Tag Archives: wine

Feb 18 2013
12 Comments
Germany, Mosel

Vineyards in Photos: Würzgarten, Prälat and Treppchen

Three grand cru vineyards (from left to right): Ürziger Würzgarten, Erdener Prälat and Erdener Treppchen

Three grand cru vineyards (from left to right): Ürziger Würzgarten, Erdener Prälat and Erdener Treppchen

It has been a while since I last posted a vineyard photo and I remember that I had been meaning to post more. Yet, I don’t have all that many great photos of vineyards so this series is a slow project. But today I came across a stunning photo, taken with a fish eye lense of three vineyards that are very dear to me: the Ürziger Würzgarten, the Erdener Prälat and the Erdener Treppchen. The stretch of the Mosel is actually quite straight in that area, it is the fish eye lense that makes it look like it curves.

The Würzgarten stretches further out to the left of the photo. The tiny white thing you see on the left is the Ürziger Sonnenuhr, one of the many sun dials along the Mosel. It is the old heart of the Würzgarten. In the center of the photo, under the red rocks, is Erdener Prälat, one of the top sites on the Mosel. The micro climate is insane: It is the first plot to lose snow in spring, and the vines usually are up to 14 days ahead in their growth. To the right starts the stretch that is the Erdener Treppchen. If you read my piece about the Karl Erbes Kranklay Spätlese: The area slightly to the left and up from Prälat is the amphitheater that forms the Kranklay.

There are now hiking trails through these very steep and exciting vineyards. If you get a chance, I can only encourage you to take a day, hike, and then try wines at one (or more) of the wineries. It sure has made for some of my best days on the Mosel.

The photo was taken by Christian Hermann of Dr. Hermann winery.

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Feb 17 2013
12 Comments
Something about wine..., Sunday read

Sunday Read: 5 Words Not to Fear

This Sunday, I want to point you to a thoughtful piece by Eric Asimov, the wine critic at The New York Times. A few weeks ago he published this piece in which he argues that words that have certain connotations that can be perceived as bad, but are not per se bad. The five words are: Bitter, Green, Oak, Dark and Cold.

While I use bitter, green and oak usually as a bad connotation for wines I describe (yes, even oak. I think it is sometimes heavily overused in production, especially in a lot of new world wines), Asimov argues that there are good things to all these descriptors as well. Dark and cold are the two other words where he tries to steer us away from dogmatic views.

I am all for shattering dogmata, so I thought I’d share.

Happy Sunday!

The New York Times: 5 Words Not to Fear

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Feb 10 2013
23 Comments
Sunday read

Sunday Read: An Evening of Two Bloggers and Their Brides

This Sunday read will be a much more personal read than the usual, I hope you don’t mind. I realized Friday evening that my comments count reached over 1,000. While I am well aware that a lot of those are my own (but less than half), it still brought a very important point home to me: What a wonderfully engaging crowd I have found since I started this. In my About page I wrote that I was trying to get a conversation going with you, my readers, and thanks to you all this has actually happened! Thank you for that.

Also, these discussions have enriched my wine experience. The TBA discussion under my Gunderloch Tasting Part 2 post (read the comments here) has definitely broadened my horizons in ways that I did not anticipate. That is just one example, but there are many more.

I just want to take the time to say thank you for reading, for commenting and for engaging with me. It means a lot. You have made this site better and more fun than I ever imagined possible.

Another thing that this whole blogging has brought is new friendships. Over the last weeks, I met with local bloggers: Josh over at Sipology, John over at The Food and Wine Hedonist and, just last week, with John over at The Wine Raconteur (btw, does ones first name have to start with a J to make it in the booze-blogosphere??). Each experience was unique and fun and good. I relished meeting these people that I had gotten to know, more or less, through their writing. It gave us a connection, it made conversation flow easily and was a lot of fun. I am very much looking forward to more of them.

Now, and that is were the personal read comes in, John (The Wine Raconteur) wrote up our meeting that we had with our wives last week. It seems like he had a great time, just as we did and it might be interesting for you to get another’s perspective on me (take it with a grain of salt, it is way too flattering). The meeting brought it all home once more: For me, life and blogging and anything I do is about personal connections. They are what matters. And it was somehow awesome to talk with a “stranger” and be able to say “Oh, I know that about you.” Because I did.

If you have not checked out John’s blog, give it a try. He writes about experiences with wine, restaurants and old Detroit in an inimitable way which makes him deserving of the blog title The Wine Raconteur.

Two Bloggers and Their Brides (and a Tokay)

With that, I leave you on this Sunday. I hope you survived the snow at the East Coast, and enjoy cold or sunny, wherever you are. Again, thanks for making this blog so much fun!

The Wine Raconteur: An Evening of Two Bloggers and Their Brides

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