9.5%

Martin Müllen, Kröver Steffensberg, Riesling Kabinett trocken, 1996

torsten — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:07:01 +0000

Martin Müllen, Kröver Steffensberg, Riesling Kabinett trocken, 1996

Old wines are desirable, sophisticated and expensive - that at least is the general perception. Sadly this is usually not true as most wines don't age very well at all - just try the supermarket Chardonnay forgotten for five years in your cupboard to see why. However, and even more sadly perhaps, it tends to be true that desirable and sophisticated aged wines are expensive. Or are they?

How about I tell you that just a few weeks ago I bought the bottle belonging to the cork above for less than ten Euros - about half a Euro per year of age.

torsten Friday, 19/04/2013

Reuscher-Haart, Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, Riesling Spätlese, 2006

torsten — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 10:06:18 +0000

Reuscher-Haart, Piesporter Goldtröpfchen, Riesling Spätlese, 2006

Of all the longer and shorter wine tours and winery visits I have undertaken the 2008 trip to the Mosel is the one I have the fondest memories of. Not only was it part of a longer holiday and involved the full Wine Rambler committee, I also had the chance to meet some of my favourite winemakers and cycle along the fantastic Mosel cycle paths. And it was asparagus season - easy access to white asparagus is probably where London is weakest on the food supply front.

Among the wineries we visited was Reuscher-Haart, one of several branches of the Haart family living in the famous wine village Piesport. The last wine left from that visit is (or was) this 2006 late harvest Riesling.

torsten Tuesday, 27/12/2011

Emrich-Schönleber, Monzinger Halenberg, Riesling Spätlese, 2007

torsten — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:03:37 +0000

Emrich-Schönleber, Monzinger Halenberg, Riesling Spätlese, 2007

Quoting Shakespeare is fine. In fact, it is recommended to do it at least occasionally when you write in English. For some reason though the Germans are less likely these days to quote their national poet. Unless you write editorial for a conservative newspaper there seems to be something stuffy to it - although I'd recommend reading some of Goethe's obscene love poems if you believe the old man is stuffy. Anyway, today is the day I am going to quote Goethe in a wine review. However, in order not to turn you away before you have at least glanced at a great wine I shall do it at the end of this piece.

So before we get to the national icon, let's take a look at one of the national wine icons, the Rieslings made by the Emrich-Schönleber family.

torsten Friday, 16/12/2011

Schloss Lieser, Brauneberger Juffer, Riesling Kabinett, 2005

Julian — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 22:05:27 +0000

Schloss Lieser, Brauneberger Juffer, Riesling Kabinett, 2005

The Schloss Lieser estate, dear readers, is the one winery that has had more of their bottles consumed chez Mr. Munich Wine Rambler than any other I've never told you about (except very briefly here). Admittedly, this also involves an order I placed twice in considerable confusion, but mostly, it is because Ute and Thomas Haag have been offering arguably the most consistent value in fruity and sweet Riesling for the last seven or eight years. Thomas Haag is known to Mosel afficionados as the son of Wilhelm Haag from the Fritz Haag estate, wine being a family affair in that part of the country. The 2005 Kabinett from the iconic Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr vineyard was the first of their wines I ever got to taste, four or five years ago.

So how has it been holding up?

Julian Tuesday, 07/06/2011

Blue Nun, 2009

torsten — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 07:34:09 +0000

Blue Nun, 2009

Blue Nun is a German wine label that is very successful in the UK. Known for relatively inexpensive, off-dry wines, Blue Nun is especially marketed at younger women. I am not one of those, but in my quest to explore inexpensive German supermarket wine I have reviewed one previously (see also for details on the brand), and now it was time to brave it a second time.

I bought the 2009 Blue Nun at Sainsburys as part of a blind tasting experiment involving cheap German supermarket wines. How did the £4.29 wine fair?

torsten Monday, 07/03/2011

F. W. Langguth Erben Kabinett, 2009

torsten — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:41:56 +0000

F. W. Langguth Erben Kabinett, 2009

Looking back over the wines I have enjoyed over the past few months it was an impressive range of delightfulness and excellent quality. Despite having spent quite a bit on wine I think it was worth every penny, but I was also reminded not to forget to explore what is available on the cheaper end of the market. So during a recent visit to Sainsburys I grabbed a random bottle of relatively inexpensive German wine to set my experiences in perspective.

Mind you, there are people out there for whom £4.99 for a bottle of wine is anything but cheap. However, if you consider that around half of the price goes to the government (tax, excise duty etc.) and quite a bit to the retailer (and that does not even take into account the cost of shipping etc.) then you realise that such a wine has to be produced very cheaply indeed to be commercially viable. Too cheaply?

torsten Wednesday, 02/03/2011

Weinkellerei Burgenland, Trockenbeerenauslese, 1991

torsten — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 16:24:54 +0000

Weinkellerei Burgenland, Trockenbeerenauslese, 1991

In theory, this wine would have warranted a long review. First of all a twenty year old wine that is still enjoyable should be worth saying something about. Then it was also a gift from a friend who bought it for peanuts from an English wine shop years ago - since then it has lived in his attic until he donated it to a little wine tasting I hosted in August. The reason that I am not inclined to honour it with a long story is that when I emailed the estate to learn more about the wine they didn't even bother with a one line reply. They are of course not obliged to, but then neither am I to spend more time on it.

torsten Sunday, 05/12/2010

Black Tower, Pinot Grigio, 2008

torsten — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 18:18:05 +0000

Black Tower, Pinot Grigio, 2008

Over the years, we have tasted a wide sample of German wines (though still so much more to explore!). However, my German wine experience is very different from that of most people here in the UK or across the globe. While we mostly drink wine from smaller, family owned vineyards, the UK especially downs the likes of Liebfraumilch by the gallon. So it was high time to get in touch with my inner mainstream drinker and get one of those iconic Black Tower bottles you can see in most British supermarkets.

Black Tower claims to be Germany's most widely exported wine brand, in fact, it may very well be Germany's best selling wine globally - it certainly is in the UK. Reh-Kendermann, who own Black Tower, spent a lot on the brand, particularly researching the design.

torsten Sunday, 31/10/2010

Black Tower, Rivaner 2008

torsten — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 23:26:46 +0000

Black Tower, Rivaner 2008

When you find a bulky black bottle that looks like it holds Black Forest schnapps or some unspeakable cod liver oil in your supermarket, it will almost certainly be a German wine: Black Tower, a brand designed for the UK mass market. Perhaps it makes the Brits think of German Gemütlichkeit of the rustic type.

I was actually after the Black Tower Liebfraumilch, but as I could not find it I went for this Rivaner for £3.88 instead (Rivaner, btw, is another name for the grape variety Müller-Thurgau, if you wondered).

torsten Sunday, 26/07/2009

Blue Nun Original, 2008

torsten — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 16:18:10 +0000

Blue Nun Original, 2008

Keen to learn what British women in their twenties want to drink? Get a bottle of Blue Nun. You will also learn that you might not want to spend too many 'Heavenly Nights In' or 'Wicked Nights Out' (to quote the Blue Nun website) drinking with the Blue Nun girls. Well, you might want to, but then it better be not only about the wine.

torsten Sunday, 19/07/2009