praising this new vintage, even putting it above last year’s great success. Read the rest of this entry »

After the party comes the afterparty, and after the food and wine presentations at OFF comes the wine degustation at home, between chefs, food lovers and bloggers.

And since our thirst had grown during the day, it was good that there were a few bottles standing around. Of course, my deed was to bring some Rieslings from Germany and represent to a certain extent my country, also knowing that these wines are basically unavailable in France.

We started off with some Ulysse Colin Champagne. Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut is dry to the bone, but still with a delicious fresh minerality: what a nice way to rehydrate your body. Then as a contrast, a Riesling from Read the rest of this entry »

What a nice evening with only bottles of Riesling. It was my mom’s birthday and a few friends came over for the occasion. Naturally, I seized the occasion to experiment a bit with the effect of different Riesling styles on our guests. Here are my quick notes:

2008 Von Den Terrassen Riesling, Weingut Castel Peter, Bad Dürkheim, Pfalz – Sleek and lean. Less on the riper side and thus a typical 08 I’d say. Good minerality, a bit lighter in weight as well but nonentheless a good introduciton to this estate I’ve never heard about. Also, a nice first wine for refreshing the palate. Read the rest of this entry »

Um den Wein in einem Satz zusammenzufassen: Wie frisch gebackener Biskuit Teig mit viel Citrus. Und um gleich auf den Punkt zu kommen: Ich hatte mehr erwartet nachdem ich vor ein paar Monaten dieselbe Spätlese (Jahrgang und Lage) von Schäfer-Fröhlich probiert hatte . Read the rest of this entry »

Last weekend we had what we then called a diablog meeting which is supposed to mean a wine-evening with fellow blogger and friend Didier who after a year in Germany is moving back to France. So diablog of course, because I am now blogging about those wines, and I am sure he soon will too he blogged about it as well. For the wine selection, there was no topic, so it was a chaotic mix of styles and types; not senseless though, just chaotic: Reds and Whites, aged and younger ones, French, German and even Swiss, Sweet and Dry. The only idea maybe behind one bottle was an ultimate test of courage for someone who was about to leave Germany: (really) aged Riesling. Otherwise it was more about having a good time. So of course, thanks Didier for having me over and also thanks Mizuki for the delicious Japanese dinner.

Mmmmh! Japanese Chili-Prawns!
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