Nice comment on Jamie Goode's wine blog for one of our favourite Aussie Shiraz: Shaw and Smith Shiraz 2006.

Read Jamie's comments on Shaw and Smith Shiraz...

Today, being the first Wednesday of the month, is Wine Blogging Wednesday. This month's theme is Riesling, but only if it comes from Europe - no New Worlds allowed!

After a quick bit of head-scratching while at the warehouse earlier on in the day I decided on Germany, largely because the only other contender was our sole Alsace Riesling, and I wasn't really in the mood somehow. I think it was mood plus the burst of beautiful Summer-like weather (hottest day of the year so far here in Oxfordshire) that made me think of German Riesling. Summer and Riesling wines, and especially those light, beautifully poised, elegant German Rieslings seem to go togther.

So, the next decision was 'which German Riesling?' It wasn't until I got to the warehouse that I remembered we had quite a few. Steve, my warehouse manager, calls this Andrew's shelves as I'm the only one that seems to go there (not strictly true, but I see where he's coming from!)

In the end, I realised that there was an obvious plan forming in my Riesling-starved brain. (Haven't had any Riesling, and especially German Riesling, in quite a while as it happens). We had four Spätlese from four different regions staring at me from the shelves, all from the excellent and highly rated 2002 vintage. Why not a vertical tasting to celebrate Riesling and Wine Blogging Wednesday?

I get my Riesling fix AND get to see how this much acclaimed vintage is holding up. Oh, and before I left I spied a lone half bottle of Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Auslese from Weingut Hermann Dönnhoff, so I decided 'in for a penny...'

Alison will be thrilled at the choice of wine tonight. She's a red wine drinker at heart and loves Riesling nearly as much as Andrew Barrow over at Spittoon in his Riesling blog post earlier today!

Anyway, onto to the mini-marathon German Riesling tasting...

Eitelsbacher Karthäuserhofberger Riesling Spätlese 2002. Mosel 8% alc
Beautiful bright, green-gold colour. Very classic Mosel-styled floral notes on the nose. Surprising weight on the palate for a wine at only 8% alcohol. Peristant length; poise; elegance. The merest whiff of that oft-quoted Riesling aromatic of petrol - not the most attractive aroma in the world, but classic for aged German Riesling. Definitely NOT petroly in an over the top way... just a kind of wee hint. Funnily enough, a lot of tasters over here in the UK quote Petrol/Kerosene as being classic for Riesling, whatever their age. A very good German wine merchant friend of mine is adamant that any idea of petrol aromatics in young German wine is considered a wine fault on his side of the Mosel.

Schloss Saarstein Riesling Spätlese 2002. Saar 8% alc
Paler than the Eitelsbacher. More muted aromatics. No petroly tones here; bright floral elements. Grapey (an odd word for a beverage made from grapes, but I hope you get what I mean - Muscaty. Almost). More weight than the Eitelsbacher so I'm guessing riper/higher must-weight . Alcohol is the same. But also a kind of steelyness and directness. Crisp, refreshing acidity. Clean, crisp finish with good weight. Quite foodie really.

Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling Spätlese 2002, Weingut Leitz. Rheingau 8.5% alc
Pale green-yellow. Floral and touches of spice on nose. Weighty and concentrated on palate. More noticeable sweetness than previous two wines. Very concentrated. Touches of apricot, Spring blossom, even exotic fruit. Lick of spice (ginger perhaps?) Nicely balanced weight, fruit and acidity - touch of crisp green apples on finish. Will continue to age well over next 1-3 years.

Monzinger Frühlingsplätzchen Riesling Spätlese 2002 , Emrich-Schönleber. Nahe 9.5% alc
Pale, pale yellow with hints of green. Stone-fruits, floral tones, some citrus (orange/grapefruit) and spice. Definite spice. But still very typical Riesling and not deviating into Gewurz-like territory. Rich palate, with spiciness following through. Weight, concentration. Immaculate balance of fruit, weight, concentration and complexity with a lick of refreshing acidity. My favourite wine of the four. I like the extra dimension the weight and concentration brings, while still retaining Germanic Riesling purity and elegance. It's warmer in the Nahe than some of the other classic wine regions of Germany. And the extra weight, ripeness and alcohol this gives the wine make it slightly fatter then the other three. Veering it ever so slightly towards the new world style of Riesling. Food friendly? Certainly. Drink by itself? Well, that too... I am now. And enjoying it massively!

