[Leica] Lika Drinka Leica - Rhine wine / Alsace

[tcharara at mac.com (Tarek Charara)]

Lur-Saluces, owner of Ch?teau d'Yquem, once said that the best white wines 
in the world were german. Now, I don't know if he meant "sweet white wines" 
, being Yquem?

<m'en fous, j'pr?f?re les rouges!>

All the best from Paris!

Tarek

-------------------------------------------------
Tarek Charara
<http://www.tarekcharara.com>

NO ARCHIVE




Le 14 janv. 2012 ? 17:14, Jean-Michel Mertz a ?crit :

> 
> Thank you, Philippe, for citing me! I can only agree with your comments on 
> Rhine wines and the specificity of "dry" riesling. Yes, we (we = wine 
> lovers of the Alsace winegrowing area, on the French side of the Rhine) 
> keep our "dry" riesling, pinot gris and gew?rtztraminer bottles much 
> longer than is generally assumed. You won't believe this, the oldest white 
> wine ever (Guinness Book of Records?) is kept since mediaeval times in the 
> cellar of the Strasbourg city hospital and it is ... about 600 years old. 
> Yes. And still drinkable, I've seen that wine, I've smelt it but I wasn't 
> allowed to drink even a small drop because that privilege is left to the 
> people who are in charge of preserving this treasure.Now, concerning what 
> we call here the "Rhine wines", that is, the ones grown on the German side 
> of the Rhine, we feel they are a bit too sweet to our taste, too easy to 
> drink, contrary to the "Alsace" ("les alsace" as "les bordeaux" or  "les 
> bourgogne") whose main charactistic is the balance between acid / sugar 
> components and, I would add, between the mineral / flowery / fruity 
> aspects of such wines. Cf. Philippe.Try and taste a vendange tardive 
> (grapes harvested late in November or December - wines generally compared 
> to the better Sauternes) or better still a vendange tardive + s?lection de 
> grains nobles and you will see the world as a different place, where S&P's 
> ratings and similar irritating issues, will appear so much less important 
> than the utter pleasure of discovering the complexity of what's in your 
> glass - just one single glass, of course.Sorry, I'm being carried away, so 
> very far away from the Leitz world and reality!Jean-MichelNB. There are 
> wine shops in the US selling wines from Alsace. The producers exporting to 
> the US I can recommend are Trimbach and Beyer. There are many others, 
> though. Have a try! (to be served cool - with no ice!)
>> Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:33:19 +0100
>> From: philippe.amard at sfr.fr
>> To: lug at leica-users.org
>> Subject: Re: [Leica] Lika Drinka Leica - Bob
>> 
>> Message du : 14/01/2012 00:05
>> De : "Robert Baron " <robertbaron1 at gmail.com>
>> A : "Leica Users Group" <lug at leica-users.org>
>> Copie ? : 
>> Sujet : Re: [Leica] Lika Drinka Leica
>> 
>> 
>> ==On Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 3:06 PM, EPL  wrote:
>>> Weingut Josef Leitz in Ruedesheim on the Rhine, in the Rheingau region, 
>>> is
>>> one of Germany's better wineries. Today in the hands of Johannes Leitz 
>>> but
>>> with origins back in the 18th century, the estate owns vines in several 
>>> of
>>> the best vineyards on the Ruedesheimer Berg, including Rottland and
>>> Schlossberg.
>>> 
>>> The estate grows only Riesling grapes and specializes in late-harvest 
>>> white
>>> wines, including some which are intensely sweet, although the property is
>>> also following the German trend towards dry wines too.
>>> 
>>> The Leitz wines can sometimes be found at retail in the USA and the UK.
>>> 
>>> There is apparently no connection to the Leitz family of Wetzlar. Most of
>>> the remaining Wetzlar Leitz descendents moved to Canada some years ago.
>>> 
>>> Emanuel
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> The 'normal' price at the store in a suburb of Oklahoma City is
>> $18.99, which I don't consider particularly high for a good German
>> wine.
>> 
>> The tasting notes posted on the bin said 'dry' but as it is identified
>> on the label as 'riesling trocken' I assume it has a sweetness
>> component.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> Trocken means dry Bob.
>> Yet "dryness is a matter of local/personal taste; I consider most German 
>> "dry" wines as (way) too sweet, and good for the icecubes and sparkling 
>> water treatment :-
>> This might be due to the addition of plain sugar, or to over-ripeness of 
>> the grapes, depending on the producer. It fouls your taste just as Coke 
>> does. No structure, no details, no pleasure. 
>> 
>> 
>> A "proper", "fair" Riesling should be a highly subtle balance between 
>> sugar (yet sweetness declines over time),  acidity (the wine keeps longer 
>> then, up to 30 years contrary to common belief), and even sourness. 
>> These three basic components give the wine its skeleton/backbone. 
>> Then the place it was grown will bring in more fragances and tastes - 
>> minerality, flowers, etc. 
>> 
>> 
>> I bet the expert on the list should be Jean Michel who's been cruising 
>> the Alsace region for years on, even if for other reasons.
>> 
>> 
>> In the meantime my tip is to buy them by the dozen and open one every two 
>> years, unless at some point you feel it will be to late, and decide to 
>> invite friends.
>> 
>> 
>> Happy tasting :-)
>> Philippe 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --Bob
>> 
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