June 2009

I really appreciate how a good sommelier can make an excellent dinner even more memorable. At a previous (and dare I say excellent) dining experience at Tom Aikens the sommelier recommended Rémy Gresser's Brandhof Muscat with fish.

While searching for a UK source for this wine I learned that I am apparently gifted with a special understanding of this kind of wine (or perhaps wine in general), as the wine merchant wrote to me: "The Muscat is essentially a restaurant wine, very few people understand dry Muscat, like you."

It has been quite a while since I tasted the sibling of this wine, the Graacher Himmelreich Spätburgunder of the same vintage; so sadly, I cannot really compare them against each other. What I can say though is that both are excellent Pinot Noirs.

The Trabacher Schloßberg ('Schloßberg' means 'castle mountain') comes in the massive bellied bottle Molitor use for their burgundy style wines. The Pinot has great colour, a very nice, intense earthy brown. The nose is gentle, very autumnal, but also fleshy; it showcases black truffle, rotten leaves, a hint of tobacco and black cherries, with a pleasant bit of vanilla and cocoa.

Straw-coloured, on the lighter side.

Ripe apricots and other ripe yellow fruit, rich, some perfumy citrus aromas as well.

Very young and fruit-driven in the mouth, nice acidity, peach and grapefruit notes sprayed onto a creamy body.

This is very much a "made" wine (think cultured yeasts, think low temperature fermentation) and although it has substance, polish and even some spice, it could have been made in South Africa, in Friuli, or some other place where very good winemakers know exactly how their wine should taste in the end. Nothing wrong with that, but it didn't work for me just now. I can't rule out that this might have turned into something with more depth and a sense of place with some bottle ageing. Who knows?

So here we are. The infamous, dreaded Liebfraumilch. One day it had to happen. And that day is now. In the really olden days, Liebfraumilch (beloved Lady's milk) was a label for low yield, high quality wines from the city of Worms (Rheinhessen). It was a highly sought after example of German wine making.

Now it can be put on pretty much any vaguely sweet wine from the Rheinhessen area of Germany that is made from grape varieties such as Riesling or, mostly, Müller-Thurgau. Sweet, cheap (£2.82 in this instance) and not very cheerful, these wines do now represent German wine in the UK - at least for a majority of customers. So it seemed the logical choice to turn to Liebfraumilch for the first wine in what may become a regular Wine Rambler category: supermarket wine.

This is our second wine from the supermarket wine category. After the Liebfraumilch, it only could get better. And it did. At first, I was not really impressed. Drinkable, but not too much in the nose or mouth, apart from a little lemon. With a little bit of air, this wine did improve a lot.

This is my first Emrich-Schönleber - almost a scandal as this winery has such a good reputation.

Pale colour. A fresh nose of apple mineral with melon, floral and herbal notes. At first a little rough in the mouth, with crisp acidity, but a lot smoother with exposure to air. This Pinot Gris has lively acidity but is also smooth and creamy at the same time, with fruit and even a hint of vegetable taste. The finish is very nice and brings out notes of nuts and even a little peppery roasted wood.

You are British, your white wine has to be rich Chardonnay and you think German white is evil and sugary? Then go and try this dry late harvest Riesling from Clemens Busch.

A little mineral and stone fruit with herbal notes in the nose, this Riesling feels like a full-bodied candy in the mouth - but mind you, it is not very fruity, it just fills your mouth. Lots of depth; strong and present enough to go with a wide range of food, including meat. A little peach mixed with green vegetable and some notes of wood. Strong finish, showing some tannin, even a tiny sip fills your mouth.

Very light straw colour with a greenish tinge
At first, this smells and tastes overwhelmingly and quite explosively of green berries and fresh green leaves and grass, also grapefruit. After some time, it goes into a Riesling-direction, and unripe peaches and minerality come out more.
Dominated and defined by razor-sharp, but clean and well-integrated acidity, this is a zesty and appetizing wine that friends of straightforward dry Rieslings will enjoy very much. It tastes much lighter than the actual 12.5 % and makes me think of a picknick beside a mountain stream.

From Baden's interesting, but little known sub-region of Markgräflerland,an area between Freiburg and Basel, named after the ancestral territory of the margraves of Baden, comes another unexpectedly serious, yet fairly priced Pinot Noir:

Surprisingly dark and dense cherry red.
Concentrated smell of earthy cherries, a few plums and leafy forest floor. Very very promising.

Smells fresh, with appetizing apple and pear fruit, in no way artificial (a pleasant surprise), but not very deep either.
In the mouth, a lean wine with strong, maybe not completely ripe acidity, nicely subdued and unperfumed fruit again, a little grassy, a hint of minerality, and a shortish finish.
Rather atypical for a Pinot Blanc from Baden, where I have come to expect cantaloupe, almond and buttery flavours, this is nothing to get excited about, but a fairly honest, basic fresh white
nonetheless. It will go well with most summery food, and many people used to northern italian whites (e.g. the wine drinking population of Munich) will find this a well-made version of what they know and like.

Nicely transparent cherry red colour (good. No tampering and pampering by adding juice from more colour-intensive grape varieties here)
This wine smells seriously good - a real pinot nose of raspberries, sour cherries, and a hint of manure (which is also good - embrace it).

Imagine my surprise when I found myself looking at a German Riesling in a supermarket in the outskirts of Alexandria, Virginia. Actually, there were several wines claiming to be 'German' Riesling, but I skipped two that were not bottled in Germany. I also skipped a 'Claret' made by Francis Ford Coppola - yes, THAT Coppola, another celebrity who ventured into wine making -, but as I was drinking 'with' a pregnant woman it seemed best to focus on something light that I could finish by myself, if need be. Still a shame not to have tried the Coppola, but there may be other times.

Mosel Tributary with 5 letters? RUWER

Rieslings from the Ruwer are known for their strong acidity and their slim elegance. From the Schlosskellerei (more commonly known as Maximin Grünhaus), one of the three top estates from there, comes this delightful cabinet: