wine tastings

It is time again to write up some wine relate news: the juicy, the interesting, the random and all other sorts of miscellaneous wine information the Wine Rambler happened to stumble upon over the past few weeks.

I don't know how this always happens, but again we have a few miscellanies on the wide and, potentially, attractive topic of 'women and wine'. 'Potentially attractive' would perhaps be a good way of referring to something I came across the other day on the website of the Austrian Kronen Zeitung. Every so often you will find men and women stripping in front of a camera, to produce a calendar that supports some good cause (fight against cancer, making money etc.). Recently, the Austrians got a dozen women (almost) naked to support the Austrian wine industry. Personally, I think Austrian wine is good enough not to need that kind of support, but the organiser feels that the calendar will support the marketing of Austria's good wine in a 'modern and personable way'. 'Who', she say, 'would be better suited for this than our own vintner offspring?' So they put twelve (almost, I hasten to add again) naked daughters of vintners in wine related surroundings (vineyards, cellars etc.), decorate them with stockings and all the like and think that this will help to improve the image of Austrian wine. [read the full post...]

About once per season the London branch of the Wine Rambler assembles a coalition of willing wine drinkers in London. The mission: to drink some god-damn wine. Mostly German wine. This time, however, we had new rules - every wine was tasted blind, its identity only to be revealed after the judges had come to a verdict. Also new was the excessiveness: between the eight of us (two arrived late, one left early) we opened nine bottles, although not every wine was finished. So let's jump right in, shall we?

Wine tastings are like battlefields, it is everyone for themselves - or so I have heard people say. Actually, at least the recent VdP tasting in Munich was more like playing a part in the submarine movie Das Boot. Periscope out, zoom in on the next lovely wine and then you give the order: 'Both planes zero. Stand by battle stations.' 'Bottle one through four are ready.', the reply is almost instantaneous. However, before you can strike your helpless target, sonar picks up that sound again: Swoosh slurp swoosh schrub slurp. A split second of panic, then you go: 'Close bow caps! Dive!' Luckily, the enemy passes above you and disappears again. 'Is it getting louder?' 'It seems constant. Ahead of us.' The awaits your next move. As the Old Man said in Das Boot: 'Now it gets psychological, friends.'

That it was, but also great fun with some amazing wines, this year's VdP wine tasting in Munich. VdP stands for 'Verband Deutscher Prädikatsweingüter', or Association of German Prädikat Wine Estates, a group of highly decorated German estates, 'the world’s oldest association of top-quality wine estates'. Every year in November some VdP members hold a wine tasting in Munich. And the Wine Rambler attends, hungry for prey.

Autumn, wine tasting time – at least for the Wine Rambler. After my visit to the recent London Wine Show, both the London and Munich branches of the Rambler joined forces for the Weinherbst München (wine autumn Munich). A fairly large two day tasting, Weinherbst took place in the old town hall, right in the city centre of Munich. One day of sampling wines from some 70 producers cost 9 € (12 € on the door) - good value if you consider the amount of wine on offer.

It has been quite a while since the Wine Rambler last attended a wine event, and so I jumped at the chance to visit the London Wine Show last Friday with a friend. The Wine Show is not one of these events where you will have to be a wine professional or at least in possession of a special invitation in order to be allowed in. Instead of a professional tasting experience, think of it rather as a show with various events and wines, all aimed more at the general public; for a small price, of course. [read the full post...]

California winemaker Heidi Barrett has a clever little routine to train the palate, and also to get a feeling for the overall quality of a wine [read the full post...]

Last Friday, the London branch of the Wine Rambler assembled a crack team of wine lovers and socialites from half a dozen countries for a particular mission: take down eight bottles of wine. The team members were selected following the ancient wisdom of Brigadier General Gavin from A Bridge too far: I need a man with very special qualities to lead. He's got to be tough enough to do it and he's got to be experienced enough to do it. Plus one more thing. He's got to be dumb enough to do it... Start getting ready. Gavin knew what he was speaking of, after all he knew the enemy from first hand combat experience; and the enemy was/is German:

The year is 1976 and the French wine legions have conquered the world. The whole world? Wait, a small Californian valley still stands against the empire. But sadly, no one but the Californians themselves is aware of this. The movie Bottle Shock is about a wine tasting held in Paris in 1976, the Judgement of Paris, that changed all that. [read the full post...]

Thursday evening we ventured to the Clapham Picturehouse to see a movie about wine, and to drink some, of course. [read the full post...]

I just received this email from the guys at The Winery - go, if you have a chance, as they are both fun and knowledgeable:

Last week’s German Riesling module sold out so quickly we had to schedule a second one for next month.

You are invited to The Winery Wine Course on Tuesday 25th August, in which we will be focusing on the glories of German Riesling.

We will be exploring variations and nuances of different regions such as the Mosel, Rheingau and Nahe.

We will revel in its transparent expression of terroir – the steep slate slopes of the Mosel or the softer inclines of the historic Rheingau.

Remember the recent Wine Guide controversy and the related question of whether wine should always be tasted blind? The Wine Rambler is now setting an example with our first blind tasting: can a mass-produced supermarket wine stand against an entry level wine of the German wine elite?

Some short and fairly random notes on wines carried by Mövenpick Weinkeller and offered today in a tasting in their south munich shop (or rather, temple):´

Schubertsche Schlossk. (whatever that stands for...), 07 Herrenberg Riesling Spätlese trocken: Green flavours, tight acidity, somewhat green and bitter. [read the full post...]

E.W. Polz, Südsteiermark, had two great Sauvignon Blancs on display:
The 2008 "Steinbach" (27,50) had enormous zest and spritziness, a burst of green flavors like a flowering meadow in may, mint, cassis.
The 2007 "Hochgrassnitzberg" (27,50) had been left to age with the yeast for a year longer, and was completely different: Yellow flavours, creamy, yellow peppers maybe, something that tasted like nutty oak but wasn't, as I was assured no barriques had been used. Very intense as well.

Stefan Potzinger, also Südsteiermark, convinced me less. His 2008 Morillon (=Chardonnay) "Ratsch" (13,90) was nice, but boring, and his 2007 Sauvignon blanc "Joseph" (26,90) was wildly overoaked - no comparison with the spicy and lively one by Polz. [read the full post...]

A couple of weeks ago London was invaded by Germans. Twice. And I was in the thick of it. It all started with an announcement by the guys from The Winery, one of my favourite London wine shops:

Ryanair allowing, two growers from the Mosel will be joining us for the evening, each top of their stylistic trees, masters of their dangerously steep slopes, each with global reputations. Clemens Busch, the dry Riesling guru from Punderich and Theo Haart, the fruity Riesling specialist from Piesport.

I was excited to learn that Wines of the World would host a big wine tasting event on the weekend when my friend Oliver visited from Munich. I bought two tickets and off we went. [read the full post...]