All in all a fun exercise and a look at a classic vintage from some highly regarded producers. Thank you Wine Blogging Wednesday for giving me a chance to open these bottles and remind myself of the flavours and diversity of Riesling.

Oops, I almost forgot. What about that 1998 Auslese Riesling from one of Germany's star winemakers, Dönnhoff?

Niederhauser Hermannshöhle Riesling Auslese 1998, Weingut Hermann Dönnhoff. Nahe 8.5% alc. Nahe 8.5% alc
Pale gold. Nose of apricots, honey, peaches. Taste is apricoty, with hints of citrus, even marmalade. But not super rich. Still quite light. Lighter than I imagined it would be to be honest. Refreshing acidity. I think this is a bit disappointing to be honest. Some of the Spätlese above had more weight and concentration. Maybe I'm Riesling-ed out. But I don't think so. Maybe 10 years is a bit too long? Good, but not great.

All that acidity and primary Riesling fruit... I need chocolate now!

We had my sister and family over last night - lovely, relaxing evening. She's vegetarian, vegan in fact, and I had tried to make something vaguely interesting for her to eat - knowing that she also like fresh, local ingredients/producers.

In the end I settled on a tart. Using shop-bought pastry (who makes puff pastry anymore when the bought stuff is this good?), I started with a layer of sliced deep red tomatoes (these were the real deal - they smelt just like the ones my granddad used to pick out of his greenhouse), and then added some toasted pine nuts that I had mixed with some finely chopped garlic. A sprinkle of olive oil finished it off, and the tart was then baked in the oven for ten minutes to soften the tomato base. I then popped the tart out to add the finishing touches - a layer of fresh purple sprouting some vegan parmesan cheese substitute. A grind of pepper, some Maldon sea salt, a sprinkle of olive oil and back in the oven for five minutes. As Gordon Ramsay might say - Vegan supper DONE! (In fact, it apparently tasted quite good too... but when I went to rush for the camera for a Blog photo I'd forgotten to charge the camera battery - doh!)

Making something so different from what I normally create had me in the the mood to try something new. Mmmm - it's a bank holiday w/end so why not go the whole hog and experiment with some wines not from our own list? Yes, shock, horror, Andrew doesn't always drink his own wines. As the day had been very spring-like, and in fact quite warm, my thoughts were turning towards glasses of chilled white. I've also determined to explore some other retailers' wines in the next few months....comparing and contrasting what we stock against what else is out there.

In the end I settled on two wines from Waitrose - I've always really rated them for food if I have to supermarket shop, and their wine selection is always interesting. Went for a Vinho Verde from Portugal and a Gruner Veltliner from Austria. Both were exactly what I was looking for. The Quinta de Azevedo Vinho Verde was bone dry; almost squeakily so. Almost took your breath away. The non-veggie food was a salad Niçoise made with fresh tuna and this wine went brilliantly both with the fresh fish and with the olive oil I'd used in the dressing. And, I tried it with a slice of the tart. It worked OK with that too.

We had some fresh asparagus too (can't get fresher than just out of the soil at Q Gardens Farm shop!), instead of the more traditional green beans in the salad, and I was intrigued to see how the second wine, the Schloss Gobelsburg Gruner Veltliner would fare with the asparagus. It has always been one of my favourite food and wine combinations. Worked great - I love the mineralty in the wine and the way it plays with 'greenness' of the asparagus. Plus, the Gruner Veltliner had enough weight to work with the fresh tuna. Very well made, and pushed me just that little bit nearer to re-inventing part of our white wine listing at Surf4Wine - we used to have a very interesting Austrian selection, but it was a bit like Alsace - fab wines but not a lot of people got behind them. Maybe time to try with Austria again...!

When I was at Q Gardens Farm Shop on Steventon Hill on Sunday (they don't have a web site, so I can't link to it here - a great shame as somewhere to show people what they sell would be useful. They are one of my favourite places to buy high-quality local food. Especially now they have their own butchers with excellent local reared meat. Anyway, I digress...), I saw an advertisement for new season's asparagus on the blackboard behind the counter. A quick inquiry and I found out that the first of their outside grown crop would be available in the shop around lunchtime on Monday.

