It’s baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack…!

Wines of Germany will be launching their very own TasteLive.com events page, and to celebrate they will be kicking it off with a redux of the on-line live tasting that we’d originally scheduled for the end of October.

I’ll be your blogger co-host for the on-line tasting, which will take place at 8PM ET / 5PM PT on December 3rd.  This event is gonna be good – both upstate New York’s House of Bacchus and Manhattan’s Roger Smith Hotel will be hosting tweet ups for the event, and the wines are all kick-ass Rieslings from four of Germany’s premier Riesling-producing regions. 

These wines all do a great job of representing their place of origin and how the terroir of those areas impact the final flavors of the wine produced there (they’re probably the next best thing to being there yourself):

Selbach-Oster, Riesling, Kabinett, Mosel, 2007/2008

Leitz, Riesling, "Eins Zwei Dry," Rheingau, 2008

Dönnhoff, Riesling, Nahe, 2008

Darting, Riesling, Durkheimer Nonnengarten, Kabinett, Pfalz, 2008

Join me on Dec 3rd, get the word out, and don’t forget to RSVP at TasteLive.com. 

Cheers!

Tonight marks the finale of the month-long salute to German wines taking place at TasteLive. October has more-or-less been “Riesling Month” for me (not that I don’t drink Riesling pretty much every month) in helping to get the word out about the events being hosted by TasteLive and Wines of Germany. 

Tonight’s twitter tasting event, at 8PM ET, is the final October Wines of Germany tasting event and will feature a handful of bloggers tasting through selections of Schloss Reinhartshausen wines from the Rheingau (the region typically home to Germany’s most austere and powerful Rieslings).  There will be one more public TTL event on Dec. 3rd that will feature a sample of Rieslings from various German producers – that’s one where you will be able to join in and taste; more to come on that from both me and the folks over at TasteLive.  For tonight, you’ll be able to follow along with the tasting action at the TasteLive website, or by following the #TTL search term using your favorite twitter client.

Here’s a bit about tonight’s highlighted producer, as lifted from the TasteLive website:

Schloss Reinhartshausen (Reinhartshausen Castle) has been identified with production of rare and majestic German Rieslings since 1337. Schloss Reinhartshausen embraces 15 separate vineyard sites located in the vicinity of the townships of Erbach and Hattenheim. These include a significant portion of the legendary Grand Cru Erbacher Marcobrunn vineyard, as well as the neighboring Erbacher Schlossberg site in its 15-acre entirety.

More on the wines for tonight’s event are below.  Interestingly, the TasteLive website lists a Trockenbeerenauslese among tonight’s selections, and I received an Auslese (more on those terms can be found here).  Not sure which one is correct.  I don’t have any experience with the wines of Schloss Reinhartshausen – the notes below are not my words but have been taken from the importer’s descriptions, so take those with a grain of salt.  Having said that, the descriptions have certainly whet my appetite…

Fountain Blue Riesling 2007

Current Vintage: 2007
Production:
Varietals: Riesling
Appellation: Rheingau
Price Range: $12-$15

Vinification: The early start of a strictly selective harvest on September 24th produced an average yield with amazing must weights. The gentle treatment and a slow and controlled fermentation of the musts led to a fresh, fruity and stimulating wine with a crisp acidity.

Color: Pale lemon yellow.

Bouquet: Lovely aromas of white peaches, apricots, cassis and honey.

Taste: Delicate flavors of peach, apricot and citrus are uplifted by a bright acidity on the palate.

Alcohol: 12%

Old Vines Riesling 2007

Current Vintage: 2007
Production:
Varietals: Riesling
Appellation: Rheingau
Price Range: $17-$20

Vinification: Despite a wet summer, a sunny September and October brought grapes of exceptional quality. Cool nights ensured preservation of good acidity and an optimal development of aromas. The Hohenrain, located above the old center of Erbach, is situated on a south slope with a gradient of 10%. That guarantees sunlight until the early evening hours. The site is composed of deep loess-loam and tertiary marly soil and is protected from harsh westerly winds by a 10-foot wall.

Color: Pale gold.

Bouquet: Intense fruit aromas of ripe peaches, apricot and yellow citrus fruits.

Taste: A well-integrated palate demonstrates a deft interplay of sweetness and acidity.

Alcohol: 13.1%

Erbach Schlossberg Monopole 2007

Current Vintage: 2007
Production:
Varietals: Riesling
Appellation: Erbach Schlossberg
Price Range: $25-$35

Vinification: The grapes for this wine are exclusively harvested by hand. They are pressed with pneumatic tank presses and the must is filtered through special juice channels during this procedure. The fermentation is temperature-controlled to maintain the vibrant aromas of the grapes. The temperature is kept low with a special cooling system for the tanks. Fermentation lasts 8-10 days.

