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The Vineyard
Night Hides Not:
--- Quote from: mountaineer on July 19, 2016, 12:23:11 am ---I also prefer dry whites, which seems to leave out a lot of German wines. However, many folks will recommend a Gewurztraminer to accompany spicy foods, e.g., hot Thai cuisine.
What has been your experience, NightHidesNot, in your Mosel travels? As an aside, I'm trying to get my hands on Weingut St. Urbans-Hof Riesling, which is a favorite of a friend who hasn't been able to find it around here.
--- End quote ---
My experience? It's all good. Not very helpful, I know. lol
Try a bottle that has "Trocken" on the label. That signifies a dry wine. I've found Riesling from the Alsace region to be drier than Mosel.
I'm partial to Piersporter Michelsberg, because it gets a bad rap. I call it the "Walmart of the Mosel", but it meets the German government's standards for classification as a Spatlese or an Auslese. Although I'm sure pros like sommeliers can distinguish between that and, for example, an Urziger Wurzgarten, I can buy a Piesporter Auslese at the local store for less than $15 (sometimes a Spatlese will be priced at less than $10), while an Urziger will be priced between $30-$50.
For those who enjoy sweeter wines, I have become enamored with Rieslings produced in the Texas High Plains AVA. During a recent stop at the Llano Estacado winery in Lubbock, their 2014 Riesling was as pleasing to my palate as any similar Mosel vintage I've tasted. My winery (Lost Oak) makes their Rieslings from grapes produced in the Texas High Plains. Summers in North Texas are not meant for Rieslings.
Why is Urzig pricier? Compare the terroir with the Wurzgarten vineyards vs. Michelsberg:
Over 2/3 of the grapes in Urzig (and many locations on the Mosel) are grown at slopes greater than 60 degrees. Everything has to be done by hand.
As a result of my four wonderful years of living near there (I drove through Urzig every work day), I have developed a deep admiration and respect for all viticulturalists and winemakers. If I come across a winery that produces an inferior product, I simply remain mute.
Night Hides Not:
--- Quote from: madmaximus on July 18, 2016, 09:43:34 pm ---I love a good dry red. I don't care for the really sweet wines. I prefer dry, red wines. Also love beer.
--- End quote ---
Hey, I love beer, too! lol
My favorite of all time remains Konigsbacher, from Koblenz. Regrettably, they don't export to the US, but Shiner, Ziegenbock, and Rahr breweries fill the void.
It's not just the beer, but the memories. We took our platoon on a tour of the brewery, thanks to my Platoon Sergeant's wife. After the tour, we were fed a complete meal, and drank free beer for 3 hours, until closing time. Their restaurant serves bock beer daily, and it has a beautiful view of the Rhine river.
Here's a chart that I found helpful, and it includes whites:
Night Hides Not:
I've been looking at a few wine blogs, to obtain a few ideas on where to take this thread. To date, a vision hasn't grabbed me yet. I'm ok with a meandering thread, though.
In the interim, I came across an aroma chart that could come in handy.
sinkspur:
Well, this is great. I am a wine afficionado and have been for my entire adult life (48 years). From Blue Nun, to Riunite, from cheap Gallos to Mateus, I graduated to Germans and sweet California whites.
I was bowled over when I first tasted a French St. Estephe quite by accident at a dinner. How rich! I could almost chew it!
Still like whites, but, having visited California, and France and Italy and sampled light Pinots and big heavy Tuscans, I'm mostly a red wine fan now. Nothing like a Cabernet from the Stags Leap area of California with a steak!
My wife and I have been into Pinot Noirs lately, and have settled on Oregon as producing some of the best domestically. Drilling down even further, the whole cluster Pinots, such as this one:
are really our favorites. The entire cluster of grapes, including the stems, are thrown into fermentation. This produces a richer, deeper, smoother wine and also, interestingly enough, reduces the alcohol content which improves the overall flavor (and you can drink more!
I hope to come here often. We drink a little wine every day, and love to try new ones.
If you want a Pinot that tastes nearly like a Zin, try Meomi. Price is anywhere from $15-20, but it is so good.
As a treat for a special occasion, for you Zinfandel lovers look for wines from The Prisoner Winery:
https://www.theprisonerwinecompany.com/index.cfm?
We've tried the Prisoner (pricey at around $45) and Saldo ($26 ). Both are some of the best wine we've ever tasted. The legs on the glass after swirling are many, so the alcohol content is high. But I can only afford one bottle, so that's OK.
As with cigars, a good wine is any wine you like.
EC:
Every summer I was home, we'd load the kids in the car the Friday night that school ended and head off to the south of Italy to see the in-laws. It's a 1500 mile trip (1500.7 miles, door to door, in fact) by our route, so we'd have two stops en route.
Stop one was in the Saone valley in France. We had friends with a hotel/restaurant there, in a little town called Tournus in the heart of Burgundy, that we would always stay in. Marilise and Christophe (guy had a Michelin star, FFS) would shut the restaurant for the night and we'd catch up over a brilliant meal and about a gallon of the local red - Beaujolais Macon. It's one which is better aged for several years and is so ridiculously rich you can almost cut the bouquet.
The following day, it'd be through the mountains to the Valle d'Aosta. We'd often stop at Susa or Oulx, but in later years (when the kids were big enough to sit in the car for the extra 2 hours) we'd stop just outside Asti for the night. The wife would dive eagerly into a glass of the spumante. Me - a Barolo first, to unwind from the drive, then a couple of glasses of Barbera with the best damned steak outside of Texas.
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