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Summer memories of Portugal: 2012 Defesa von Esporão

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That’s one of the beauties of wine: it can transport feelings and memories through time and space. In early October I’ve been to the Alentejo in Portugal where it was still summer, the golden sunlight bathing the beautiful roughness of the landscape. Of course, that trip was all about wine and food and the first stop was at Herdade de Esporão, the region’s most important wine producer. But instead of a wine tasting, we went first to their vegetable garden and then straight to the kitchen. » Weiterlesen…

Taste twice before you think: Rheingau Riesling from Anthony Hammond

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It’s really nice when people stay on one’s radar through several lives. I met Anthony Hammond when I was at sommelier school in Heidelberg, back in 1992, when our motley bunch of wine-crazy fulltime students went to every single tasting we could possibly fit in, geographically, financially and timewise. He worked for some wine merchant then and we kept running into each other, then lost touch and for a while I wondered what had become of that nice guy who is just as American as he is German. But the big plan hadn’t finished with us: In my next life, in Berlin (November, grey) and jobless, I walked past a wine shop and suddenly stopped in my tracks: I had just caught a glimpse of a familiar figure… you guessed it, Anthony. » Weiterlesen…

Lovely sweet stuff from Málaga: Rujaq Andalusí

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The sweeter the wine, the older it should be, as the sweetness over the years gradually recedes into the back of the taste spectrum – at least for me. However, that’s easier said than done, as my squirrel gene seems kind of underdeveloped. So it’s extremely nice to come accross a wine such as this Málaga from Dimobe where the ageing has been done at the winery. » Weiterlesen…

Bubbles from Domaine La Louvière

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Not that I’d need an excuse for a glass of bubbles (or two) at the start of the evening (full disclosure: I am a bubbles girl). But the festive season is upon us, and a steady stream of bubbles is more important than ever to get everybody into the mood, to celebrate love and friendship, and… well, just because life is too short not to have bubbles. » Weiterlesen…

Fribourg, Yvorne and MFK’s love story

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I recently had to travel to Switzerland for a day, to interview somebody who lives near Luzern. Thinking I was very clever and would catch two flies with one swat, as we say in German, I planned my trip to fly into Geneva and visit Fribourg cheesemakers, then travel by train to Luzern – only to find out that the cheese date wouldn’t happen. And that the Swiss train fares are even more expensive than the German ones. To cut it short: I felt like a dammed fool for not rebooking my ticket to Zurich, which would have been a short hop… » Weiterlesen…