Color: Lemon yellow

Bouquet: Fragrant aromas of citrus fruits

Taste: A full-bodied wine, redolent of white peach and exotic fruits

Alcohol: 13.5%

Erbacher Marcobrunn Trockenbeerenauslese 2006 (???)

Current Vintage: 2006
Production:
Varietals: Riesling
Appellation: Erbacher Marcobrunn
Price Range:

Vinification: The Marcobrunn vineyard site has a slightly inclined southern aspect in Erbach. This vineyard is widely regarded as the best and most famous site in all of Germany and guarantees top premium wines. The noble TBA wines come from strictly selected botrytised grapes. The immediate treating of the grapes is very important in order to keep the wines clear and to preserve their natural aromas and flavors.

Color: Gold.

Bouquet: Profoundly fragrant aromas of lychee, ginger and peach.

Taste: The aromas of lychee, ginger and peach are confirmed on the palate and linger on a long, unforgettable finish.

Hope to see you on twitter tonight!

Cheers!

I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is No, 1WineDude has not become a German Wine Blog.  It just looks that way because October has (primarily) featured German wines and German wine happs.  This is due to TasteLive.com having dedicated the month to featuring selections picked by the organization Wines of Germany (I helped to set this up and might collect a modest “finder’s fee” for that – if I’m lucky).  Also, Wines of Germany keeps sending me pictures of the German hotties who were vying for the German Wine Queen title, and I’m just shallow enough that those caught my interest.

Anyway…

I’m excited to announce that I’ll be your co-host for the wrap-up German wine event at TasteLive.com on October 22, which is open to the public – that means that you can join us in tasting and tweeting about the following wines live from the comfort of your favorite drinking chair!  (TasteLive has partnered with Bacchus Wine and Spirits for those that can’t source the wines locally).

• Selbach-Oster, Riesling, Kabinett, Mosel, 2007/2008
• Leitz, Riesling, “Eins Zwei Dry,” Rheingau, 2008
• Dönnhoff, Riesling, Nahe, 2008
• Darting, Riesling, Durkheimer Nonnengarten, Kabinett, Pfalz, 2008

I’ve had the Selbach-Oster and the Leitz, and they’re both really tasty wines, which probably bodes well for the other selections.  Those of you who have been following along at home with the previous October events featuring German wines know that the selections have all be very good, so I’m really looking forward to the 22nd.

More detail is available on the TasteLive Blog.

Sign up over at TasteLive.com, get yourself the wines, and join us on the 22nd!

Cheers!

If I had to sum up the history of Silvaner, the ancient wine grape that probably originated in Transylvania but whose spirit now resides firmly in Germany’s Franken region, in as few words as possible, it would probably look something like this:

Short shrift.

The problem is not that Silvaner isn’t any good.  In fact, it can be pretty damn tasty, as last week’s Twitter Taste Live event, featuring some of the Silvaner-based wines from Franken producer Castell, clearly showed to those who participated.

The problem is that Silvaner, in the words of Jancis Robinson, “is not a wine for our times.”

This is because Silvaner does not exhibit bombastic flavors and aromas.  Instead, it more subtly transmits the terroir in which it’s planted.  It can achieve some downright haunting tropical fruit and spice characteristics, but in the wrong hands (and wrong soil) it becomes mindlessly bland.  A darling of the first half of the 20th Century, most plantings of Silvaner started giving way to the even more bland and even less characterful Muller-Thurgau.

In a way, Silvaner’s lack of popularity and its decreasing hectares of plantings is a watermark for the wine world’s current fascination (or infatuation, or totally mad and unhealthy obsession) with wines that explode out of the glass immediately and bitch-slap you with fruit and oak.  Which is a shame really, because it would suck to lose Silvaner forever.  Thank goodness therefore for Franken, where Silvaner is still taken seriously, and where it still produces interesting, refreshing wines that can help make inspired food pairings if you’re up to the challenge.

Once again, I’ve captured most of the twitter chatter from the Twitter Taste Live event (available below).  I’ve also added my mini-take on the three Castell selections that we tried during the event.  I’d recommend seeking out these somewhat-haunting wines.  I fear that, given our current trends towards the bombastic, wines like these may one day end up haunting only our memories… or haunting the fields of Muller-Thurgau that once that they once called home…

• 08 Castell Silvaner Trocken (Franken): Fresh & clean as your Auntie’s kitchen counter. Maybe too clean. Go for lighter foods with this guy. #
• 06 Castell Kugelspiel Silvaner (Franken): Someone spiced up a banana & stuck it in the flower garden! And it’s pretty darn tasty! #
• 08 Castell Trautberg Silvaner / Traminer (Franken): Starts w/ an acid scream, rests on some lychee nuts, then heads of on the mineral trail. #

<a href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;altcast_code=326bda371b” mce_href=”http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;altcast_code=326bda371b”>Taste Live – Wines of Germany: Castell Silvaner</a>

Cheers!

(images: filmforno.com)