Kuhlmann-Plate Riesling 2015

Having a Chinese takeaway? not sure what wine to drink with it, why not try a Riesling and this Kuhlmann- Plate from the Alsace region of France may well fit the bill.

Now I’m not a great lover of Chinese food although my wife is, so I do give in now and then and I do like to have a nice bottle of something with it normally Riesling so I always have a bottle in the fridge on stand by.

This particular bottle I first tasted at my local Majestic store and seemed to be going down well with most who were trying it, so I bought a couple to try at home.

First let me say that this bottle is not going to blow anyone away its just a nice French Alsace which is perfect for the multitude of flavours associated with any Asian dish, in my opinion it’s not worth spending too much on an expensive Riesling for a Friday night take away but this bottle just seemed to do the job well.

Well chilled , this was a pale golden colour in the glass with aromas of nectarines, lemons and peaches. On first sip it was bright and acidic but with a slightly sweet finish, green apples, lemons and peaches to the fore with a honeyed edge.

This is a very enjoyable Riesling on its own, or in this case with a Chinese take way and it did cope with all the different sweet, spicy and sour flavours thrown at it admirably.

Why don’t I like Chinese food? well, in most cases it gives me a bit of a headache or head rush and no it’s not the wine. So maybe its a bit unfair to say I don’t like it maybe it just doesn’t like me.

The wine I would recommend as a no fuss reasonably priced Riesling and I enjoyed it.

My Rating 7.5 / 10 Corks

Majestic around £8.99

Morrisons Riesling Auslese Mosel 2012

Germany 8%

I’ll keep this review short, my son picked this up for me while shopping in Morrisons, not really knowing what he was buying only that he knows I like Riesling and more importantly it was on special offer. The bottle itself is fairly non-descript and the wine although fairly one dimensional and simple it was surprisingly enjoyable.

This was supposed to be semi sweet and it was, you really needed to drink this well chilled as it started to get a little sickly and cloying as it got warmer. Looked nice enough in the glass fairly bright straw like colour with a nose of honey and lemons but in the background if you took a big enough sniff there was a hint of puncture repair kit.

When really cold, first sip was very pleasant, a mouthful of sherbet lemons hits you first along with apricots and maybe some peach. It was fairly sweet but it didn’t feel to sickly especially really cold and it was nice and light on alcohol coming in at 8%.

Overall, nice enough, easy to drink, nothing complex, nothing to really dislike about it unless you don’t like wines on the sweet side. I don’t know how much my son paid for it but knowing him and the bargain hunter he is it must have been fairly cheap but it was an nice gesture and it was an ok simple wine.

My Rating 6/10 Corks

Pernod Ricard UK – Winter Wonderland

Always nice to have a bite to eat and a few drinks over a Christmas period even better when the Co-leader in the Wines & Spirits sector worldwide Pernod Ricard asked me if I would like to attend their annual ‘Christmas Media Lunch’, not something I would normally be expected to get an invite for but a couple of weeks ago to my surprise, there it was sitting in my inbox.

At 12.15pm on the 4th December I apprehensively but excitedly made my way out of Gunnersbury station and made the short journey across the road to Chiswick Park Building 12, wondering why a humble amateur wine blogger would be invited to this prestigious event at the new swanky offices of Pernod Ricard UK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Warmly greeted at the door I was escorted to the floor that had been transformed into a brilliantly white (should have brought my snow goggles) Winter Wonderland. A small crowd had already gathered mostly around the bar, where the bartenders were furiously making all kinds of exotic cocktails made with Pernod Ricard’s vast array of spirits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Three Reserve Rieslings including the brilliant 2003 on the right

I was given a Rum cocktail drink which on first sip very nice but having realised that my first passion is wine I was quickly whisked off to the Wine tasting room for a pre lunch private tasting ( well, I was the only one in the tasting room at that time as everybody else was still hitting the cocktails) of Jacob’s Creek Rieslings and Cabernet Sauvignons where Anthony Gordon their Knowledgeable and friendly Wine Development Executive took me through some impressive back vintages of both Riesling and Cabernets, the absolute stars for me was the 2003 Reserve Riesling and the 2002 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, a lovely start to the afternoon.

Three Cabernet Sauvignon Reserves including my favourite 2002

Lunch was served around 1.30pm and keeping in theme the tables were set with another winter backdrop which was like sitting in the Artic (only a lot warmer) kept looking under the tables expecting penguins to suddenly appear. For starters we were served Sea Bass, main dish of Smoked Venison and a chocolate and Honeycomb dessert. The wines to accompany the superb food was Brancott Estate Sauvignon Gris 2014, Jacob’s Creek Shiraz and a GH Mumm Rose Champagne. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During coffee we were treated to a glass of the new Martell Cordon Bleu Extra Old cognac (I was told it would probably retail at £100 +), lovely end to the meal.

