Weekend in the Ahr

Just back from a quick wine tasting tour of the Ahr, with wine friend Berry (a Spätburgunder afficionado). Two objectives: to taste as many good pinots as possible and to check what places would make good visits for a "Brabantse Wijnsociëteit" trip to the area in spring next year.

We left Tilburg on Saturday around 8 AM, to find ourselves tasting at around 10:30 at the Maibachfarm shop in downtown Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler. The Früh- rather than the Spätburgunder turned out to be best. After some coffee and pie, J.J. Adeneuer was next on the list. This house has, according to the guides (Eichelmann and Gault Millau) improved greatly over the last few years and is now in the "Spitze" of German wines estates. I was looking forward to tasting their Walporzheimer Gärkammer wines, but found their "No. 1" (both wines € 22) without vineyard designation just a bit more approachable. The Gärkammer Grosses Gewächs from 2007 (€ 54) had already been opened a week ago and was thus not showing well.

From Adeneuer we went west into the valley. First a stop at Kriechel. This was a rather busy (locals popping in for one or two weekend bottles) bar-style sales room. Again, we prefered the Frühburgunder, labeled "B" for barrique. On to Deutzerhof for what I guess was the best tasting of the trip. Tasting here takes place in a conservatory, overlooking the steep and impressive vineyard amphitheater that is the Mayschosser Mönchberg. Some wines had gluey aromas, something I mainly associate with Italian wines, and low and behold, the owner compared them (the Dornfelder that is) to Dolcetto. We tasted quite a few other varieties too - Riesling, Früh- and Spätburgunder, Portugieser. I really liked the Grosses Gewächs, the 2006 Mayschosser Mönchberg. Not exactly a steal at € 48 but a wine that combined some serious stuffing with an astonishing freshness of the fruit, that according to the owner would not change for a couple more years - and obviously, then would make way for more complex flavors.

We ate dinner at the restaurant of Meyer-Näkel, like Adeneuer and Deutzerhof one of the big names here, and stayed the night at Kreuzberg.

Next morning started with a tasting at Kreuzberg itself. The surprise here was a blanc de noirs, a very crisp and clean white wine. The red wines were OK, too, our favorite wine being a single vineyard Neuenahrer Schieferlay pinot (€ 14). Speaking of "pinot": we learned that in some years' time German wine labels will change significantly as the result of new European laws no longer permitting "Spätburgunder" but requesting that "Pinot Noir" be used. Riesling wil still be "Riesling", luckily.

A quick visit to the oldest cooperative in the world, the Mayschoss-Altenahr Winzergenossenschaft, to buy some Sekt, ended our trip. Definitely fun, instructive and let's see what our fellow wine club members think this spring!

Central Otago Pinot?

Just before the end of the academic year received word of the Unit 1 course work assignment: passed it with merit. So now indeed only two more exams to go: Sparkling Wines in november, unit 1 (Global Business of Alcoholic Beverages) case study this spring?

Some confusion with regards to the unit 3 tasting exam of Jan last. In the "guess the varietal" flight, I missed out on this being pinot noir, mainly because of the very dark (almost completely opaque, I thought) third wine, a very full-bodied, stewed fruit wine, which turned out to be, according to the WSET key, the Mount Difficulty Pinot Noir from Central Otago (NZ). I managed to get two bottles of the 2007 (the exam wine was the 2006) and low and behold: a completely different experience! Still good, as the one in the exam, but contrary to that one, very recognizable as pinot noir. Did the first two pinot noirs (not terribly good wines) make the third one seem bigger then it was? Still: how then to account for the opaqueness of the latter?

Maybe you can help. Anyone out there that knows these wines and has tasted both the 2006 and the 2007 vintage?

another unit down, 2 or 3 to go

Received word of the Unit 6 (Fortified Wines) exam. Passed Tasting (pass) and theory (w/ distinction), making for an overall score of w/ merit, which is more or less as I expected. Even though this is yet another confirmation I may not be the world's finest taster, given my very limited exposure to things like sherry, madeira and port I am not disappointed.

The wait for the result of the Unit 1 Course Work Assignment is on, should take another two months at most. Sparkling wines in November, unit 1 exam next spring?

Taste-off Wijnsociëteit

As if passing Unit 3 wasn't enough good news, earlier this week I won the annual tasting competition of one of the wine clubs I am a member of. I guess I "stole" just a few points for most wines, with the exception of the very first one, which I "recognized" as a 1er Cru Chablis, earning almost the max score (correctly identifying the producer also gets you, but not me in this case) some points.

The wine cooler in the picture has the names of the winners engraved and will be mine to keep for the next year. I won't be able to win again then, as the winner is also the organizer of the next edition. Also in the picture: Paul (#3), Kees (3-time winner, has the cooler named after him), David (#2) and Nello (last year's winner and organizer of this tasting).

Passed Unit 3

Turns out I did in fact pass Unit 3, tasting as well as theory! Wow, this feels great, unit 3 being "the big one" with 300 study hours allocated to it. This really makes the prospect of obtaining the Diploma much more of a reality.

This weekend will pick up work on the Course Work Assignment for Unit 1. Then in November the exam for Unit 5 (Sparkling wines), then the case study for Unit 1 (Business of Wine). And 9 more weeks of waiting for the result for Unit 6 (Fortified). Did well on the theory and well enough on tasting there, I feel ...

Mmmmm ... unit 3. I think I messed up the first series of 6 wines (didn't indentify the region of the first flight as Loire, which should have been obvious given it was off-dry Vouvray, grassy Sauvignon Blanc and CO2-ey Muscadet; flight 2 was about identifying the grape variety and I picked grenache, which was actually pinot noir; made mental note to try and get my hands on some Central Otago pinot noir ...)

Other 2 flights of 3 went much better. So did theory, surprisingly, since I'd only studied for some two weeks. I am not counting on anything, though. The examiners are particularly nasty in wanting many, many details about Maipu, Cotes de Provence rosé, the (continued?) commercial success of pinot grigio etc. So nothing left but to wait 10 weeks for the results.

March: next exam on Fortified Wines, April: course work assignment on waste reduction, energy conservation in the wine and spirits industry. "Keeps me off the streets" as they say here.