music

German Riesling Rap (Must Be Seduktion)

torsten — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 22:34:41 +0000

German Riesling Rap (Must Be Seduktion)

In 2009 for a short moment I was cool. You might have been too, without knowing it. Back then we had street cred - just by drinking Riesling. No, I am not insane, nor did I have too much Riesling tonight. In 2009 middle-class wine geeks had a moment of cool when Jay-Z put the following words into the mouths of millions: "I'm beasting off the Riesling!" Twitter was full of references to Riesling, mostly from cool kids who sounded like they'd never before heard of it. Just one line, but much more effective than any marketing campaign - I have brought this up in every discussion on how to raise the profile of German wine since.

torsten Thursday, 17/01/2013

Pairing Wine and Music? "Tasting Notes" radio programme launch at Laithwaites Wine

torsten — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 02:21:58 +0000

Pairing Wine and Music? "Tasting Notes" radio programme launch at Laithwaites Wine

Music does not taste. Wine does. Rather obvious, but not nearly as simple as you may think. What we perceive as the taste of wine is actually our brain combining all sorts of information and the tongue only plays a relatively small part in this. What we see, know or hear, everything has an influence on how we taste. And as music and wine are often enjoyed together Classic FM and Laithwaites Wine argue it may be worth thinking about how to match them.

To make this point they hosted a wine and music tasting in London last week and the Wine Rambler went to investigate.

torsten Monday, 19/11/2012

Trash or treasure? A random tasting of aged wines

Julian — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:38:36 +0000

Trash or treasure? A random tasting of aged wines

This rather pointless little posting is for fans of aged wines. I don't mean wines cellar-matured to an ideal drinking point, but those left to grow old beyond any responsible borderline moment. It is for those of you who might hunt for old wines on eBay or via specialised merchants, but would never stoop so low as to actually drink what other people throw out in disgust. You don't have to, because this is where your self-sacrificing correspondent comes in. Let me stress, though, that I was not, I was emphatically not rummaging through my next door neighbours' garbage in the hope of finding discarded, but still filled wine bottles. It was rather that someone had left the four of them standing outside of the bin, maybe having been tipped off that there is a pervert living nearby who might have a use for that kind of stuff. He could indeed. Here, then, is a little report about four random wines whose history is open to anyone's imagination and who have absolutely nothing to lose in terms of taste.

Julian Monday, 01/08/2011

Two years of Wine Rambling

torsten — Mon, 16 May 2011 20:26:12 +0000

Two years of Wine Rambling

Two years ago the Wine Rambler saw the light of day with a short review on a German Pinot Blanc and a posting on a wine merchant who had no idea about their own catalogue. What started out as a means for two geograpically separated friends to stay in touch about their respective wine adventures has taken on a dynamic we have not quite forseen. The Wine Rambler has changed our lives in more than one way, and I am fairly certain it will continue to do so.

cover of Samuel Johnson's The Rambler, Stanford University Libraries

As one of two proud fathers, it falls to me today to say a few words on the occasion of our baby's second birthday. And also to explain what this old newspaper has to do with the Wine Rambler.

torsten Monday, 16/05/2011

The Wine of Lovers - A Wine Rambler musical interlude

Julian — Sun, 08 May 2011 21:34:13 +0000

The Wine of Lovers - A Wine Rambler musical interlude

[...] Oh the songs Pour down like silver They can only Only break my heart Drink the wine The wine of lovers Lovers tired of being apart

Julian Sunday, 08/05/2011

150 minutes, 74 Rieslings, 1 mouth. Madness? Ravenous for Riesling!

torsten — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:47:19 +0000

150 minutes, 74 Rieslings, 1 mouth. Madness? Ravenous for Riesling!

A friend of mine gave me ten little bottles / Of some special stuff that he brewed up his-self / So I took it and hid it down in my basement / But my wife found out about it and she told me to get rid of it or else / And since I didn't like the way she said or else / I went down there and proceeded to carry out her instructions [...] Picked up the first bottle, pulled the cork out of it...

ten little bottles...

It did not quite happen like this. Admittedly, there was a basement. And I went down there. Picked up a bottle. Or two. Actually, there were 74. Also, they were not small. And despite the time it will have taken him to put it all together, I am fairly certain host Robert Giorgione did not brew them up by his-self. Even so, he managed to get Riesling from all over the world to London for a blind tasting that I could not miss. And so I went down there and proceeded...

torsten Friday, 28/01/2011

A Merry musical Christmas from the Wine Rambler and the Peanuts

torsten — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 11:58:34 +0000

From my window I can see the snow falling. Food is being prepared. Christmas wine delights sorted. It is time to wish all of you a wonderful and very Merry Christmas! What could be better than this peacful tune played by the importantly talented Schroeder:

New York City wine merchants, part 2: Soho Wines, ABC Wine Company, September Wines, Smith & Vine

torsten — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 23:28:16 +0000

New York City wine merchants, part 2: Soho Wines, ABC Wine Company, September Wines, Smith & Vine

See me walking down Fifth Avenue, a walking cane here at my side. I take it everywhere I walk, I'm an Englishman in New York. - Well, almost. Even though I like to think that four years in London give me some English credentials, I have never owned a walking cane. Nor a bowler hat for that matter. The part about Fifth Avenue is true though, as a couple of weeks ago the Wine Rambler went on the road again for another New York adventure. It included a visit to a biodynamic winery on Long Island, and there also had to be a follow-up from last year's random tour of NYC wine merchants. I wish I could take you with me, all the way to New York City. So come with me, gentle reader, for another voyage of exploration. Ooh, and when you wake up in the mornin' with your head on fire and your eyes too bloody to see, go on and cry in your coffee but don't come bitchin' to me! (And if you can identify all music references in this text without the help of the internet please do visit me in London for a hangover-free Riesling.)

torsten Saturday, 23/10/2010

Goodbye despair - Wine Rambler lyric of the month

Julian — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 20:30:24 +0000

Goodbye despair - Wine Rambler lyric of the month

The blessed grace of waking up
Of breathing in the sheets
And hello to you, at the window
Hello to you

Down the hill I'd like to take you
To where I shot a little deer,
My little dear I'd like to take you down there

Rinsing out the iron cup
To have a glass of wine
To have an iron cup of wine
Dear, to drink it down there

Julian Sunday, 12/09/2010

Orovela, Saperavi, 2005

torsten — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:53:04 +0000

Orovela, Saperavi, 2005

Traditionally, it is 'Go West' if you want to embark on an adventure. A few weeks ago a friend of mine made the journey eastwards and relocated to Georgia. As one can never be sure where 'East' is with an international audience I should probably add that we are speaking about the country bounding the Black Sea. It is also one of the oldest, if not the oldest, wine growing countries, and one of the countries whose wine I have never tried before. So when I was scanning the shelves at Philglas & Swiggot for something unusual, a massive dark bottle saying 'fine wine of Georgia' immediately got my attention. As if this coincidence would not have been enough to make it interesting, the wine is also made from Saperavi, and indigenous variety that was also new to me. So here's to exploring new things, for the bold ones who actually venture there, and for the armchair wine snobs who prefer the safer route to try them with pasta and tomato sauce first.

torsten Wednesday, 25/08/2010