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Jul

A Tale of Two Dishes (Tough to Pair)

Jacob Gaffney  in White Wines, Riesling, Viognier , , , , , , , ,

A standard California table wine, The Boulders Viognier 2004, goes for £5. Viognier is an ancient lady, common in the Rhone. Needs sun as it is prone to rot.

The Boulders isn’t very floral, as one would expect when the grape is grown in America or Australia. A probably a bit too heavy for such a heavy dish. But Interwined has a big belly, so here we go: Greasy and tart, some hints of orange zing, quick finish, but heavy in body. Perfect with fish and chips. By itself: 8.2.

German Riesling is the fall back guy for difficult food pairings. 2004 Mineralstein Riesling, from between the Mosel and Rhein rivers, around £7 from Marks and Spencer. The low alcohol, nice apricot aroma and peach-smartie type flavor really enhance the spice on Buffalo chicken wings (what spice is that, anyway?). The wine itself is a gem, dry and flinty, with a unbelievably long finish… If Cricket were a wine sport, Mineralstein would be it’s star.
Perfect wine Buffalo chicken wings: 8.6.

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25

Apr

Riesling & The Underground

Jacob Gaffney  in White Wines, Verdicchio, Riesling , , , ,

A 2004 Riesling from the German winery, Schloss Schonbörn, in the Rheingau proved to be the perfect pair. This wine had a slight greasiness with a flinty aroma. The body is soft and easy and swirling is unusually fun. Hint of apricots and a lower than average ABV means you can have two glasses before flinging yourself headfirst into a wall of stinky flesh and not lose your cool.

Forget the pennies imagery, come to think of it. Getting on a packed tube feels more like you’re a rusty key being sunk into a bucket of cream cheese. German Riesling with packed public transport: 8.8.

Other runners up include a Verdicchio from central Italy. Verdicchio often look like a chardonnay, but tastes better. In this case the clear, hay yellow hue of the wine was tinted with light green (thus the use of ‘verde’ in its name). The first day it was opened it was crisp and lively, if too tart. The second day all had balanced out. By the fourth day, a day that most chardonnays would spoil by, this Verdicchio tasted like a chardonnay!

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17

Jan

Late Update

Jacob Gaffney  in Writer/Actor

Sorry; went to a German wine tasting Monday night and was nursing a banged-up elbow injury last night. Truth be told, both were kinda bad. The elbow, well, that’s needed for the physical act of drinking. As for the German wine tasting, well, that was just physical. The tasting, which in itself was comprised of […]

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1

Nov

My Blog?

Jacob Gaffney  in Sparkling Wines, White Wines, Riesling, Rosé Wines, InterWined TV, Shiraz, Grüner Veltliner , , , , , ,

I would have recommended a Riesling (grape) from the Mosel (region) in Germany, flinty and fresh, but not dry…or the more exotic Gruner Veltliner (grape) from anywhere in Austria…look for tell-tale hints of white pepper…

On the blush maybe a Tavel (region) Rosé from France…but those tend to be on the dry side… Banrock Station makes a pretty crazy sparkling Shiraz from Australia…

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