2005

Recently we reported on a somewhat unusual German wine, a Syrah from the Pfalz. As this wine got a lot of interest, I decided it was time to open a bottle of another, unusual, red wine from the same producer. After having sampled the 2003 Syrah it was time to try the flagship wine of the Knipser winery, the Cuvée X, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot - all grow in Germany, just a few miles left of the Rhine.

Uncertain what you are looking at here? Somehow strangely attracted yet also confused? Doubtful whether this actually belongs on a wine blog? If this is what you feel looking the above picture then welcome to my world of confusion and doubt about a wine of which I am not sure if it should exist at all. What do you do with a wine clocking in at 15% alcohol? How do you feel when you realise it is a white - and from one of the coolest wine regions of a cool wine growing country? Should Mosel winemakers really do this? Should any (white) wine be so strong? Is it actually drinkable? If you want a definitive answer to these questions, please do not read on.

Nine days into the new year and we're already sticking our noses into the sparkling wine again. Is that hedonistic cheek on our part or a commendable discipline in making good our new year's resolution number 2 ? Actually, it's neither, since this is a postscript to our new year's eve.

Lively, but not over-strong bubbles, a smell of ripe apples and quince. Bone dry and almost austere at first taste, but at the same time fairly creamy and intense, with the tiniest hint of oak mabye, and in the end, it's mature quince and apple fruit again, maybe also a hint of tangerine, with very fresh acidity all the way through. [read the full post...]

Certain ways of cooking fish and shellfish just cry out for a clean, light and crisp dry white wine - especially if you bake a whole sea bass in a salt crust. This is an excellent way to celebrate the delicate flavour of fish and it works well with a range of fish, including sea bream. Just put a little pepper and some herbs into the fish and then cover the whole fish in a dough made of salt, water and perhaps a few egg whites. This seals in all the moisture and preserves the delicate flavours of the fish. Serve the fish just with a bit of olive oil, pepper and salt, perhaps a little lemon and enjoy with very simple side dishes, perhaps just a few slices of white bread. And make sure to select a wine that will not overpower the fish - I find a dry Muscadet works very well in this context.

It is still 2009, the year of the Silvaner grape in Germany - and the Wine Rambler is of course drinking Silvaner. After a full committee meeting last Saturday enjoyed an outstanding Silvaner from Franconia, the London branch of the Wine Rambler jumped right back into Silvaner, this time with a more aged wine - another outstanding example of what a competent winemaker can do with this grape.

The very discreet notes of tobacco in the nose of this wine went almost unnoticed when I opened the bottle yesterday to go with a raspberry desert - but that was simply because of the quite intense raspberry smell dominating the table. Despite the fruity dessert we could easily pick up apple, peach and herbs, embedded in a fresh, mineral creaminess. A very pleasant nose coming from this 'feinherb' (=off-dry with perhaps a bit more acidity) Mosel Riesling - and a very good reflection of the sensation awaiting your taste buds. The apple is perhaps a bit more dominant on the tongue than the nose; the Riesling manages to be both smooth and a little rough (in terms of acidity think more vegetable/apple than citrus fruit) with firm minerality, good structure and a nice finish.

Straw-coloured. Fairly understated smell of candied citrus peel, camomile tea and a hint of petrol.

The taste is so much fresher and more open: Wonderful rich sweetness, elegant ripe pineapple notes, the world's fruitiest camomile tea, the tiniest hint of caramel, good stable acidity, a mineral background. What makes this Spätlese wonderful is that it has the complex flavours of maturity (the typical lemon, peach and apricot aroma of young riesling is almost completely gone), but is still vibrant and fresh. It seems that, out of pure luck, I have opened it at a very good point in its development.

From a region not often talked about, a producer to watch out for.

So here I sit, listening to Billy Bragg and Wilco, waiting for a Riesling to reach drinking temperature, and I am really pleased with this French red. The winery, Domaine les Filles de Septembre, was named after the four daughters of wine makers Françoise and Roland Géraud. And Delphine is one of the four. If she is anything like this cuvée of Syrah and Carignan, she must be lovely indeed. [read the full post...]

We found this Riesling in a restaurant in Leeds where we needed it to go with two fish dishes and also a piece of beef. It performed well on the fish front (smoked trout and roasted brill) and was okay with the beef (just okay because of being a little too light compared to what we had expected).

A very flowery wine that reminded us a little of Weißburgunder (pinot blanc), with noticeable buttery nut flavours and some green apple. This was accompanied by lots of minerally liquorice with a bit of chilli. Even though that sounds nice in theory, the wine was lacking a certain "oomph" and the various elements did not quite come together. Not unpleasant at all, but also not truly memorable.

Intense colour, beautiful dark dark red. Concentrated nose of blackberry and black currant with a little pepper and robust wood (don't think too much vanilla, think shelf). Fruity in the mouth, again with blackberry and blackcurrant (you get what you smell), burnt wood, notes of vegetable, cool.

Fully bodied and strong, but still elegant with smooth tannins and drinkable. It made me think of my good old bolognese sauce - this would be the perfect companion.

Light red-brown irony colour and a promising bread-heavy, herbal nose with a bit of fruit, black pepper and smoky notes. In the mouth, a well-structured Pinot with preserved cherries, rough bread, pepper and spice plus herbal notes. [read the full post...]

Was marketed by K&U as a smooth, digestible (!), dry and low acid Grüner that should go well with fish and vegetable dishes, a nice everyday wine. And what can I say, it was exactly that. Everyone enjoyed this crisp yet smooth, very clear Grüner. A wine that excels at being simple.

Shiny golden colour and a nice nose of mineral, smoothed over with caramel-plum and herbs, with the addition of a little petrol. In the mouth, a rich, almost saturated experience that had more than a hint of old vines, a fine complexity and well rounded. A little bitter green fruit, cool, dusty mineral, herbs again with a nutty, buttery, wooden creaminess (without being buttery or excessively nutty/wooden), full and yet light enough with a little spicy plum.

What can I say? We both liked it very much - for being different from both the fruity Riesling that we often have as well as from the acid stronger dry ones. Delicious, simply delicious.

This wine is a deceiver: it has very dark, intense red colour that could put the odd French Burgundy to shame and seems almost too much for a Pinot. In both nose and mouth it is a lot more substantial, forceful than we all expected it to be, not the usual mix of light cherries with smoke. [read the full post...]

Surprisingly dark colour, very shiny. In the nose lots of cherry with a little pepper, fresh, almost minty. In the mouth, very intense fruit with lots of cherry but also very clear cut. Also very fresh and light with, again, mint. Thank god, it is also very very light on oak. [read the full post...]