Drink Eat Love

I made the right choice

(The view from Domaine Weinbach in Kaysersberg, Alsace)

A spectacular finish

(A view of the Piesporter Goldtropfchen vineyard along the Mosel river)

I have just ended my tour of the Terry Theise portfolio of Germany producers and this has been the single most educational, heart warming, and amazing wine trip I have yet to experience. I was extremely fortunate to be with Hiram Simon of the Vienna/Winewise company of Berkeley, California. Hiram is the California distributor for this portfolio and has relationships spanning twenty plus years with many of the growers we saw. I cannot thank him enough for allowing me to tag along and learn from all of his experience.  In five days Hiram and I tasted wines from thirty-one estates and visited twenty-seven in person. Each tasting was held in the kitchen, living room, or parlor of the actual family. The ability to taste with the growers themselves in their homes was amazing. Many of the estates have been in the same family from 250 to 500 years and the history is draped on the walls. As we sat and tasted generations of growers from the past watched us enjoy their family legacy continue. I will post more about each winery when I return to the states but in the meantime here are some photos of my trip.

Raining Riesling

WOW! It is now just the fourth day of the trip and I feel like I've been here for a month. We have tried so many wines (close to 250) from three regions and we still have two more regions to go. The 2008 vintage is GREAT! The wines are high in acid but the balance is unreal. Most growers are saying that this vintage reminds them of the early 90's or as we have heard, "The way it used to be."

Monday Night Wines: Old Riesling

 

(Hipping vineyard looking down at the Rhine River)

After a long flight I landed in Frankfurt early Sunday morning. My compatriot for my Deutschland journey was not arriving until 6:30 PM so I had time to kill. Now most travelers will think I am totally crazy, but over the past few trips I have found this works for me really well...I go to sleep. There was Sheraton Hotel at the airport and they had day rates for their room so I booked a room, took a 5 hour nap, got in a workout in and did some emailing. Once Hiram arrived we were off to Nierstein to see the Strub family (who put us up for the night) and enjoy a home cooked meal. The Strubs are one of the most lovely families I have ever met, they immediately made me feel at home and welcomed. Margrit had prepared a wonderful dish of roast chicken with olives, garlic, cherry tomatoes and potatos. We began our meal with a few different 2008 Trocken (this is German for dry) Rieslings and a Gruner Veltliner from Nierstein that was fantastic ,but  when the cheese came out there appeared three bottles from the 1970's.

Finally! I get to use German

Monday Night Wines: Pink Bubbles make me happy

Shauna and I just finished our Bastille Day dinner while listening to my Pandora mix of French singers. Even though it is "Monday Night" wines, I'm going to post what we had tonight in honor of our friends in France. Since my first trip to France I have been in love with the wines and have always enjoyed the sparkling wines. Almost every wine region in France produces sparkling wines (many in the Champagne method) and they are, for the most part, pretty darn tasty and not very expensive. As I have said before don't hold back on the bubbles for just special occasions, everyday is a good day to drink bubbles.

Saving for a special occasion

I am all for special occasion wine, but too many people fall into the trap of waiting for the "right" special occasion. Case in point is my wife's paternal grandmother who was recently cleaning out her kitchen cabinets and came across three bottles of "Champagne" that she was saving for a special occasion...she waited a tad too long.

Monday Night Wines: Tough to get any info

The past weekend was a fast, fun and exciting with Shauna's aunt, uncle and cousins in Avila Beach. Every night while sitting on their beautiful patio overlooking the Pacific (see above photo) we enjoyed home cooked meals and wine. On Sunday night I opened another wine from the Willamette Valley, a 2006 Pinot Noir from Love & Squalor, it was simply amazing. I have been trying to find out more information on the wine but could not, so I found the winemakers email and shot off some questions. When I get a few more details I will give a full report on this small and stellar winery, but in the meantime here are my thoughts on how it tasted.