Last year’s holiday was sun, sea and sand – and a lot of lounging around. This year, it was time for a change and off to Germany to see some vines. The Mosel may be short on sea and sand but it is certainly not lacking in dramatic scenery. This has got to be one of the world’s most beautiful wine regions: carpets of vines extend for miles on vertiginous slopes so steep it seems madness to plant on them. There are vineyards in the most unlikely places – sometimes even just a few rows of vines between chunks of rock. You would earn yourself an evening glass of Riesling as a vineyard worker here!

The tour started in the Ruwer, at Maximin Grunhaus. The myth that all Germans speak perfect English was here resoundingly shattered as it emerged the winemaker spoke almost none at all. My GCSE German being somewhat rusty, it was fortunate that I had a translator in tow in the form of my husband; and more fortunate still (given his limited skill, grateful though I was for it), that the wines pretty much spoke for themselves. These wines came from contiguous vineyards on the sunny hillside opposite the winery, from several distinctive terroirs. The Herrenberg wines have a mineral, and slightly savoury character; while the Abtsberg vineyard gives more fruit and weight. We tasted the 2009s –– and if proof were needed that exceptional ripeness was achievable in this excellent vintage, this came in the final wine of the tasting: an Eiswein with 242g/l residual sugar (and only 7% abv). It was supremely concentrated, with a seemingly endless finish. There are wines in Germany that are like nothing else in the world.

The first stop in the Mosel proper was Reinhold Haart. From their unprepossessing premises in a row of houses beside the river, you would not guess that this is not only the star of Piesport but also one of the top estates of the whole region. From their 4.5ha in the renowned Goldtropfchen vineyard come wines of exceptionally purity and expression. Piesport is supposed to be about power but this is power of a restrained sort – underpinning everything else. After the 09s was a blind tasting which turned out to be 97 and 98 Spatlese from the Wintricher Ohligsberg (a smaller and consequently less famous vineyard than Goldtropchen, though unfairly so, if this tasting was anything to go by). They were fresh and vibrant – I would have put them at 5 years old, not over 10. I came away determined to age more of my Riesling.

Moving north, Dr Loosen is based just past Bernkastel. This is the place to go to learn about the differences between terroirs in the Mosel: Ernie Loosen has holdings in Wehlen, Graach, Bernkastel, Urzig and Erden, and makes textbook examples of each. The top wine here was the unquestionably the Erdener Pralat – the ‘heart’ of Erden as it is known – intense, concentrated, and long. But Dr Loosen makes excellent wines across the board; and wines that are approachable and food friendly. You could do a lot worse than Blue Slate trocken 2009 for a house Riesling.

It is not a long drive from Mosel to Rheingau but the landscape changes noticeably; as to do the wines. The Rhine itself is broader and busier, the villages are bigger and more bustling, and the vineyards and wines more varied. First stop was Robert Weil’s impeccably well-kept estate in Kiedrich. There are three single vineyards here, Grafenberg (finesse and depth), Turmberg (fuller and fruitier) and Klosterberg (lighter and more elegant). Grafenberg clearly stands out but the other two are also pretty impressive given that they have only recently been replanted – and it will be interesting to see what they produce in 5 or 10 years’ time. There is a policy here to exceed the maximum must weight at each level to ensure extreme concentration. These are rich and powerful wines, built to last.

The house style at Prinz von Hessen could not be more different: it is one of freshness, purity and elegance. Dr Clemens Kiedricher, a former professor at Geisenheim, is a thoughtful winemaker and one of enlightened views: his concern is very much with making wines that people want to drink. The wine that says this best is perhaps the estate’s Riesling “H”; fresh, ripe and clean, as approachable and easy to drink as Riesling gets, but without losing varietal character. The tasting started here and moved to the Johannisberger Klaus Erstes Gewachs (Klaus means monastery apparently) and the Winkeler Hasensprung Spatelese. The flagship wine here though is the Dachsfilet, which comes from a parcel of the estate’s oldest vines in the unclassified Dachsberg vineyard, one of the highest and coolest vineyards in the Rheingau. This altitude gives aromatic complexity while the favourable aspect and steepness of the slope ensure the grapes ripen fully. Unusually, a portion of the grapes are left in contact with skins before fermentation, giving texture and depth. The 2009 was excellent but needs time; a trocken that can and should age.

