Good drinking...with a conscience!

Many thanks to the those bohemian wine fanatics at Blackheart & Sparrow’s for raising some much needed dough, with a little help from Heart & Soil, for North Melbourne’s super-duper Lort Smith Animal Hospital. The premise was simple enough; for every bottle of J.J Christoffel Urziger Wurzarten Riesling Trocken sold to their punters, Heart & Soil and Blackhearts would donate two bucks to the good fellows at Lort Smith. The wine sold well and we wrote a cheque in three figures (which, at the very least, is better than a poke in the eye with a shitty stick). Thanks to Paul & the team @ Blackhearts.

And now, as if by magic, a bit more shameless self promotion:

Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Ürziger Würzgarten Trocken Riesling, 2007, Mosel Valley (Germany). Sold Out

“The Ürziger Würzgarten (or spice-garden) is one of Germany’s most famous vineyards. Its wines are fine and minerally, with a thrilling struck-flint aroma and chalky palate. There are floral and baked-apple aromas, too. In the mouth, it’s dry and nervy, and really grows on you as you sip. It’s a properly ripe trocken style, with relatively high (13 per cent) alcohol. A great fish wine, to drink over the next five or six years. Screw-capped.” Huon Hooke, Gourmet Traveller Wine, Feb/March 2010.

In the Press (Keller, Cleray)

Gourmet Traveller Wine, Dec/Jan 2010

2007 Château du Cléray Muscadet Sèvre-et-Maine Sur Lie, Loire Valley (France)
Muscadet is definitely a wine for drinking, not tasting! Made from the melon de Bourgogne grape (nothing to do with muscat!), it has a palish colour, both chalky/mineral and wet-wool aspects to its aroma, and a tangy, lip-smacking acidity. This one is perhaps less austere than some, with better softness and less sulphur. It’s balanced, properly dry and very enjoyable, especially with a simple omelette made with onions, bacon and mushrooms. HH

2008 Keller Trocken Riesling, Rheinhessen (Germany)
This comes from one of Germany’s warmer regions, the Rheinhessen, where drier-style riesling should be easier to make than in colder places like the Mosel. It’s a lovely drink: the fragrance is floral, herbal and faintly honeyed with a hint of struck-flint adding to its complexity. In the mouth it’s intense, steely and very fine, with just a trace of sweetness, finishing perfectly clean. It’s a seamless, harmonious riesling with nothing out of place. Drink it now and for five or six more years. HH

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