Reet is a small and quiet village not far from the highway that links Brussels to Antwerpen. When driving through it, one wouldn’t expect a Michelin-starred restaurant nested here, but the proximity and nearly equal distance to 2 big cities naturally justifies its location, and I wouldn’t say that this village with its elegant brick houses is lacking charm.

It is within a former rectory which rather resembles a château-like mansion that Bart de Pooter and his wife Marie-Claire have found a home for their restaurant De Pastorale. This sounds very conservative at first, but one realizes quickly that this classic building is actually an elegant container for modernism. A first indicator of this dualism is given by a modern bronze statue at the entrance which emits a laughing sound once you pass by. Read the rest of this entry »

Es wurde schon einiges gesagt und geschrieben über den deutschen Weinjahrgang 2010. Es sei ein schwieriges Jahr gewesen; für die Winzer eine Herausforderung wie sie es bisher noch nie erlebt haben. Manche Stimmen stempelten 2010 gar als “Arschjahr” ab, was für viel Wirbel und Diskussion sorgte.

Nun hatte ich selbst die Gelegenheit mal in den Jahrgang reinzuschnuppern, und es gibt in der Tat einiges zu sagen. Aber wenn eines sicher ist, dann, dass man wohl kein pauschales Urteil fällen kann. Ganz bestimmt ähneln sich viele Weine in Ihrer Reife, doch es gibt genügend Unterschiede vor allem wenn man Rebsorten und Qualitäten vergleicht. Und das Wort Arschjahr kann man wohl am eheseten im Zusammenhang mit der geringen Erntemenge und dem hohen Aufwand verwenden, den viele Winzer betreiben mussten um die Ernte zu meistern. Read the rest of this entry »

Christmas is always a good opportunity for cooking sophisticated meals and finally pulling out those special bottles that were kept for a nice occasion. The dishes are all my creations (of course inspired by cookbooks and blogs) and I hope they met my family’s expectations. Anyway, the have to since I tend to rule the kitchen like a third world dictator ;).

2009 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Kabinett -We first opened (unscrewed) the bottle in the afternoon when my brother and I conceptualized the food and wine pairings (sitting in the wine cellar on folding chairs and “thinking”). We realized it is way too young when we took a sip: still lots of CO2, nearly sparkling like Champagne and also not very well defined yet.
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We poured it in the decanter but somehow we knew it wouldn’t be the ideal match with the Foie Gras, it would rather be a good wine for hot and spicy food right now. But it wasn’t a bad wine of course and not the worst match one could make… 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 »

We took a small trip to Rheingau last Sunday and visited some estates which held their annual vintage presentation. Read the rest of this entry »