Recommended by Karen MacNeil in her book The Wine Bible.

2005 Chehalem “Dry Riesling Reserve”
Appellation: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Tasting Notes: Pretty, light straw yellow in the glass.  Crisp nose, expressing good minerality, wet stones, and finesse with subtle floral and apricot notes.  Medium to full-bodied with a silky, smooth mouth feel on the attack, followed immediately by a very acidic yet balanced mid palate.  There are flavors of white peach, lemon and unripe orange.
Rating: 15/20 (WS 89)
Price: $24.90 @ Wine Library

Details …

Vineyard: 2-vineyard blend (Corral Creek, Laurelwood blown sedimentary loess soil, 16-year-old vines; and Stoller Vineyards, south-facing, highest elevation)
Vintage: cooler and damper than average, harvested late in mid October, light botrytis
Vinification: fermentation in stainless steel, no ageing, cold stabilized and filtered
Tech Specs: 12.1% ABV, 0.6% residual sugars, 8.5 g/l total acidity, 3 pH

For those of you searching for something other than the traditional Christmas Dinner Wine Pairings, see my post Not the Same Old Wine Pairings.

So you’re having turkey dinner…

For those of you who want to show your guests that you have absolutely zero imagination or tolerance of risk, and that you have an almost maniacal disregard for their well-being,  I suggest you serve pink Zinfandel all day and all night.

If you want to go with a little more risk and pizzaz, try serving a fruit forward Red Zinfandel or Primitivo.  Layer Cake makes a decent $13 Primitivo.  It has a fairly light alcohol content at 13.5% and gentle tannins.  It’s a little bit sweet and generally happy to play second fiddle to the rest of your holiday meal.  For white you could serve a fruity Riesling.  I suggest Sofia (Coppola) Riesling at about $13.

If you want to step it up a little more and show some creativity, while still conforming to the wine pairing rule book you could serve a dry Pinot Noir.  I suggest Luigi Bosca Reserva 2007 Pinot Noir from Argentina.  90 points from Jay Miller for Robert Parker.  Retails for about $15-$20.  For white go with 2007 Chateau St. Michelle Riesling Eroica  (NOT their regular Riesling) 91 points and about $20-$25.

there you have it, short and sweet.  Merry Christmas everyone!

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the PR folks for wines of Germany.

Wow has there ever been a lot of Riesling here on ye olde wine blog in the last couple of weeks/months. I’ve been buying more on my own, plus an influx has been coming in the sample boxes. You almost wouldn’t know that my heart lies with California Zin from the wines I’ve been tasting lately….I think there’s only been one Zin on the wine blog in the last 2 months! That’s okay though, it’s good to expand my horizons, but maybe I should do a a Zin month soon as I keep purchasing them and my basement is getting scary full of wine.  Anyway, I plucked the 2008 Fritz’s Riesling from Fritz Hasselbach out of a box on the floor the other night. It has a screw cap closure, clocked in at 12.5% alcohol by volume, and I see it retailing for about $11.

On the nose I found lemon, vanilla bean, melon, tropical notes, and pear. In the mouth I thought the wine seemed sweeter than I expected. It showed lemon, pear, melon, and peach.  For a Riesling I found this to be fairly fruity and for the price point would be a nice way to help folks move into something different from their typical Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay if they are into fruity wines.

I’ve just returned from the village shop carrying a bag of coal on my shoulder and a bottle of Shiraz under my arm. Shoreham is covered in snow. And it looks simply stunning.

Now that I’m home and the fire is starting to roar I really fancy some  ice cream. Cold and snow do that for me – just makes me want to eat tubs of the stuff. However, ice cream is almost impossible to match with wine and the Shiraz is now open. What to do?

Well, if I was living in New York or New Jersey then I’d now exactly what to do. I’d have a freezer full of these Wine Cellar Sorbets. There are six flavours: Sangria Rojo, Riesling, Champagne, Pino Noir, Rose, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Sangria Rojo and they contain about 5% alcohol content.

Alas, they are currently only available in the US.

Added my wife as a blog contributor! Will she review the Hogue Riesling (2008)? Stay tuned…

my wife, the lovely lady pictured in most of the food pictures on the Fb fan page stuffing her face (link on the right, fan me up) picked out a bottle of Hogue Riesling 2008 from Columbia Valley located in beautiful Washington state. She is drinking it at room temperature to help the nose and flavor profile scream through. Plus, it’s cold here in AZ today, so drinking it cold would be ridiculous!

oh, also purchased a bottle of Pacific Rim Organic Riesling ($14) for a co-worker (I’m her Secret Santa). Anyone had it and does it live up to the 92 point score given to it by Wine Enthusiast?