Wines of the trip -

Assmanshausen Hollerberg Spatburgunder Krone 2006 – a pinot that easily rivals many a premier cru Burgundy. It may not have the ageability (this was already quite evolved) but it certainly has the finesse.  I liked it a lot, and was very excited to meet the man who made it – totally by chance, the following day at another winery where he now works.

Wehlener Sonnenuhr Auslese Dr Loosen 1994 – concentrated, but supremely balanced. This vineyard is all about understated chic: never showy, never over the top, just elegant, full stop.

Winkeler Hasensprung Riesling Spatlese Prinz von Hessen 2009 – an elegant, light style of Spatlese. Not hard work at all – you can imagine it working in many contexts. Terrific value too.

August Kesseler Riesling Beerenauslese 2006 – rich, honeyed and slightly smoky. Powerful and sticky – which is surely what you want from a beerenauslese – but without being over the top.

Wintricher Ohligsberg Reinhold Haart 1997 – I don’t particularly like fruit terms to describe wine but if ever a wine tasted of lemons this was it – no other word would be possible. Very fresh, and beautifully textured.

It was a good holiday indeed!

In keeping with last week’s post by Gareth, which highlighted the genius blog that is Chateau Petrogasm – describing wines with images, amazing, I love it! – I thought I would bring you this week’s wine of the week  in the Chateau’s fantastic style. A little homage to the Petrogasm team.

Catena Alta Cabernet Sauvignon 2005

I’ve been on a non stop cookathon this weekend. It finished with a sensational lamb curry produced from scratch in a couple of hours. The trick is to roast and crush your own spices.

Serves 4

Garam Marsala -

A sprinkle of the following into a large saucepan.

Coriander Seeds
Cardamom Pods
Cloves
Black Peppercorns
Blade Mace

Toss these in the pan until hints of smoke appear, then crush in a machine until a powder is formed.

The Curry -

Ingredients -

2 Lamb fillets
1 Large onion
1 leek
5 cloves garlic
2 or 3 red chillies
Tomato puree
2 Romano peppers
4 ripe tomatoes
½ pint Sauvignon Blanc
¼ Pint Dry Amontillado OLD Sherry
A good chunk of fresh ginger
Fenugreek
Cinnamon
Olive oil
Redcurrant jelly

The Method -

Chop all the ingredients. Add some olive oil to a large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, chilli with or without seeds, and red pepper – fry gently until just before the onion is coloured. Add the leek and the Garam Masala, cinnamon, fenugreek and chopped ginger. Continue simmering until all amalgamated.

Add the chopped/cubed lamb fillet (you can use cooked meat. I’ve combined lamb and pork belly with lardons for a very interesting result). When the meat’s coloured, add the chopped tomatoes, the tomato puree, white wine and Sherry, and transfer to an oven at 325 degrees F (that’s about 160 degrees C for those who use metric), cover and cook for one hour.

Remove from the oven and check the liquid. You may need to add a bit more wine, sherry and water. Add a large dollop of redcurrant jelly. Cook for a further hour when the lamb should be tender. Serve with rice or just as good/better creamy mash.

Drink with a sturdy southern French/Spanish Grenache based red, or a plump full on New World red. A touch of sweetness is perfect. YUM!

If you like this, check out Willie’s previous recipe blog post, the Extra Hot Chilli Redcurrant Jelly – great with barbequed Lamb and Steak.

Commitments to environmental and ethical issues have come to the forefront of business strategy over the last few years, with Corporate Social Responsibility a key area for company investment.   Whether you feel these issues are important in the wine industry, or indeed whether eco-friendly wine production would influence the average consumer’s next wine purchase – many wine producers around the world believe in its importance, and are making big changes to production in order to do their bit for mother nature – and we salute them!

From reducing carbon emissions, the introduction of lightweight bottles, priorities on the health of workers, plus pest and wildlife management schemes -  the tides have turned in the production of wine around the world.  Going ever greener can surely only be a good thing for the wine industry.   So to do your bit for this greener movement, support those wineries who invest in such important issues and give a big thumbs up to eco-friendly and sustainable wine production.

