Thoughts about Europe: German Wine & Cuisines.

I've been really absent from writing for some time. Well, not that I've been busy, but recently, I just concluded an annual pilgrim trip to Europe...YES FRANCE, GERMANY & THE SCANDINAVIAS! Every year, I do try to make it a point to head down there to have a taste of the new vintages and reacquaint myself with my suppliers there. This trip was no difference.

This year, I did stop by at Frankfurt and had such a wonderful time tasting delicious wines from the Rhine region & of course, having jugs & jugs of their famous "apfelwein", which is a refreshing apple cider either taken by itself or mixed with soda or lemon juice. The fact that it was way cheaper than water did persuade me to have a few more with every meal. (Thats me right there after a few glasses, notice the starry glaze!)

The fact about Germans is that yes, they do drink a lot and definitely they do EAT a lot and enjoy their foods. Unlike those portions served in Singapore, I could barely finish up most of my entrees of Sauerkrauts, Pork Knuckles & an array of wurst I can now only imagine in my gourmet wet dreams. Particularly interesting & tasty were the blood & liver wurst, which went beautifully with the apfelweins.


Not totally distracted by the cuisines, I did have the privilege of tasting of the family estate wineries such as Weingut Walter Metzler & Rollanderhof, both introducing their 2007 vintages.
I must say that I was very impressed with the beautiful acidity & varietal characters of the whites such as the Silvaner, Pinot Blanc, Riesling & some muller Thurgau's. The Rieslings especially were very fresh with grapefruit & green citrus flavors and their Ausleses honey dripped.
However, I was rather disappointed with the red wines like the Merlots, Cabernets , Portugiesers & Dornfelders which most of them unfortunately were flabby & hollow with some grassy feel, not unlike some of the cheaper Swiss wines I've tried. However, a saving grace was their dry Pinot Noirs (04's & 05's) which showed youthful vibrancy that will do justice to the winery perhaps 3-5 years down the road.
Thus, a simple advice for those planning to go to this beautiful country. Forget the water & diet. Beers, Food, Wines & Ciders are the way to live. Cheers.