The Wine of Kings and the King of Wines: Riesling
- Mar 3, 2015
The Wine of Kings and the King of Wines
To say I was excited for this evening is an understatement. I love Riesling. I have a deep love for Riesling. It all started several years ago when I was a guest at a BC winery for a weekend. I had the pleasure of sitting in on a food and wine pairing with the winery Chef. The Chef had paired their Riesling Ice Wine with various food pairings both savoury and sweet. When I had a sip of the Ice Wine with a grilled sirloin, I was blown away. It messed with my mind. How can something so seemingly sweet pair with a dish that I instantly would pair with red wine. The chef explained how the acidity in the wine and the grilled protein worked together to bring down the sweetness of the wine. With that, my love affair with Riesling began.
The Riesling Class that our Jordan Carrier, or as he puts it “The keeper of the good stuff”, put together was so indulgent and so diverse. He had a line up of Rieslings that would make any King double over in glee.
Before we tasted the wines, Jordan gave us a little history on the Riesling Varietal. Riesling has been the wine of European Royalty for hundreds of years, bested only by Tokaji and Champagne. The birth place of Riesling is Germany, the Mosel to be exact. The Mosel just seems to have been created so perfectly to allow this varietal to shine. The steep slopes, the river Rhine, and the soils all create the right conditions to grow Riesling.
Drinking a glass of Riesling on its own is enjoyable enough, but when paired with food, I’ll just say it’s a match made in heaven. Food loves Riesling and as a result Chefs love Riesling. It is one of the best food paring wines out there. Jordan had Chef Alistair from Tap prepare the food pairings for this evening’s class.
Chef Alistair made a traditional German dish of Sauerkraut and pork, Coconut Thai Chicken Curry and had slivers of Stilton Blue Cheese with Duck Prosciutto to pair with the wines.
Jordan’s line up of wines were the Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile 06’, Schloss Johannisbergen Kabinett Feinherb 11’, Donnhoff Kreuxnacher Krotenpful Spatlese 06’, Markus Molitor Erdener rocuslese 05’, Gunderloch Nackennhein Rothenbuerg Auslese Goldkapsel 06’, Marcel Diess Vendages Tardives 00’, Rabl Trockenbeerenauslese 07’. Just reading the list made the class feel glutinous.
The Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile 06’ is from the finest vineyards of Trimbach. This particular label is made only in the best years. This is a powerful Riesling full of personality. The wonderful nose was full of ripe peaches, citrus, petrol and beeswax. It smelled surprisingly sweet but was dry on the palate. If you’re a collector, this vintage will age very well into two decades.
Schloss Johannisbergen Kabinett Feinherb 11’. Schloss Johannisbergen has been making wine for 900 years. All this experience shines through in the wine. On the nose notes of passion fruit, nectarines and spice came through. On the palate, delicate floral, with hints of honey, blew me away. It was so refreshing and cleansed my palate between the bites of food. The slight sweetness of the wine worked well with the tang of the Sauerkraut. This was my favourite wine of the night.
Donnhoff Kreuxnacher Krotenpful Spatlese 06’ was so lovely and feminine in style. It was so intoxicating with beeswax, mineral, floral and honey on the nose and palate with delightful acidity.
Markus Molitor Erdener rocuslese 05’. Markus Molitor took over his father’s winery at the tender age of 20. He had one goal in mind. That was to produce world quality wines that expressed the terroir of his vineyard like it had for eight generations before him. This wine was so rich and so creamy with spectacular flavours of petrol and lime.
Gunderloch Nackennhein Rothenbuerg Auslese Goldkapsel 06’. Goldkapsel are made from grapes that were left on the vines the longest. Just picture tiny shriveled up grapes just barely hanging onto life. Jordan described the hue as “glow in the dark” because it’s so pigmented. It smelled like liquid gold to me. The intoxicating aromas of honey, citrus, mineral, and floral notes captivated me.
Marcel Diess Vendages Tardives 00’. This particular wine threw me for a loop. It was unlike any other Riesling I have had in the past. The sweet spice, medicinal qualities and the slight nuttiness were things I never experienced in a Riesling. I’ll be honest I didn’t love it but I was happy to have been exposed to something different.
Rabl Trockenbeerenauslese 07’. This was the stand out of the evening for the reason that it was a style of Riesling that is so unique, rare and expensive. This is also the reason why Jordan poured the Austrian version of Trockenbeerebauslese as opposed to a German Trockenbeerebauslese. The Austrian Trokenbeerenauslese is a little more available and affordable. The nose and palate was subtly floral, with sweet honey, mineral, and dried apricot aromas and flavours. This is as decadent as it gets!
If you are someone who comes in and buys a bottle of Blue Nunn, I urge you to take home something different. Try a Kabinett, a Spatlese and if you want to splurge for a special occasion try a Trockenbeerebauslese. I guarantee it will change your life.
I want to end on a quote from Jordan, as he had so many but this was one that stuck with me as it refers to Rieslings incredible aging potential.
“Riesling is like a Zombie, once you think that it’s dead it comes back, and comes back better”.
