Love my job!
What could be better than a dozen wines to start the week.
Pasta king
The kitchen has turned into a pasta production centre. This was only a small part of the whole (160 tortelli in total). First off, make an egg-rich dough (250g flour „00“ grade, 250g semolina, 4 egg yolks, 3 eggs, 1 cl olive oil and 5g salt makes enough pasta dough for six hungry people). Tortelli …
Ginspiration
At Hamburg Zanzibar. Turmeric is not something you usually associate with gin (more with curries), but then you wouldn’t expect a two-person strong start-up (a biologist and a yoga teacher) to win three top gongs in the World Gin Awards either. Hauke (German precision) and Yuka (Japanese creativity) started to make gin using some turmeric …
Celebration
When you have things to celebrate, then only top class sparkling will do. And this is where Germany is giving France a run for its money, especially when said sparkling comes from Volker Raumland, the bubble guru here in Riesling-land. Oops, sorry for being confusing, of course this Chardonnay Reserve is made from 100% Chardonnay …
Veggie meal for the meat-eaters
Ok, the last time we saw them, our friends were not eating meat. So we cooked accordingly. Pity, apparently now they are eating meat and could probably have murdered a steak….. Anyhow, we had: marinated kohlrabi (in lemon oil, olive oil and argan oil), lentil vinaigrette with fig mustard plus some roasted cashews; main course …
Going French in Spain
Instead of the impenetrable tangle of indigenous varieties, this small 6 ha family winery (Son Prim) on the Pla de Mallorca plain in the middle of the island of Palma, has gone French. Who would expect to find a Blanc de Merlot (with an extraordinary 15.5% abv!) made by a winemaker from Uruguay on the …
7000 ha
Cabernet Franc, not quite „in purezza“ but jolly nearly so. Italy has more Cabernet Franc that you could possibly imagine (7000 ha). Normally you would be in the Loire or Bordeaux. In middle Italy, in this case in the country’s green heart, Umbria, this variety can produce very seductive yet structured wines. Always with that …
No calories whatsoever
Austrian cuisine is hearty. It’s mountain food: the sort of calorie intake that is allowed because you have just had a massive calorie outpouring climbing up and down the mountain. This is the savoury version – potato dumplings which, when cut open, reveal pork scratchings in a rich sauce, topped with crisp fried onions. Add …
One of my favourite grape varieties
Yum! Possibly not the most professional of tasting notes but this single vineyard Oregon Pinot Noir from Willamette Valley was gorgeous. Totally „a point“ (2017 vintage) and showing that wonderful rotty, undergrowth, sous-bois style that I love. To look at the wine, many would dismiss it: too light, too much browning, obviously not holding up …
Chef meets chef
The professional chef world is a small one. Bernd met up with Andreu Genestra, Michelin starred chef in Palma de Mallorca. Andreu has worked with some of the world’s greatest chefs, with stints at Arzak and El Bulli, amongst others. His Aromata Restaurant in the heart of Palma’s old town is a low-key interpretation of …