£16-19

Jules Taylor, Grüner Veltliner, 2010

torsten — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:33:21 +0000

Jules Taylor, Grüner Veltliner, 2010

Grüner Veltliner is an Austrian success story. Increasingly popular, well, fashionable - cool actually -, it stands for the renaissance of Austrian winemaking after the scandal of the 1980s. Leaving fashionability aside, the consistent quality of the Grüner ending up in my glass never fails to amaze me, and if you delve deeper into the subject you also learn how well these wines can age and how much substance they can have. So yet another Grüner to be reviewed on the Wine Rambler, you may say? Yes, but this one is different - it comes from New Zealand.

Never having tried a NZ Grüner before, I was very curious when I saw it in my favourite Battersea wine shop and took a bottle home with me to do some research - with Wiener Schnitzel, of course, and potato salad. Does New Zealand deliver?

torsten Monday, 24/10/2011

Willi Opitz, Pinot Noir, Beerenauslese, 2005

torsten — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 17:43:41 +0000

Willi Opitz, Pinot Noir, Beerenauslese, 2005

Dessert wine. Think Riesling so thick with sugar that you could grease your bicycle with it. Think Sauternes with even more sugar than the Riesling and twice the level of alcohol. Think Château d'Yquem. Think Austrian red wine. Ah, wait, did he just say 'Austrian red wine'? Yes he did, and he wrote that in a perfectly sober state. So let me start with saying that that there is Austrian red wine (in case you did not know) and that it can be outright fantastic. Most of it is dry, so I got very excited when I saw this sweet, half bottle beauty on the shelves at Harrods. So what is a sweet Austrian red wine like?

torsten Monday, 11/10/2010

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

Juliusspital, Iphöfer Julius-Echter-Berg, Silvaner Spätlese, 1985

torsten — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 06:06:04 +0000

Juliusspital, Iphöfer Julius-Echter-Berg, Silvaner Spätlese, 1985

Well before reaching twenty-five years of age most wines turn to vinegar. Not many wines are really worth keeping for more than a couple of years. Some last five to ten years, but only a tiny minority will make it beyond. With the exception of a few first class wines, sweet Riesling among them, not many wines are drinkable, far less enjoyable at the age of twenty-five. And yet here we are looking at a Silvaner, an often underestimated variety, of this age - does it still deliver?

Right from the start, the Franconian Silvaner impressed us with an intense, very clear golden colour that still had hints of green (which is often said to be a sign of a younger wine). It certainly looked beautiful and also as if it could comfortably age a few years more.

torsten Wednesday, 30/06/2010

Egon Müller, Kanta Riesling, 2006

torsten — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 09:18:13 +0000

Egon Müller, Kanta Riesling, 2006

After all those German and Austrian Rieslings, we are now going Australia. Clearly, the Wine Rambler is no nationalist. What could be more Australian, apart from Paul 'Crocodile Dundee' Hogan perhaps, than a Riesling from Adelaide Hills? Well, actually, it is sort of German too - at least the winemaker is (no one would have guess from the name 'Egon Müller').

torsten Sunday, 13/06/2010

Weingut Paulinshof, Brauneberger Kammer, Riesling Auslese trocken, 2007

torsten — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 09:29:43 +0000

Weingut Paulinshof, Brauneberger Kammer, Riesling Auslese trocken, 2007

I bought this wine when I last visited Philglas & Swiggot, one of my favourite London wine merchants. Apparently, Paulinshof is one of their long-term favourites, so I was curious to try one. Paulinshof is an old winery from the Mosel region, exclusively focussed on Riesling. So let's see what they have to offer!

torsten Saturday, 26/09/2009