One such company that is giving these issues the time they deserve is South African producer, SAAM.   Ethical and biodiversity commitments are important issues for the producer, as they work hard to build a legacy in the Paarl area, while preserving the land as much as possible.  In addition to its 3,000ha of vineyards, it has 1000ha which are made up of wetlands, sand and mountainous areas – all adding to creating a stable natural environment and promoting further biodiversity in the region.

SAAM has also recently been awarded the Seal of Sustainability by Wines of South Africa, and as part of the IPW (Integrated Production of Wine), a voluntary environmental sustainability scheme established by the South African wine industry in 1998, SAAM has been audited and entitled to use the seal from its 2010 vintage as a guarantee to sustainable winemaking practices. The winery will be audited every year by the Wine and Spirit Board to make sure that sustainable practices remain in place all year round.   I am a firm believer that schemes such as this will over time enrich the winemaking process, pushing wine making standards ever higher, while of course protecting the all important local environment.

Always keen to increase its green credentials, and decrease its carbon footprint, SAAM are also introducing lightweight bottles across their range.  The current SAAM bottle weighs 460g when empty, whereas the new bottle will be 60g lighter, coming in at 400g when empty.  This 60g reduction per bottle will enable a decrease of 1,058.4 kg per container, saving an amazing 8 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year!

I think you will agree initiatives such as these are fantastic additions to the world of wine.  An increase in importance of environmental and ethical wine production, packaging and distribution across the globe, would be welcomed by many international wine markets.

Like SAAM, Bibendum views its impact on the environment as hugely important, and we work hard to minimize our carbon footprint in every aspect of the business.  Our green team is called Vivid, and the team works hard overseeing all our green intiatives.  Find out more on our Vivid page, plus read some of our previous Vivid blog posts – Bibendum’s Vivid team lead the green revolution and Carbon Zero wine production at Huia Vineyards.

BBQ opportunities on our beloved rain soaked island are few and far between, so if you’re going to do it, make every effort to do it properly!  Doing it properly can of course be affected by many factors, from meat, fish and veg selection, salads and accompaniments, pre BBQ beers, and importantly, wine selection.  However, what I discovered on a recent trip to Bordeaux is these variables are indeed important, and must be selected with care, but will come to very little unless you cook over the correct materials!

‘Materials’ however may be a bit of an ambiguous choice of words for something so important, and I guess the Bordelais would use nothing else for their al fresco cooking, the somewhat obvious choice to many from wine producing regions – Vines!  I’m sure they would read this with surprise at my excitement surrounding the ‘Vine BBQ’, to them this BBQ taste sensation must be quite mundane.  However for us, a pasty group of wine loving English, the ‘Vine BBQ’ was a revelation.

We were staying just outside the small town of Créon, set within the Entre-Deux-Mers region at a small English family run property, Chateau Bauduc.  The owners, Gavin and Angela Quinney, have a fantastic old farmhouse set within the vineyard which is available to rent.  A great place for a relaxing, wine based trip – thoroughly recommended.  Chateau Bauduc produces a selection of superb wines; brilliant examples of how Bordeaux can produce a delicious  everyday wine.

Check out Chateau Bauduc’s website for details on both their wines and the farmhouse.

Now, onto the BBQ.  Gavin had given us a recommendation of a local butcher who’s Cote de Boeuf was apparently ‘as good as it gets’.  With such a positive recommendation, we decided to do the BBQ right, and brought three stonking slabs of Bordeaux’s finest boeuf (I think the photo does the meat justice in showing its quality).  Next step we assumed would be the coals – ‘don’t need them’ we were told, as we were presented with a basket of gnarly old Merlot vines for use as fire wood.

As we began our now Vine BBQ, it became obvious how perfect these vines were as fire wood, catching immediately, and creating some serious heat – perfect for our awaiting slabs of Cow!  However the revelation was the taste these vines imparted on the meat, everybody was truly amazed at the unbelievable flavour.   The meat was fantastic, but the vines had left a smokey flavour which had sweetness to it, not unlike a hickory smoked BBQ sauce, but in a subtle and unique way.

No expert on food, I have however tried my fair share of steaks, and these were by far the best I have ever tasted – with unanimous agreement from the whole group.   This must be partly down to the quality meat, but the very subtle, sweet and smokey flavour from the Merlot vines, created the most unique taste, something everyone must try!