So…I figured out how to make sure I don’t eat cookies all week.

Eat them all today!!

With wine…a Biltmore estate Riesling.

So, this is pretty much my dinner.  I did eat a respectable lunch, though.  A grilled brie, turkey, and cranberry apple butter sandwich with half a bag of Veggies Straws and some blackberries.

My afternoon snack was a mini bad of 94% FF popcorn.  I drizzled some olive oil on it.  A great alternative to butter.  Try it!!

IN THE NEWS

It’s too bad I don’t like red wine…

Red wine or white? Which makes teeth a fright?

Washington State is probably best known for Syrah. Many of those come from Walla Walla. Columbia Valley however emerged on the national scene first and there are quite a few varietals that thrive there. Merlot, Riesling and Cabernet Sauvignon are the first that come to mind. Today I’ll look at a Riesling from the Wahluke Wine Company.

The 2oo8 Flying Fish Riesling was produced using fruit from three regions within Columbia Valley. This offering is 100% Riesling. It was Cold fermented for 28 days. The alcohol content for this wine is a modest 12%. Flying Fish Riesling was finished in screw cap. It most often sells for right around $12.

Stone and citrus fruit aromas burt forth from the nose of this wine. They’re unerscored by hints of vanilla and emerging spice notes. Peach, mango, apricot, nectarine, and guava characteristics are all apparent throughout the full-flavored palate. Spice such as white pepper and nutmeg emerge more prominently on the finish which also features copious mineral notes. This wine has crisp acidity. It’ll be a natural for lighter foods and spicy Asian and Indian cuisines.

I like the balance of this wine quite a bit. It has hints of sweetness and lots of fruit character, meanwhile it’s held in check by good acidity. The crisp, clean finish is also noteworthy, welcome and appealing. When you finish a sip, you’re immediately going to want another. A very tasty selection and a fair value.

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Warning: When tasting delectable wines in a Mercedes-Benz showroom, spit as much as humanly possible. At the end of the night, you’re walking out with at least a case of wine… oh, and look: it comes in the truck of a shiny new S65 AMG Sedan. How did that happen? (Oddly, I now know what a S65 AMG Sedan is.)

Select Wines has it going on. As a pre-holiday tasting event, the Canada-wide agency held a customer appreciation night this week in Vancouver at the Mercedes Benz dealership in Kits. Oo-la-la. Smart move. What else gets you in the mood to pick up a case or 2 other than flashy hot-rods, a shiny black grand piano crankin’ out not-sick-of-them-yet Christmas tunes and several stations of big reds, crisp whites and happy bubbly to keep the room buzzing for hours? This was a great event. Small, casual and nicely orchestrated by the fine people of Select who kept those glasses full…

They had a selection of about 15 wines in total. We were greeted at the door with a little bubbly to kick it off – their Piper-Heidieck Brut Reserve ($55.98 | #462432) – excellent start to the evening. After we wandered through the dangerously available for spontaneous radical purchasing autos, we hit the whites and enjoyed a classic Riesling, 07 from Hugel, Alsace ($24.99 | #365486), the Wither Hills straight-down-the-middle classic Kiwi Sauvy B. ($18.99 | #493619 ), and the seemingly more trendy wine of 2009: a 07 Grüner Veltliner from Austria’s Salomon Undhof ($26.99 | #843045) – nuts and honey, fantastic mouth-feel.

Moving into the reds, there were 10 on hand and we of course tasted a healthy portion of each one. Here were a few of my big-body fav’s:

• 06 Sicilian Merlot Collezione di Famiglia. Full body, chocolatey, balanced, smooth, smooth, smooth. Nice to discover from the south of Italy. Great for any heavy sauce or meaty Christmas dish ($19.99 | #760223)
• 05 Barbaresco Ricossa – Great value for this big-bodied, complex guy ($21.99 | #929406)
• 07 Firesteed Pinot Noir – One of the better valued new world Pinots under $25, thanks to those Oregon winemakers who know a thing or two on old world Pinot style ($22.99 | #361782)
• 06 Shiraz Viognier from Yering Station in Oz – this was my favourite of the night. A great find. It’s got a pleasantly unsuspecting mouth feel and an intensity from different directions, giving way for varying flavours. A must try. ($26.99 | #699785)

Thankfully, plenty of wine and hours later, we didn’t end up with a car. We did however end up with a Christmas mixed case of great wines. Thanks to everyone at Select, especially Risha, and to the Mercedes crew for a very memorable night.

