Thursday 28 October 2010

Schloss Vollrads - glass stopped gold

This Rheingau Riesling was a beautiful colour - I described it as 'thin gold', my partner used the word 'urine'. 
As it says on the label this was dry. But it had a good grapey flavour. 
Oddly it has a glass stopper under the foil. What's that about? 

Saturday 16 October 2010

Kloster Eberbach

German reds are unfamiliar in the UK but this Pinot Noir from Hesse is a good example of why we should be drinking more. If you enjoy New World Pinots then this dry red with a lovely berry taste might suit. It's from a vinyard near the Eberbach Abbey where Name of The Rose was filmed. Rather more romantic than Frankfurt Airport where I bought this.

Friday 8 October 2010

Swiss Rolle

This is a very Swiss wine so it was appropriate that I drank it on the terrace of the European Broadcasting Union's HQ in Geneva with a fine view of Mont Blanc. This Mont Sur Rolle comes from the shores of Lake Geneva and is made from the Chasselas grape, believed to originate in Switzerland.
It's a wine that reflects Switzerland's make-up. It's fruity but not as sweet or rich as a German wine. It's dry but not as crisp as a good French Alsace, for example. And it has something slightly eccentric about it like some of those more obscure north Italian varietals. A little too sweet for my taste but very good drinking in the autumn sunshine and, I am told, with fondue.