For New Year’s Eve, I picked this vintage sparkling wine (“Jahrgangssekt”) from the Mosel region in Germany instead of a Champagne. The year 2016 was relatively warm but not hot. Clear appearance in the glass with fine bubbles. The colour is a mix of gold and salmon pink, rather attractive. The [...] Continue reading →

Beautiful label. Pale ruby red colour. Great nose, high intensity and very open: Redcurrants, red plums, slightly cooked, and vanilla. Spicy with notes of white pepper, too. Low acidity on the palate, soft tannins and a lean to medium body despite the high alcohol. The flavour is primarily fruity, again cooked fruit, but now [...] Continue reading →

For this year’s Christmas, I picked four wines to pair with a down to earth broth fondue. For aperitif, we started with a champagne by Henri Giraud. From there we went to Burgundy, then Bordeaux, and ended up at the Saar in Germany. Originally, I’d chosen a 1996 Sauternes to wrap things up [...] Continue reading →

Clear, pale lemon yellow. On the nose, a clean, medium-intensity bouquet with floral notes of blossom, lemon, lime, green apple and peach. On the palate, the Spätlese has a clean flavour, medium sweetness and high acidity. The very fresh flavour again reveals the notes from the nose: citrus fruits, this time including oranges, as [...] Continue reading →

The “SL” stands for “Selektion Laible”. Alexander Laible uses the three stars *** to denote his highest-quality wines, which benefit from reduced yields and a thorough selection of healthy grapes. (Alexander Laible is not to be confused with Andreas Laible, whose winery is also based in Durbach but is a member of the VDP.) [...] Continue reading →