Monthly Archives: February 2013

My apologies for the long silence, but illness left me running to hit deadlines. Then I had to fly to Frankfurt yesterday evening to present Billy Wagner of the Rutz wine bar in Berlin (pictured above at the WineVibes parts … Continue reading →

I wish you’d been in the Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg wine bar Weinstein yesterday evening for the mind-blowing tasting of Rieslings from the 2010 and 2011 vintages from Clemens Busch (above) in Pünderich/Mosel. I can’t remember ever experiencing a more impressive tasting … Continue reading →

Amongst red wines Pinot Noir is all those things which Riesling is for white wine, not least amongst them being the combination of intensity and delicacy. This kept going through my mind yesterday at the 10th anniversary celebration of the … Continue reading →

Here is Thomas Struck, director of the Culinary Cinema program of the Berlinale Film Festival relaxing after the end of yesterday evening’s world premier of the movie ‘Red Obsession’ in Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau and the dinner which followed in the mirror … Continue reading →

These Riesling vineyards are in the Clare Valley of South Australia, which on paper is warmer than the Barossa Valley. To find out how that works read on… No numbers are more fundamental to winegrowing than heat summations. These numbers (there … Continue reading →

The idea of winegrowing in Hamburg probably seems pretty crazy. Isn’t Germany a cool place and surely Northern Germany is even cooler, maybe even actually cold in comparison to the winegrowing regions further south in the country? In the seminar … Continue reading →

Great Riesling from Slovakia? These were not the first impressive Rieslings I ever tasted from Slovakia (that was the 2001 Château Béla), but the three 2011s I tasted yesterday evening from the Elesko Winery close to Modra, a short drive … Continue reading →

Of course, drinking good Riesling from one of Germany’s 13 wine growing regions is only one way of gazing deep into the German soul. Another way is to seek out a serious Torte such as this Schwarzwälderkirschtorte made by my mother-in-law … Continue reading →