Continuing on with Thanksgiving wines, I picked up a couple bottles of Riesling. I like Riesling, and with a crowd of 15 for dinner, I thought it would go over well with all different wine tastes. Swinging by the Madison Wine Exchange a couple days before the big event I saw they had a bottle of Riesling from a Connecticut winery and I thought it might be nice to have a bottle of local wine for the evening, though the grapes are sourced from the Finger Lakes. I chose the 2008 Sharpe Hill Riesling. It had a real cork closure, clocked in at 12% alcohol by volume, and I believe it cost us about $17.

On the nose I found honey, apricot, honeysuckle, and honey. In the mouth I got citrus, orange, tangerine, and honey. It had a slight metallic aftertaste that I didn’t care for.

Mission Codename: Rollin from Graceland to Paso

Operative: Agent White

Objective: Acquire a limited allocation of Red Zeppelin’s delicious Santa Lucia Highlands Riesling

Mission Status: Accomplished

Current Winery: Red Zeppelin Winery

Wine Subject: 2007 Santa Lucia Highlands Riesling

Winemaker: Stillman Brown

Backgrounder:

Monterey County’s Santa Lucia Highlands boasts 5,500 acres of wine grapes and a near-perfect environment for cooler climate varietals, most notably Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which makes up the bulk of the grapes grown in this region, but the climate is also particularly well suited for Riesling. Spanish missionaries first planted grapes here 200 years ago but the 1970s saw a major revival in the region’s viticulture. And in 1991, the region officially became an AVA.

Wine Spies Tasting Profile:

Look – This lovely wine is crystal clear pale straw yellow that fades to water clear along the edges. When swirled, widely spaced clusters of slow fat legs cling to the side of the glass before creeping down to the wine below.

Smell – Aromatic with clean a steely minerality layered over stone fruit aromas. A hint of emerging classic petrol and is well integrated with the ripe green and yellow apple and orange blossom notes.

Feel – Smooth and fresh, this dry to off-dry wine is medium bodied with bright but balanced acidity and excellent terroir expressive minerality that weaves itself into the finish.

Taste – Bright and focused flavors of peach stone fruit, along with racy green and yellow apple are integrated with a vibrant minerality and a touch of subtle spice and floral honeysuckle.

Finish – Clean with lingering flavors of fresh and tart green fruit. Well defined minerality makes the mouth water for another sip.

Conclusion – The 2007 Red Zeppelin Winery Santa Lucia Highlands Riesling is a delicious wine that shows off the unique terroir of the region. Fresh and vibrant, classic aromas and flavors that are showing very well right now. Excellent minerality and acidity make this wine very food friendly.

Mission Report:

WINEMAKER INTEL BRIEFING DOSSIER

SUBJECT: Stillman Brown

DATE OF BIRTH: Oct 6 57

PLACE OF BIRTH: Berkeley CA

WINE EDUCATION: I’m a UC Berkeley grad, but my wine education is from the University of Bordeaux; that is to say, Professor Emile Peynaud’s classic “Knowing And Making Wine” was first published in English in 1984, the year I entered the wine business. I must have read that book at least a dozen times.

CALIFORNIA WINE JOB BRIEF: Founder and winemaker, Jory Winery: 1986-2003; founder and winemaker, Red Zeppelin Winery, 2003-; founder and winemaker, Stillman Wines, 2001. “Stillman” is my first name, and also my father’s, and I save it for special wines that might not fit into the Red Zeppelin portfolio. Of course, my dad gets free wine as a royalty payment for the use of his name. Ha!

WINEMAKING PHILOSOPHY: Start with superior grapes, preferably from unusual areas, and don’t screw up. In the winery, I’m progressive/scientific. I’m not an additive freak, but I’m certainly not hands-off. Some bugs are great, others are lethal.

SIGNATURE VARIETAL: Syrah. Though I love Riesling, Corton clone Chardonnay and 777 clone Pinot.

CAREER HIGHLIGHT: Winning the ‘Syrah Shootout’ at Hospice du Rhone last year, with a wine from a vineyard I planned myself, that had a government-approved label showing the death of Elvis Presley.

MORE…: My annual events, unquestionably acknowledged as the wildest winery parties in California. Yes, you’re invited. (Details at WetZeppelin.com.)