Now, we LOVE asparagus in this house! It is one of the few green vegetables that son Douglas will consume with vigour and enjoy. So, I couldn't wait to get my hands on some. The intention had been to maximise the flavour of this beautiful new-season asparagus by either steaming and serving with melted butter (very traditional), or grilling and serving with Maldon sea salt and Parmesan (all very Jamie Oliver!)

In the event, things didn't go to plan. Yes, I got my asparagus, but by the time I would have been cooking it for supper I was most assuredly not well. So, it stayed in the fridge. Until Alison took it out tonight and combined it with zingy lemons and Arborio rice, plus some of the home-made stock and leftovers from Sunday's chicken. In fact, it was an adaption of Nigel Slater's lemon and Asparagus risotto. Nigel Slater is THE food guru in our house - we are big fans of his sensible, tasty recipes and food writing - his recipes just make you want to cook! In fact, I have just bought Alison his book 'Appetite'... not so much a cook book as a way of cooking. Definitely worth buying.

Anyway, a beautiful creamy risotto was produced. A lovely tang of fresh lemons, tender but still crisp asparagus; a lovely creamy, sticky risotto. Now, I'm not drinking tonight... but I did have some risotto. If ever a dish cried out of for a particular wine, it was this dish yelling and screaming 'find me some Gruner Veltliner'. This little known grape-variety (little known in a sea of Sauvignon and Chardonnay) is most cultivated in Austria and I first fell in love with it on a trip to Austria many years ago.

Good producers Of Gruner Veltliner make wines with a definite minerally style, integrate the natural acidity of the grape, and produce very food-friendly wines. These are wine without oak. Think Riesling but with a more minerally quality, a sightly greener edge and perhaps a bit more weight. We used to have 3 or 4 on our list, but I've just realised don't have a single one at the moment. That will change very soon!

So, with the Asparagus Season just kicking off, take my advice... go down to your local farm shop (it tastes so much better from there than from the supermarket!), grab yourself some fresh asparagus and buy in some Gruner Veltliner and give yourself a real treat. let me know what you think...

Haven't blogged in a couple of days... managed to over-do it in garden Sunday to extent of aggravating my dodgy back, and compounded it being catching some nasty bug yesterday. Yuk!

However, I was just reading various Blogs that I follow (laptop perched on bed, cup of tea in hand... not the image most people have of a wine merchant!) and came across this posting from Jamie Goode over at his Blog on Wineanorak.

He was highlighting various top Aussie wines. As many of you will know, we are big fans of Australia and New Zealand here at Surf4Wine (but also other wines, in case you think we are overly New World centric... look out for in-depth Spain feature coming soon!) . It was great to see a lot of the wines that we have rated highly in recent years included in the tasting, and tasting good.

A good article, and worth a look :)

... well, I decided what to drink tonight in the end: Juan Gil Petit Verdot 2006.

I had to fill up a supplier order last week with a few cases of something and I've always wanted to try this wine since we started stocking its stable-mate Juan Gil Monastrell Monastrell over the last couple of vintages. So I took a gamble...

I had snatched a bottle out of the first crate in the consignment earlier today when I was in the warehouse, ostensibly to bring home to photograph (trying to get to grips with my new camera: Canon EOS 400D Digital SLR).

Alison made a great fish pie ( even topped the one I made for her family when they came for Easter. Damn, I have a kitchen battle on my hands as well as trying to sell wine now!), so we finished off a bottle of the new 2007 vintage of Malvasia 'Marques de la Villa'. Lovely and fresh, with plenty of zesty, modern fruit. Perfect Monday to Thursday wine.

Actually, I hadn't really intended to go past finishing the white off. But got all excited by the new podcast system coming online, nice chat online with a friend or two... what the heck. It looked so good in the photo, I wanted to try a glass!

Juan Gil Petit Verdot 2006: Intense cherry red colour. Looks deep and brooding. Ripe, juicy berry fruits on nose. Touch of spice (cinnamon?). Some licorice even. Ripe, full-bodied palate. Nicely balanced fruit and tannins - ripe tannins, but a fair squish of acidity too. Plummy, deep, rich. All in all, a big wine in every sense of the word, but not over-done and even worked with cheese.... and I'm not a big red wine and cheese fan. But that's another blog post!

OK, enough blogging for today... time to find that bottle again before Alison gets to it....

NB
I'll be updating Juan Gil's Producer Profile in next few days. Find out more about this producer there soon.