Cappadocia: hot air balloons, caves – and wine!

To be able to experience the past in a kind of time machine instead of just reading about it is for me one of the most exciting experiences ever. And ever since my first Turkey trip (I know, it took me an awfully long time to make it to the Bosporus), the close connection  with the historic beginnings of our civilization has been one of my main fascinations there. And yes, „experience“ does include wine, a serious advantage in the Heinzelcheese universe (it also includes cheese, but that’s a different story for another day). » Weiterlesen…

Spring drink: pink!

Is it about the birds singing me cheerfully into the day now every morning, or about the still low rising sun I then greet on my run? The giddiness of the people on the street, drunken with light and mild air? The promise of evenings outdoors after the winter? Probably all at once – and we didn’t even have a really hard winter this year, here in Berlin; I’m told snow flakes are still flurrying on the northern end of the American east coast. So no matter if you feel like celebrating the end of it or need to cheer yourself up due to the perseverance of winter: drink pink! » Weiterlesen…

HeinzelCheeseTalks at Markthalle Neun in Berlin-Kreuzberg

It’s been a great winter and I loved our Friday Eatdrinktalk sessions at Markthalle Neun. But all things must change to stay the same  – spring is looming, summer will come and I’ll be travelling again, always on the lookout for great wine, cheese, and stories around them. Which is exactly what I’d like to share with you from now one, once a month, at Markthalle Neun: the Heinzelcheese Talks. » Weiterlesen…

Sooo good with salmon: 12 Silvaner Quarzit from Riffel/Rheinhessen

Some NYC wine guys recently had a discussion about tasting notes on Twitter. One of them pronounced a stranger’s tasting notes about as meaningful as a Beijing bus schedule.  Which tells me that a) presumably Beijing busses don’t run on time, b) these guys are tired of writing them (tasting notes, not bus schedules), and c) they might not read the right ones (tasting notes, again). Of course, translating sensual impressions into words is as tricky to get right as any other translation, perhaps even more so. » Weiterlesen…

Summer memories of Portugal: 2012 Defesa von Esporão

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…