WINEMAKER QUOTE: “Lord Almighty, I feel my temperature rising.” Then I turn on the tank’s cooling jacket.

AGENT WHITE: Greetings, Stillman. Glad to have you back, once again. We are pretty much taken with your wines, I hope you know that! This time around, let’s discuss your 2007 Santa Lucia Highlands Riesling.

STILLMAN BROWN: Hola, dude, and thanks!

WHITE: Was there a specific experience in your life that inspired your love of wine?

STILLMAN: When I was in high school in NY my father was a senior Pepsi exec – stop laughing, we were the only family among the big shots that didn’t have a Pepsi vending machine in the house, we just didn’t like it – and in order to get Pepsi into the USSR, Pepsi agreed to distribute Stolichnaya Vodka in the US. To do that they had to buy a NY company that was also a wine importer, etc etc . . . anyway, there were dinner parties at our house where some really fantastic wines were served. My mother, a native Californian like myself, drank Almaden, but that interested me somewhat less.

WHITE: And where did you learn the most about winemaking?

STILLMAN: From Peynaud’s book, and by osmosis; drinking and asking questions of other Santa Clara/Santa Cruz Mountain winemakers. WHITE: What is your winemaking style or philosophy?

STILLMAN: . See above. Plant something that wasn’t there before, and if it works, you can then start with superior grapes. Don’t assume that you can just pick great grapes and crush them, and magically get a great wine that doesn’t need to be looked after.

WHITE: What wine or winemaker has most influenced your winemaking style?

STILLMAN: There’s definitely no single influence; I learned from everyone from the late Dave Bennion, who founded Ridge, to Adam LaZarre, the Central Coast ubervintner.

WHITE: How long have you been making wine?

STILLMAN: 26 harvests in California, 8 in New Mexico (concurrently). I also have consulted in Arizona.

WHITE: Who do you make wine for?

STILLMAN: Fans, friends, family and fruit flies. Other winemakers and critics can be in the first category, but only if their palates allow it.

WHITE: Tell me, what makes the Santa Lucia Highlands so special?

STILLMAN: It’s the coolest part of the Monterey appellation. Temperature wise, of course.

WHITE: What is one piece of advice that you would give to someone that is considering a career as a winemaker?

STILLMAN: Make absolutely sure that you have the nose and palate for it, can identify basic characters and flaws that you’ll encounter, and yet still artistically appreciate great wines.

WHITE: Please tell me a little bit about the wine we are featuring today

STILLMAN: This is a project that I consulted on for a fellow winemaker, and I liked the wine so much I took some of it and fooled around with it some more (laughs). It’s from a vineyard at the far northern end of the Santa Lucia appellation; on a still night you can hear the gun battles from the gangs of Salinas. It’s planted to Chardonnay, Riesling and a little Gewurztraminer; I left out the Chardonnay, though. It was made entirely in stainless steel, of course; and didn’t ferment quite dry, though it’s drier than many commercial Chardonnays (barely more than half a percent of residual sugar). It’s incredibly well balanced; in the gap between an Aussie warm-climate dry Riesling and a German Spatlese. The aromas and flavors are rich, on the floral/green fruit side rather than petrol/rubber, and the finish is long; the aromas come right back through the palate after you swallow the wine.

WHITE: What is your favorite pairing with today’s wine?

STILLMAN: Roasted turkey, not to typecast for the holidays or anything . . .

WHITE: Please share one thing about yourself that few people know.

STILLMAN: Dude, I’m on Facebook. Everybody knows too much about me . . . okay, I’m overdue for a pedicure.

WHITE:What is your favorite ‘everyday’ or table wine?

STILLMAN: Pinot Noir, which I have planted but don’t currently make.

WHITE: How would you recommend that people approach your wines, or wine in general?

STILLMAN: Parched, with a corkscrew and a large glass. Not overchilled (the wine or the drinker). In general, relaxed; even if you’re going to be analytical, it should still be fun.

WHITE: If you could choose any one wine to drink (regardless of price or availability), what would it be?

STILLMAN: La Tache, I suppose.

WHITE: What is the one question that I should have asked you, and what is your answer to that question?

STILLMAN: When’s your next party?

