If you are looking for fine German wine and food, consider
the Mosel region of central western Germany on the border
of Luxembourg. You may find a bargain, and I hope that
you'll have fun on this fact-filled wine education tour in
which we review a local white Qualitaetswein (read
inexpensive) Riesling.
The Mosel Valley is felt to be one of the most beautiful
river valleys in the world. This region, previously called
Mosel-Saar-Ruwer in honor of its three rivers, is famous
for its Riesling wine. Some of the greatest Rieslings in
Germany and in fact in the entire world come from the Mosel
Valley. Experts can often identify Mosel Rieslings because
of the slate in the local soil, which may impart a taste of
flint. The slopes are among the steepest in the
wine-producing world, and sometimes attain 70 degrees. The
soil is so precious that every spring local workers lug
pails of soil up these steep slopes, temporarily reversing
the effect of the rains that wash the soil down every
winter.
Mosel ranks number five among the thirteen German wine
regions when it comes to both vineyard acreage and total
wine production. Slightly over three quarters of the
regional wine is classified as QbA and somewhat less than
one quarter is higher quality QmP wine. Only one percent is
table wine. More than half of Mosel wine is Riesling. The
German hybrid white grape variety Mueller-Thurgau
represents about 20% of the wine production. In third place
is the historic Elbing that dates back to Roman times. Only
about 2% of Mosel wine is red.
The Mosel Valley pretty well stretches from Koblenz which
isn't far from Germany's former capital Bonn to the city of
Trier sitting very close to the border with Luxemburg.
These two cities are linked by the Mosel Weinstrasse (Mosel
Wine Road) approximately 140 miles (224 kilometers) long on
the eastern side of the river and somewhat less on the
western side. Of course, you could take the autobahn to
travel between Koblenz and Trier at breakneck speed. If you
do, you'll miss the interesting little towns and vineyards
along the way.
Cochem lies about one third of the way from Koblenz to
Trier. It's a fine little Mosel River Valley town. This
medieval town is long and narrow. You should take a boat
trip as well as a walking tour. Outside the town gate is
the Kaiser Wilhelm railway tunnel, which at 2.5 miles (4
kilometers) is the longest in all Germany. About fifteen
minutes of walking get you to the Reichsburg (Imperial
Fortress), a thousand year old castle that overlooks
Cochem. The castle hosts a medieval banquet which features
period costumes and music on Fridays and Saturdays but you
must reserve in advance. North of the city is a larger
castle, the Burg Eltz a few miles inland from the Mosel.
Before reviewing the Mosel wine and imported cheeses that
we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and
a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of
what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this
beautiful region. Start with Aalsuppe (Eel Soup). For your
second course enjoy Rolladen (Beef rolls with Bacon and
Pickles). As a dessert indulge yourself with Moselweintorte
(Chocolate and Wine Cake).
OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste and review
are purchased at the full retail price.
Wine Reviewed Moselland Bernkasteler Kurfurstlay 2005 9.5%
alcohol about $8.50
Let's start by quoting the marketing materials. Tasting
Note: Pale straw yellow colour; citrus, mineral and dried
apricot aromas and flavours; balanced with crisp acidity in
the finish. Serving Suggestion: Serve chilled with pork,
turkey or appetizers. Spicy asian dishes.
My first pairing was with a homemade pizza with lots of
tomato sauce, vegetables, and cheese but no meat. This wine
displayed refreshing acidity that worked well with the
pizza sauce. It had good fruit and was surprisingly long.
The next meal included a barbecued chicken marinated in a
commercial Mediterranean-style light sauce, red-skinned
potatoes, and a somewhat spicy Turkish salad. The wine's
acidity cut the fat very well and yet complemented the
tomato's own acidity which largely defined the salad. This
little and lightly alcoholic wine (9.5% when 13% plus seems
to be the new norm) was quite assertive, especially with
the potatoes. And yet it was somewhat flat with dessert,
some orange fruit-juice candy.
The final meal was whole-wheat pasta in a sauce that
started our as your basic commercial pasta sauce and then
livened up by a fried medley of garlic, red onions, red and
green peppers, topped with anchovies and shredded (local)
Asiago cheese. The wine was light and fruity and the
combination was quite tasty. I was happy that this Riesling
was low-alcohol (and inexpensive) so that I could drink
quite a bit without any negative effects, including to my
pocketbook.
The initial cheese pairing was with a mild Italian Pecorino
Fruilano. The wine was sweet but didn't impress me very
much. Then I tried it with a nutty Dutch Edam cheese. Once
again the wine was sweet but it was round and the
combination went quite well.
Final verdict. Great bargain. The wine really goes well
with simple food. I didn't get a chance to try it with
gourmet specialties but wouldn't be surprised if it did as
well as many wines including Rieslings at twice the price.
If I didn't have so many wines to taste (talk about
problems) I'd buy half a case and drink one every two
months or so. Then I'd try one from the next vintage and
hope to repeat the process.
----------------------------------------------------
Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on
computers and the Internet, but he prefers drinking fine
Italian or other wine, accompanied by the right foods and
people. He knows about dieting but now eats and drinks what
he wants, in moderation. He teaches classes in computers at
an Ontario French-language community college. Visit his
Italian travel website http://www.travelitalytravel.com
which focuses on local wine and food.
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