On one of our classic wild goose chases - to Leipzig this time (don't ask) we nonetheless found some nice wine and became re-acquainted with an old favourite.
New
Koppelberg Blaue Portugieser from Saale Unstrut. We had very much enjoyed a glass of another Saale-Unstrut Blaue Portugieser at Auerbach's Keller and found this example subsequently at a retailer nearby. It may be a bit cheesy to go to Auerbachs Keller when in Leipzig but it really is the Auerbachs Keller of Goethe's Faust serving food and drink without a break since the first half of the 16th century, frequented by Germany's answer to Shakespeare himself even though he wouldn't recognise the old place nowadays. Amazingly this makes it only the 2nd oldest restaurant in Leipzig they say (without telling which is the oldest). Lovely wine from this unpromising grape. See mention of Gere's Blaue Portugieser from Villany in our Grand Budapest post.
Old
At Dresden Airport the best buy was Schloss Proschwitz's Elbling. We return to this whenever we can. How can it be explained that Elbling remains such a secret? It is an ancient grape so it's not as if it needs time. Curious.
We also bought a Schloss Proschwitz Goldriesling just for the fact it is equally low in alcohol and because we had been unlucky with a bottle bought a few years ago. Goldriesling is not an ancient grape but a crossing of Riesling and something not quite defined by Christian Oberlin in Colmar in 1893 and is now almost unknown outside Sachsen where 17 hectares are grown. We are trialing 25 vines in the Thames Valley.
No comments:
Post a Comment