“Wild Zeppelin” will be in Cayucos from August 11 through 15, 2010; we’re going to spread it out after this year’s “Altamont-By-The-Sea” aka Wet Zeppelin, the wildest party wine country has ever seen. Several hundred people showed up, and after six bands and at least sixty gallons of wine, people were jumping off the pier, climbing on the roof, fighting in and outside the hall, and driving into public buildings. Jealous husbands threw chairs through walls, drunken security guards staggered away, letting yahoos in the back door to steal wine and get in wild mosh pits, with punks climbing on stage until they were kicked off. Large numbers of uniformed officers arrived, and politely suggested that we shut down (with 3 more bands still to go, including the infamous Dread Zeppelin) just before midnight. We raised thousands for our wine and viticulture scholarship, and everyone that didn’t get arrested or taken off in an ambulance had a great time! So of course, we will do even better next year.
See you there!

WHITE: Thank you so much for your time. We learned a lot about you – and about your wine. Keep up the great work, we are big fans!

STILLMAN: In the immortal words of Elvis Presley, who showed us the consequence of a wine-free lifestyle, “Thankyouverymuch!”

Wine Spies Vineyard Check:

The location of the Stillman Brown, the winemaker at Red Zeppelin Winery can usually be found rocking out in Cayucos, CA.

I added some of my Victoria/Nanoose Bay/Tofino/Vancouver pictures to my online gallery. Please enjoy, but know that the /Tofino/ part isn’t quite up yet. I’m slowly (and steadily) processing the incredible and festering backlog of images in my Aperture import folder, and hope that somehow, someway, in the next few days and weeks I will be caught up.

We’re off to Vancouver for the holidays. We were there last year around this time and enjoyed it a great deal, despite the traffic-seizing and headline-making snowfall and temperatures. Personal matters dictate this trip this time around, which I am for some reason looking forward to a whole lot more than the previously planned (and yet otherwise unannounced and now indefinitely postponed) Maui vacation in January. Vancouver for Christmas, with the right people and for the right reasons, is infinitely more satisfying than Hawaii. Modest detail may or may not follow regarding our trip. For now I’m leaning towards not.

In other news, lots is happening these days. We completed the follow-up Government of Canada eco-audit inspection and the numbers are off to the feds for approval and cutting of cheques. After installing attic insulation, three low-flush toilets and a new high-efficiency furnace I feel like something of a cynical apprentice handyman: capable, yet completely aware of certain projects that I will never do again (the attic insulation).

I recently admitted to my wife (and to myself, sort of) recently that if I could stock our wine cellar with nothing else, it would be Champagne and Sonoma pinot noir. It was truly remarkable in retrospect to think about the great wines we enjoyed in Las Vegas (a full report and photos will eventually surface, promise). Two bottles of Bollinger Special Cuvée, an Au Bon Climat Isabel Morgan pinot noir, Veuve Cliquot… Tough life!

Though thinking about the volume of my cellar, or at least its potential, I would have to find room for tempranillos from the Ribera del Duero region in Spain; some Italian Barbarescos; a few bone-dry Australian (Eden Valley, Clare Valley) rieslings; some ports (both vintage and tawny) for cold nights beside the fire, and of course my wife’s rosés. Oh, and some grassy, acidic sauvignons from Chile’s Leyda Valley for those truly blistering-hot days in the summer. But that would about do it. See, living with a vegetarian (ok, ‘pescetarian’) there’s not much room nor need for red wine, and it’s only our affinity for pinot, Barbaresco, temperanillo, and the lot of 2005 Bordeaux that we already have that we have any reds at all really. Sadly, I cracked a delicious 2004 Jackson Triggs SunRock shiraz last night and I know I’ll be in for a challenge to not pour any of it down the drain a week from now.

Such are the extravagant challenges life presents sometimes, I know.

I have several irons in the fire right now, speaking of blog post drafts that is, including (for my own inventory as much as your interest):

- the Blasphemous Province of Alberta: defending our destruction of the environment in the name of money

- Tiger Woods’ daily doings (and the fact that he’s currently sitting at 11 over par)

- Brand Loyalty

- Advertising and Creative agencies (both my love and spite for them)

- my perpetual and growing hatred for the Papyrus typeface (a project I’ve been working on for over a year now)

Cheers for now. More soon.

The Germans sure know how to name a winner

Wine: Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett 2007

Style: German Riesling Kabinett

Vitals: 9,5% abv, Mosel Region

Company Line: “Spannung zwischen Ananas und Stachelbeere – TRANSLATION – Tension between pineapple and gooseberry” I still don’t know what the hell a gooseberry is supposed to taste like.