Washed down with two Bordeaux classics, Leoville Barton 2004 and Langoa Barton 2001 (affordable ones anyway!), and followed my many bottles of Chateau Bauduc Clos des Quinze 2005, this was indeed a BBQ done properly!  Plus, not forgetting being surrounded by rows and rows of leafy vines, this had to be up there on food and wine experiences.

Whether the Vine BBQ can be recreated easily back in the UK is up for question. Depending on whether vineyards have been grubbing up old vines, summer trips to English wineries may prove successful, failing that an extra piece of luggage on the next trip to Europe will do it!!  Either way, if possible, do make the effort to stock up on some old vines, believe me the unique taste it creates is something special!

After returning from France, I wondered whether it was the varietal of grape that may have given the vine that unique flavour.  Would the varietals most commonly grown in the UK, such as Bacchus, Pinot Blanc, Reichensteiner, Silvaner, Dornfelder and Pinot Noir impart that same smokey sweetness, or was this the characteristic of the old Merlot vines?

Woop! It’s a Bank Holiday weekend.

Boo! It’s the last one until Christmas – and that is officially a long time away.

Nevermind, after last week’s meteorological pessimism, today I have decided the glass is half full.  It’s the end of summer and I want something that tastes of sunshine. I know the Glorious 12th was two weeks ago but I’m not ready for game birds and bread sauce just yet. Surely there’s time for one last summer pudding and barbecued bream this year.

This week’s wine is an attempt to hang on the memory of long, sunny evenings. d’Arenberg’s The Money Spider Roussanne has been my favourite wine from Chester Osborn’s extensive range. Made from the best white grape in the Rhone (sorry, Viognier but Roussanne will always be number 1 to me), it is not an attempt to copy the style of the best white Chateauneuf du Papes, instead it is unashamedly Australian; a baggy green wine that is bright, breezy, fruity and fun.

There’s no oak to get in the way of the aromatic peach, apricot and lemon fruit and Roussanne’s characteristic body adds enough weight and depth for the wine to handle a wide variety of dishes. If you live within striking distance of Clapham Junction, it goes aamzingly well with the fried crispy sea bass with lemongrass, garlic and chilli at AA Gill’s new favourite restaurant, Mien Tay.

It’s not a complex, ageworthy wine to lay down in the cellar. It is a simple, refreshing, delicious wine packed with lip smacking fruit; a ‘buy it – chill it – drink it’ sort of wine. With a bit of luck the sun will put its hat on this weekend and I’ll get to enjoy it while slaving over some hot coals.

They say that a day is a long time in politics. Well imagine thirty long days of politics and you’ll get an idea of how ready Australia has been to vote in the general election. Not just because people want to do their democratic duty, but also so that we are spared any more negative political advertising. Both of the major parties have been flinging mud at each other and Julia Gillard (current female PM, Welsh roots!) and Tony Abbott (popularly know as the ‘Mad Monk’) now resemble exhausted revellers, covered head to toe in Glastonbury’s finest. What we wanted to hear more about was what they are going to do to address certain issues head on. The sad thing for many of Australia’s grape growers and farmers is that they don’t live in marginal constituencies, so they don’t get the attention they deserve. Water is a huge problem and no one is putting forward much of a plan.

Back on more solid ground it’s been a manic month around the wineries. Wither Hills is getting ready to launch its two new single vineyard Pinot Noirs, from the Taylor River and Ben Morven vineyards. Very different in style, they show how Ben Glover and his team have really sought to understood the different terroirs at their disposal. They also reinforce the strength of the proposition of the 2008 Wairau Valley Pinot Noir, which takes fruit from both of those vineyards. It’s a supremely well-judged balancing act that draws some of the feminine charm from Ben Morven and allies it with the power and structure of Taylor River. Ben put on a great show for the Australian media at a couple of beautiful events in Melbourne and Sydney. Multiple vintages of Pinot were matched with fab food from Kiwi chefs Justin North (Becasse, Sydney) and Ben Shewry (Attica, Melbourne). Lucky, lucky journos…….