All in all this was a very nice way to spend a cold afternoon in December, a big thanks to the guys at Pernod Ricard for the  invite, the warm welcome and the brilliant food and of course wine, capped off by a generous gift of a bottle of Club Havana Rum., to see through the winter nights.

My Rating 8.5/10 Corks

 

 

 

 

 

Darting Estate Dürkheimer Michelsberg Riesling 2012

Germany 12.5%

I’m really becoming a big fan of German wines from especially from M&S including their fabulous Palataia Pinot Noir and now this lively, spritzy and crisp  ‘Darting Estate Dürkheimer Michelsberg Riesling’. So it’s time to slip on the Lederhosen and Alpine hat for a quick taste of Germany in the shape of this pretty decent dry white wine.

Aromatically this has a brilliant nose of peaches, honeydew melon, orange peel and pineapple but still has that oily rubbery petrol smell (which actually smells a lot better than it sounds).

First taste this was dry, crisp, tangy and had a spritzy finish almost like having a mouthful of ‘Space Dust’ which at first was a little unusual. Ripe Honeydew melon, peaches and pineapple were all there with perhaps a touch of honey. Although this was fairly dry there was a hint of sweetness on the finish.

So for me, another great German find, one I would recommend with or without food even with the spritzy finish this is a very good ( Sehr Gut ) Riesling.

My Rating 8.5/10 Corks

Marks & Spencer £9.49

Another Ripper from Tim Adams

Australia 11%

A chilled bottle of Tim Adams Riesling has been sitting in my fridge now for a while, just my luck when I finally decided to have it with lunch the weather changes, the temperature drops and the heavens open but from the minute I twisted the cap and poured the first glass full I could have been transported to the other side of the world, sitting having lunch in a Clare Valley vineyard in brilliant sunshine.

In the glass, very, I mean very pale colour with a lively and very inviting aroma of predominantly lemon and apples but still with a hint of petrol.

Taste wise, Very dry, zingy, crisp and steely, with refined acidity. As well as lemons there was a bit more tropical fruit flavour noticeable and at 11% it was very easy, perhaps a little too easy to drink.

This really was a pretty decent Aussie wine from the ever reliable Tim Adams, to be honest I’ve not really tasted a bad wine from Tim and having met the man himself at various wine tastings it’s evident how passionate and proud he is about his wines and rightly so.

Good on ya Tim !

My Rating 8/10 Corks

Various around £9

The Society’s Saar Riesling 2012

If someone asked me to describe this wine, the first thoughts that come into my head would be refreshingly vibrant, slightly sweet , floral and pretty, (bit girly , I know) but that just about sums this wine up.

Germany 9.5%

The bottle in question is the Wine Society’s entry level Saar Riesling 2012. Described as Medium /off dry which I would disagree with, for me it was more like medium sweet although the sweetness wasn’t cloying or syrupy but surprisingly fresh and cleansed the palate beautifully.

Initially not too much aroma wise but the bottle was very cold, as the wine warmed up in the glass there was a hint of honey, pears and something flowery (don’t ask me to pin down the flower).

Taste – as I said earlier this was quite sweet with a medium finish. There was a little bit of toffee apple about it, honey lockets but with tingly acidity.

Paired it with Roast Pork and it complemented the dinner perfectly.
Alcohol level of 9.5% meant the bottle could be finished without reaching for the parecetamol.

Entry level it may be but overall it was very enjoyable.

My Rating 7.5/10 Corks

Wine Society £9.50

Peter & Peter Mosel Riesling Trocken 2013

Germany 12.0%

Staring to drink a lot more German wines these days and I have been pretty impressed with most if not all of them.  This Peter & Peter Mosel  Riesling Trocken (dry) made by a family owned company called ‘Zimmermann Graeff & Müller’ (ZGM) under the leadership of chief winemaker Peter Griebeler , (not sure which Peter he is ?) have made a very nice dry fruity and extremely drinkable Riesling.

I always seem to break out a bottle of Riesling when curry is on the menu and this time I’m very glad I did. The curry in question was a homemade Thai –ish chicken curry made by my son who told us it was mild, mild it wasn’t, tasty it was, paired with the wine it was a match made in heaven.

Firstly don’t serve this wine too cold, I did and it definitely tasted better as it warmed up. In the glass it was a lovely golden straw like colour with aromas of apples, lemons, limes, apricots and slightly peachy.  Tasting it on it’s own it hits you with zesty limes that give you that kick of mouth watering acidity, the peaches, apricots and ripe apples then come through a oily coating giving that traditional Riesling taste. It was fairly dry with just a hint of sweetness but it when sipped after a mouthful of aromatic  fiery curry that it really began to shine, complementing the heat and spices like no other drink could.

This was a very good wine for the price and if paired with Asian or Oriental food especially anything spicy it was even better than very good.

One thing I found strange was the bottle cap had a & symbol printed on it, why not P&P (postage and packing, I hear you cry) still found it strange !

My Rating 8.5/10 Corks

Tesco around £7.50