My take: pale straw yellow in the glass.  Sweet pineapple dominates the nose.  I do get a hint of what I have discovered is called a petrol character – basically a petroleum or kerosene-like note that is common to many rieslings.  It isn’t as off-putting as you might imagine and in a way, works as an extension of the wine’s strong minerality.  Body is semi-sweet and thus rich in the mouth, with a bright acidity that cuts through the heft of residual sugars and greatly enhances overall balance and drinkability.  Kabinett is a designation for lighter rieslings, both in alcohol content and overall complexity.  This makes for an admittedly one-note experience, but one that doesn’t leave me wanting.

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from Gallo Family Wines.

Cute packaging is usually not my thing.  I often feel if you need to dress something up so much you are trying to hide whats really inside. This is not the case with the 2008 Polka Dot Riesling. With a screw cap closure, a $10 price tag, and a 10.5% alcohol level, what you have here is a cheap and cheerful wine to help stretch your wine budget. Sure, it’s not the most complex of Rieslings, but for $10 it’s a solid buy, would go over well at any holiday party, and is very approachable for folks who might not have all the German words for the various Riesling levels committed to memory.

On the nose I got lemon, yellow apples, pears, honey, and white flowers. In the mouth I found lots of apple, pear, honey, and flowers. The mouth reflected the nose.  I served the wine with baked tilapia and it went very well. The wine had nice acidity and is one I would seriously consider as a contender for white wines at my next big party.

Versus, versus and versus. Three time versuses are in the title of my tasting note today. Both wines are from my favourite wineries from the Mosel, Saar and Ruwer area, now, of course, the three melt into just one Mosel area. The first one is since long one of my favourite; the second one, I just felt in love with only recently. One dominated by mineral, the other by fruit. One full and complex, the other light and refreshing. Versus implies competition but both wines today imply what a German Riesling does best; to truly and beautifully reflect the terroir, the interpretation of the soil and one year climate in a bottle.

Van Volxem, Volx Riesling Erste Lage, 2008

Color: Light gold.

Nose: very charming nose dominated by salty, nutty mineral with hint of spices. Aromas of riped fruit, apricot, orange and grapefruit, with subtle delicate floral scent. Very aromatic and complex with irresistable mineral tone.

Mouth: Luscious mineral with delicious fruit. The flavour is very complex and full. The acid is stunning; yet the wine is harmony due to a little bit of rest sugar. Great play and balance between sweetness and sourness. The texture is very yummy; round, full and creamy. Middle body. The finish is long with good mineral and, again, with great acid.

This is a really tasty and complex wine with intense mineral. The wine develops more and more after the cork is popped out. The sharp acid, typical Saar acid, is balanced out by a little bit of sweetness. This is actually the noticeable feature of the wines from Roman Niewodniczanski. This vineyard has a very long history and was in the old time a monastery winery. It was then run by the four generations of the family Van Volxem before it was bought by Peter Jordan in 1993, who operates the vineyard under the name of Jordan & Jordan. In the year 1999, Roman, a great-great grandson of the founder of one of the biggest beer empire in Gemany, the Bitburger, bought it and revitalize the vineyard towards its former fame under its old name. Volx Riesling comes from a parcel that was, according to the Preußischen Lagenklassifikation from 1868, classified as a Grand Cru site. The soil is dominated by blue slate planted with vines that are over 60 years old.

Clemens Busch, Puendericher Marienburg “Rothenpfad” GG, 2008

Color: light gold.

Nose: light fresh fruity nose; lemon and lynches. Subtle honey floral scent with a little bit of jasmin. Spicy cool slate-ty tone. Very refreshing.

Mouth: fruity taste with mouth watery acid with a bit of mineral in the background. Smooth soft light texture. The finish is long with delicate fruit and yummy acid.

This wine is really refreshing. Close your eye while drinking it and you emerge directly in the middle of a grass field, inhaling the beautiful and fresh summer breeze. The vineyard is located in Puenderich in the middle Mosel area. The Rothenpfad comes from a parcel in the Marienburg site dominated by red slate, resulting in a wine with a spicy mineral tone. Clemens Busch is famous for his sweet wines. One Auslese from 2006 and one Trockenbeerenauslese from 2007 is the regarded by Gault Millau as wine of the year. I have had very little experience with his wines but, from now on, I will not waste my time anymore.

The other day Lufthansa celebrated it’s 50 years of scheduled flight services to Bangkok, Thailand. I was invited to a function at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel which provided not only a splendid backdrop to the event but also supplied the guests with very jummy culinary delights.

