Dec 12 2012
11 Comments
2012, Germany, Rheingau

Ice Wine Harvest at Schloss Vollrads

Temperatures in Germany have been exceptionally low this December and it has enabled many winemakers to harvest grapes for ice wine, Germany’s fabled treasure. I have written about ice wine in the past (here) but there is no way to better understand what makes this wine so special than actually seeing under what conditions the grapes are harvested and then processed. I came across this video by the Rheingau winery Schloss Vollrads (Germany’s oldest continuing winery, see here) yesterday and I was just completely in awe once again about what these harvesters go through to produce tiny quantities of absolute deliciousness.

Maybe this will help you understand what the myth surrounding German ice wine is. Remember, in order to harvest ice wine it has to be below -7 degrees Celsius (19.4 degrees Fahrenheit). In the middle, the guy is talking about how they initially planned to harvest the grapes before sunrise, because it is coldest then. But they had to move it up to midnight because weather forecasts predicted some warm air coming in in the morning. The juice has 195 degrees Oechsle, way above the 110-125 degree threshold it needed to meet.

UPDATE: I just saw photos from the ice wine harvest by Dr. Hermann winery. They expect 200 liters (under 600 bottles) and are really excited that they got to harvest on 12/12/12.

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Dec 10 2012
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2009, Spain

2009 Armantes Calatayud Old Vines Garnacha Tempranillo

2009 Armantes Old Vine Calatayud DO

2009 Armantes Old Vine Calatayud DO

Last Friday, it was almost weekend and I realized I didn’t have a single glass of wine all week. Frustrating. While a casserole was simmering in the oven I decided to open up this wine that we picked up at Plum Market a while back for $8 (marked down from $12).

The wine is produced by San Gregorio Sociedad Cooperativa Limitada, a cooperative in the Calatayud region of Spain. I had to check where that is because I am not very familiar with Spanish geography or wines. According to Wikipedia Calatayud is a city and and municipality located in the western part of the province Aragon, pretty much in the heart of the Iberian peninsula. Calatayud has its own denomination of origin (DO), see here. Unfortunately the website is only available in Spanish, and my Spanish is virtually non-existent. It seems like the area boasts 60 vintners and some cooperatives. In 2009, it produced 5.72 million bottles of wine and is supposed to be a “muy buena” year.

The winery’s website can be found here. The website states that DO Calatayud was established in 1989. The team at the winery is said to have an average age of 34 (exciting!) and is producing for the international market, whatever that means. It looks like this wine is their basic wine (it better be at that price), although they changed things up a bit from the website. This wine has, according to the bottle, 90% Garnacha and 10% Tempranillo and 14.5% ABV.

Armantes poured in a dark, ruby red. The nose is initially a bit sour and alcoholic. After 15 minutes in the glass that is reduced. Then it smells fresh, earthy, a bit of red fruit. On the palate it shows some smokiness, medium tannins and a nice touch of acidity. It’s light to medium bodied, feels silky at times and is actually enjoyable in the middle. The short finish, however, is rather harsh with bitter and unripe notes which are even too long for this short of a finish.

Not sure what to make of this. The finish definitely ruined the wine for me, although the initial stages of tasting were alright. Nothing special, definitely not fun. Not something I will likely pick up again.

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Dec 06 2012
6 Comments
Cider, USA

Woodchuck Hard Cider Winter

Woodchuck Hard Cider - Winter Edition

Woodchuck Hard Cider – Winter Edition

I’m swamped with work this week, so this has to be a short one (again). It is St. Nikolaus Day today and in Germany that means that kids receive gifts. Somehow, in my head, I have moved it to the day before St. Nikolaus…and lo and behold, he did stop by last night and left gifts.

One of them was this cider manufactured by Woodchuck, a big cider producer in the U.S. located in Vermont. You can check out their website here. Nina first served me Woodchuck ciders when I visited her in Philly in 2008 as we were reminiscing drinking Savanna Dry (I wrote about that cider here). Ever since, I have been drinking Woodchuck on an off, usually at parties.

The Winter cider is s seasonal release. Nina tried it first today and was quite intrigued. It tastes slightly oaky at first, but then you’re definitely hit by some vanilla notes and a refreshing acidity. It’s crisp and fresh and interesting, and actually quite yummy. (The back label lists oak and vanilla, and rarely ever have I found a cider description so spot on). The nicest thing about this cider is that it seems to have some welcome depth and sophistication, that I did enjoy a lot.

That said, it also upset my stomach a bit. Not sure whether that is because I hardly ate anything today or because of the cider…just warning you guys. Taste wise, it’s definitely a treat.

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