Couldn’t say it better myself.
To say I was excited for this evening is an understatement. I love Riesling. I have a deep love for Riesling. It all started several years ago when I was a guest at a BC winery for a weekend. I had the pleasure of sitting in on a food and wine pairing with the winery Chef. The Chef had paired their Riesling Ice Wine with various food pairings both savoury and sweet. When I had a sip of the Ice Wine with a grilled sirloin, I was blown away. It messed with my mind. How can something so seemingly sweet pair with a dish that I instantly would pair with red wine. The chef explained how the acidity in the wine and the grilled protein worked together to bring down the sweetness of the wine. With that, my love affair with Riesling began.
The Riesling Class that our Jordan Carrier, or as he puts it “The keeper of the good stuff”, put together was so indulgent and so diverse. He had a line up of Rieslings that would make any King double over in glee.
Before we tasted the wines, Jordan gave us a little history on the Riesling Varietal. Riesling has been the wine of European Royalty for hundreds of years, bested only by Tokaji and Champagne. The birth place of Riesling is Germany, the Mosel to be exact. The Mosel just seems to have been created so perfectly to allow this varietal to shine. The steep slopes, the river Rhine, and the soils all create the right conditions to grow Riesling.
Drinking a glass of Riesling on its own is enjoyable enough, but when paired with food, I’ll just say it’s a match made in heaven. Food loves Riesling and as a result Chefs love Riesling. It is one of the best food paring wines out there. Jordan had Chef Alistair from Tap prepare the food pairings for this evening’s class.
Chef Alistair made a traditional German dish of Sauerkraut and pork, Coconut Thai Chicken Curry and had slivers of Stilton Blue Cheese with Duck Prosciutto to pair with the wines.
Jordan’s line up of wines were the Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile 06’, Schloss Johannisbergen Kabinett Feinherb 11’, Donnhoff Kreuxnacher Krotenpful Spatlese 06’, Markus Molitor Erdener rocuslese 05’, Gunderloch Nackennhein Rothenbuerg Auslese Goldkapsel 06’, Marcel Diess Vendages Tardives 00’, Rabl Trockenbeerenauslese 07’. Just reading the list made the class feel glutinous.
The Trimbach Cuvee Frederic Emile 06’ is from the finest vineyards of Trimbach. This particular label is made only in the best years. This is a powerful Riesling full of personality. The wonderful nose was full of ripe peaches, citrus, petrol and beeswax. It smelled surprisingly sweet but was dry on the palate. If you’re a collector, this vintage will age very well into two decades.
Schloss Johannisbergen Kabinett Feinherb 11’. Schloss Johannisbergen has been making wine for 900 years. All this experience shines through in the wine. On the nose notes of passion fruit, nectarines and spice came through. On the palate, delicate floral, with hints of honey, blew me away. It was so refreshing and cleansed my palate between the bites of food. The slight sweetness of the wine worked well with the tang of the Sauerkraut. This was my favourite wine of the night.
Donnhoff Kreuxnacher Krotenpful Spatlese 06’ was so lovely and feminine in style. It was so intoxicating with beeswax, mineral, floral and honey on the nose and palate with delightful acidity.
Markus Molitor Erdener rocuslese 05’. Markus Molitor took over his father’s winery at the tender age of 20. He had one goal in mind. That was to produce world quality wines that expressed the terroir of his vineyard like it had for eight generations before him. This wine was so rich and so creamy with spectacular flavours of petrol and lime.
Gunderloch Nackennhein Rothenbuerg Auslese Goldkapsel 06’. Goldkapsel are made from grapes that were left on the vines the longest. Just picture tiny shriveled up grapes just barely hanging onto life. Jordan described the hue as “glow in the dark” because it’s so pigmented. It smelled like liquid gold to me. The intoxicating aromas of honey, citrus, mineral, and floral notes captivated me.
Marcel Diess Vendages Tardives 00’. This particular wine threw me for a loop. It was unlike any other Riesling I have had in the past. The sweet spice, medicinal qualities and the slight nuttiness were things I never experienced in a Riesling. I’ll be honest I didn’t love it but I was happy to have been exposed to something different.
Rabl Trockenbeerenauslese 07’. This was the stand out of the evening for the reason that it was a style of Riesling that is so unique, rare and expensive. This is also the reason why Jordan poured the Austrian version of Trockenbeerebauslese as opposed to a German Trockenbeerebauslese. The Austrian Trokenbeerenauslese is a little more available and affordable. The nose and palate was subtly floral, with sweet honey, mineral, and dried apricot aromas and flavours. This is as decadent as it gets!
If you are someone who comes in and buys a bottle of Blue Nunn, I urge you to take home something different. Try a Kabinett, a Spatlese and if you want to splurge for a special occasion try a Trockenbeerebauslese. I guarantee it will change your life.
I want to end on a quote from Jordan, as he had so many but this was one that stuck with me as it refers to Rieslings incredible aging potential.
“Riesling is like a Zombie, once you think that it’s dead it comes back, and comes back better”.
Couldn’t say it better myself.