Also the wines, a red and a white, both from Germany, were first class. Lufthansa served a 2008 Spätburgunder from Meyer-Näkel, Ahr and a 2008 Riesling from Hermann Dönnhoff, Nahe. What a treat. I could not believe my luck.

When I was a student of agriculture at Bonn University, one of my fellow students, came from the nahe wine region. She had a sticker on her car reading: “Nahewein ein Edelstein”, freely translated as “Wine from the Nahe a gemstone” (unfortunately this does not rhyme as the German slogan). Both wines were gemstones, indeed.

In the end the Riesling somehow blended better with the food, a mix of Thai, German, and other cuisines served in small portions in a snack-type fashion. The anniversary was celebrated in style with beautiful visualizations (among them old photos from good old Bangkok), street food, a twist dancing group, sepia photo taking, a choir and other singers. I wish Lufthansa many more successful years with their venture in Thailand.

PS: I did not bring a camera and therefore do not possess any photos. I also somehow forgot to study the labels of the bottles carefully. That’s a cumbersome affair for me if waiters are serving.

2009 was a ridiculously great year for me.  It was rocky at times, too.  Over the next 31 days, I’m blogging my best of 2009!  So here we go!

December 2: Share the best restaurant experience you had this year. Who was there? What made it amazing? What taste stands out in your mind?

Carmine’s.  While I avoid Times Square like the plague, my parents had been RAVING about Carmine’s for three years, so I thought why not.  I should have known things were awesome when I got some crazy awesome crazy cheap pashminas.  And thanks to our crazy awesome Amex, we had a “contact” at Carmine’s and didn’t have to wait two hours.

Then we sat down at a table.  o.m.g.

WINE.

SALADS.

PASTA.

WINE.

PASTA.

BREAD.

WINE.

PASTA.

It was a great meal, we had great conversation, and my mom, dad, aunt, uncle, and E were there.  It was just a really wonderful night during a really wonderful trip, and I’m so grateful to have that memory!

While visiting my parents for the holiday, I stopped by the Madison Wine Exchange and picked up a mixed case of wines to sample over my 10 day visit. Apparently I should have picked up more as a few days later we had to head into Brandford Wine and Spirits and round that out with another half a case. Among the wines in the first case, I selected several Rieslings. I don’t drink all that much Riesling and I’ve been wanting to, so I went for it. The first one we plucked from the box was the 2007 St. Urbans-Hof Riesling Kabinett. It had a real cork closure, clocked in at 8.5% alcohol by volume, and I see it retailing for around $16, though I can’t recall what we paid for it.

On the nose I found petrol, nuts, lemon, and wet stones.  It didn’t have as much of a nose I wanted it to.  In the mouth I got citrus, lemon, peach, and some tropical notes. While it had a nice mouthfeel, I thought it could have used some more acidity.

Saint Laurent Lucky White, Columbia Valley, WA, 2008

Aromatics:  This blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and Chardonnay offers a generous nose of gardenias, lemons, and ripe apricots.

On the Palate:  More ripe apricots and gardenias. A simple daily drinker that won’t break the bank.

88 Points. Retail $16.

Some areas of the wine world bring certain varietals to mind immediately. When it comes to Alsace there is more than one that springs to mind instantly. Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Pinot Gris are the first three I think of. Thankfully, it seems that more quality examples of these varietals from several regions of the world, Alsace included, are landing on US shelves every year. Six generations of the Helfrich family have been making wines in Alsace. Today I’ll take a look at a couple of current releases from Helfrich, Riesling and Pinot Gris.

First up is the Helfrich 2007 Riesling. This offering is made entirely from Alsatian fruit and is composed of 100% Riesling. Fermentation took place in stainless steel. This selection was finished in screw cap and the suggested retail price is $14.99.

The lovely aromatics of this wine are led by lemon zest and orchard fruit notes. White cling peach is particularly prominent and provides a very appealing quality. Throughout the full and lush palate a rich mouth feel takes hold and shows off hints of ginger as well as apple, pear and continued peach notes. A lovely mineral component leads the finish which is above average in length. Spice notes emerge as well. Everything comes together in a crisp, dry and clean fashion, leaving you wanting another sip

The highlights of this wine for me are the strong aromatics out of the gate and the mineral notes on the finish. Combined with an ever so tiny hint of sweetness, both elements help form a tasty offering that is a good example of Riesling and a nice value to boot.