The major development at St Hallett has been the redevelopment of the cellar door. Over the last couple of months a dramatic metamorphosis has taken place, now bringing the visitor even closer to the workings of the winery and the production process. It has also been put back together with as much reclaimed and original material as possible, including some ironstone that came from the Lindner family, who originally founded St Hallett. Winemakers Stuart Blackwell and Toby Barlow continue to criss-cross the globe and Australia, spreading the word and playing the odd game of golf. The reception for the new reds: Old Block Shiraz 2007, Blackwell Shiraz 2008 and Garden of Eden Shiraz 2008 has been exceptional, so hats off to those guys and their team. Good to see that Old Block 2002 went down a treat at the Wine Communicators of Australia Twitter tasting in Sydney, Melbourne and London.

You can actually keep up with them pretty easily. Stuart can be founding tweeting now at all times of day and night. You can follow him at @Stuart_Off_Par and Toby at @BacchusBarlow. Meanwhile, Ben Glover’s really got into it as well…plenty of good stuff coming from @WitherHillsWine. Make them work for it people…may your tweets keep them on their toes!

Meanwhile back here in suburban Surry Hills I’ve just about figured out how not to go broke EVERY month. The culinary masterpieces have been appearing in our kitchen rather than on expensive looking restaurant plates. Still so many cracking Sydney restaurants to try out but must be patient. Chef Mark Best and his restaurant, Marque (67th and ‘One to Watch’ in the San Pellegrino Best in the World List) are only just around the corner though and their siren calls are hard to ignore…

Our House white has been the stunning Knappstein 2009 Hand Picked Riesling…I reckon the best value Rizza in the nation. Also been looking at a bit of Blaufrankisch, or ‘Franky as it’s known locally. At a dinner out with Petaluma winemaker, Andrew Hardy, we tried a bottle and now we can’t seem to give it the slip…it’s popping up everywhere! Don’t expect to see it planted in Petaluma vineyards any time soon! Speaking of Mr Hardy, I caught up with him at the Coonawarra Roadshow earlier this week in Sydney. The Petaluma table was absolutely mobbed all evening, with 380 thirsty tasters through the door. The 2007 Coonawarra and 2008 100 Line Cabernet were both looking spectacular…as was the amazingly complex 1992 Merlot – a rare treat.

Sportswatch
The AFL season is drawing to its bruising conclusion and it looks like a Collingwood-Geelong stroll to the final. Rugby league is at the same stage. Some big blokes have run into some other big blokes and everyone’s fallen on the floor. Someone will win…not sure who. In cricket Ricky Ponting has executed the “Glenn McGrath” manoeuvre and has predicted a 5-0 whitewash. Only one problem with that mate…Glenn McGrath ain’t playing any more. Not a chance without him. My sofa is now all booked up for the Sydney test…though still some space available on the floor.

Chateau Petrogasm featured on the old Bibendum blog a long time ago but I had forgotten how good it was until recently when someone sent me a link. It reminded me that it really is one of my favourite wine blogs. I thought it would be worth plugging it again.

The concept is brilliantly simple: rather than using words to describe a wine, it uses pictures. It makes me wonder if language is the best way to describe a wine after all and why we don’t explore other ways of communicating about wine.

Not everyone I know agrees. I once raved about the site to a friend, getting over excited about using one sense (sight) to describe the sensation of another (taste). She thought I was being hideously pretentious. But then she sails around the globe promoting world peace so has a tendency to see talking about booze as a trifle frivolous.

Anyway, here are a couple of my favourite recent posts from the Chateau:

2007 Chappellet Vineyard Mountain Cuvée

And just to contrast…

2007 Château de la Négly Coteaux du Languedoc La Clape La Falaise

Which would you prefer to serve up with your Saturday night steak? Do you fancy glamour and sex appeal or dark, brooding and moody?

One of the great things about Petrogasm is that its enlightened founders have opened up the site for submissions. So if halfway through tasting an ice cold Picpoul de Pinet you are struck with an image from David Attenborough’s The Blue Planet, you can share it with the world.

Keep up the good work, fellas.

http://chateaupetrogasm.com/

I’d make a rubbish restaurant review blogger. For a start, I’m useless with a camera and always feel embarrased when I do take photos in restaurants. I just feel bad stopping my friends from diving in to their scallops starter while I snap away merrily. All of which is my excuse for illustrating this post with a photo nicked for Odette’s website rather than plates of beautiful food. Apologies.

Anyway, Odettes.

Odettes is a Primrose Hill institution with a history stretching back to 1978. It was Bibendum’s first ever trade customer and Bibendumites have been trooping up their for lunch for most of the 28 years we have been located down the road. In recent years, the quality of that lunch has taken a big step forward.

Former Great British Menu winner, Bryn Williams (my third favourite Welshman after Gethin Jenkins and Bryn’s namesake Shane) bought Odettes three years ago and has quietly turned it into one of London’s best neighbourhood restaurants. The food is complex with being tricksy with clean flavours and impeccable execution. The wine list has much to recommend it too – although I would say that as a number of bottles come from Bibendum’s cellars.

Last week, a few of us popped in to say goodbye to a budding Henry Holland who is off to seek fame, fortune and frites in Belgium. I started with quail, the breasts cooked perfectly, the legs slow cooked, chopped and mixed with blue cheese in a mini-toasted sandwich. A slick of deep green broccoli puree sat alongside. The flavours were as gutsy and loud as the presentation was elegant.

The main course was slow cooked pig cheeks, that offered no resistance to the fork, perched on lemony polenta with ribbons of two-tone courgettes and another slick of colour. This time it was an autumnal reddish brown. We never quite established what it was made out of – we were too busy discussing avant garde fashion design to ask the maitre ‘d – but the best guess suggested tomato and cumin may have been involved at some point. Anyway, it was delicious, Bryn’s deft hand keeping what could have become a heavy, wintry dish actually quite light and lunchy.

Two courses at lunch costs £14. £18 if you add in dessert. A preposterous amount for such refined cooking. A bottle of Corbieres Chateau St Eugene nudged our bill a mite over £20 each. Today’s lunchtime cheese and pickle sandwich will pale in comparison.

Looking for a more thorough, beautifully-photographed review of Odettes from someone who writes a lot more of these things than I do? Check out the always excellent London Eater blog.

The details:

Odettes, 130 Regents Park Road, London, NW1 8XL

www. odettesprimrosehill.com

020 7586 8569

Closed Mondays

It was melanzane parmigiana that started it. A simple tweet telling the world what I was having for dinner (the world was clearly on tenterhooks waiting to find out) led to a conversation with Chiara Martinotti from Cascina Gilli in Piedmont. Chiara was also about to eat the world’s finest aubergine, tomato and mozzarella based dish and recommended a vivace red as the perfect accompaniment.

The only problem was I didn’t have the faintest idea what Chiara was talking about.

She patiently explained that vivace is a style of lightly sparkling wine, not as bubbly as a frizzante or spumante, but ever so gently frothy. The style is apparently very popular in Piedmont where the underrated Freisa grape is often used to produce a simple, undemanding, off-dry wine . Chiara went on to explain that Cascina Gilli take the style more seriously than most, believing it has more to offer than just fun, fruity, frippery – and would I like to try a bottle?

Would I? Hell yeah.

Cascina Gilli’s Freisa d’Asti Luna di Maggio 2009 is made from their finest Freisa grapes and is fermented dry in the same way as the estate’s still red wines. Just before bottling (in the May following the harvest) a small amount of sweet wine is added to allow the wine to referment and for the winery to capture some carbon dioxide in the wine.

Unlike an Aussie sparkling Shiraz, the wine doesn’t explode with bright purple bubbles as you pour it into in the glass, instead it pops and fizzes quietly. The first sip is odd, the bubbles take you slightly by surprise. Underneath the CO2 is an intense, bitter-edged red with ever-so-slightly firm tannins, bright acidity and savoury black olive and wild hedgerow fruit but the fizz distracts you from its depth giving it terrific lift and energy.

As we approached the end of the bottle, we wondered why there weren’t more wines like this. Once the initial surprise has subsided, and the third glass drunk, it made perfect sense that a dry, structured Italian red should be fizzy, especially when paired with a rich, oily dish such as melanzane parmigiana.

Will the style catch on? Probably not, but the world of wine is all the richer for bottles like this and they deserve a much wider audience.

The Freisa grape itself is fascinating – one of Piedmont’s unsung heroes – and if you want to know more read Winewomansong’s fabulous blog post on the subject.