The second wine is the Helfrich 2007 Pinot Gris. This selection is also made from 100% Alsatian fruit. This wine is composed entirely of Pinot Gris. Fermentation occurred in stainless steel. This Pinot Gris was finished in screw cap and the suggested retail price is $14.99.

Aromas of honey, hazelnut, lychee, Anjou pear and golden delicious apple are all present in the bright, forward nose of this 2007 Pinot Gris. The palate of this offering is rich and full flavored. Sweet, ripe fruit flavors abound; apple nectar is particularly striking. Spice notes really kick in around mid-palate and continue through the finish with nutmeg, white pepper and hints of smoke standing as the most forward of these. As with the Riesling the finish is also above average in length. Solid acidity balances the inherent sweetness of this wine and keeps things in check.

I love this Pinot Gris for its versatility. Whether served as a welcome wine, with appetizers or accompanying your main meal this 2006 Pinot Gris will work nicely. Roast pork tender loin with apple compote would be a perfect match.

Both of these releases from Helfrich represent good examples of their respective varietals at fair prices. These are well worth tasting.

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Today’s guest blogger is Val Lewis, PR and events coordinator for Negociants UK, with a “guest guest” appearance by NUK sales manager Chris Unger.

Val Lewis

Tastings have been coming in thick and fast over the past month, and with Yalumba Winemaker Louisa Rose here with us in the UK for 10 days, we have managed to cover much of the length and breadth of this great (grey) land, spreading the good word of Yalumba.

So here is an update from Chris Unger (aka Cardi Man), Negociants UK sales manager and our fine wine brain:

Chris Unger

“We had Louisa criss-crossing the country to visit old friends and new with a series of trade visits and wine dinners from north to south. Louisa has a strong following and leaves a remarkable impression amongst those she meets.

“A few highlights include a dinner with Riesling-obsessed, and long time supporters, The Harrow at Little Bedwyn.  The evening started with a vertical of Pewsey Vale The Contours Riesling from 1997 through to 2003 followed by a five-course dinner extravaganza that would have impressed even the toughest of critics. A little birdy mentioned that the evening continued after the guests left and into the wee hours with Roger (the owner of the Harrow) dipping into his own personal cellar to share some treats with Louisa and Emma.

“Up in the ‘Grim North’ Louisa weaved her magic with the young and enthusiastic wine team at Anthony’s in Leeds. Anthony’s operate four restaurant sites with the most recent opening in the renovated Corn Exchange, which is a truly unique restaurant space. The standout wines of the tasting were the Yalumba The Scribbler Cabernet Shiraz and Yalumba Eden Valley Viognier – with both being listed by the glass following the visit.”

OK, back to me, Val, now, with a roundup of recent events.

Icon Tasting

Negociants UK Icon Tasting
Working in events is good for the soul but bad for the nervous disposition! A fortnight of sleepless nights, midnight scribblings – I do love making a good list – and triple-checking vintages all paid off when we hosted our annual Icon Tasting at Fifth View, Piccadilly. It was a huge success; the wines showed beautifully and were tasted by an impressive turnout of top press, sommeliers and restaurateurs.

The Wine Show London
I love this event, it attracts thousands of visitors from across London. From the Pinot Grigio glugging gaggle to the those who desire nothing more than to calmly discuss the finer points of the warm ferment … at the end of four days of pouring and chatting if one more person had called it “Rye-sling” (this is a very, very British thing) I may have hung my apron up for good.

Ken Withers

Yalumba 160th Birthday
Negociants UK celebrated Yalumba’s 160th birthday with beef and Grenache party pies, fireworks and a cheeky glass of Yalumba FDR1A. Ken Withers (our worryingly domesticated national accounts manager) hosted the NUK team for an evening of fun and frivolity, and together we toasted all that makes Yalumba wonderful. The warm and fuzzy brought a tear to my eye, and I’m certain I saw Ken snuffling quietly into his hankie too.

The Decanter Fine Wine Encounter
This finished off the year’s events calendar on the 21st and 22nd of October – keep an eye out for the news story about the event which will shortly be appearing on www.decanter.com along with recommendations and videos. The standouts on the weekend were Yalumba The Signature Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2005 and the Yalumba Eden Valley Viognier 2008. This event attracts over 1500 visitors – and at £48 a ticket this is no small feat. The crowd are knowledgeable and interested (and interesting!), and it’s always a pleasure to pour Yalumba’s finest alongside the great and the good of our Old World peers.