| If you are looking for fine German wine and food, | | | | OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY All wines that we taste |
| consider the Rheingau region of central Germany. You | | | | and review are purchased at the full retail price. |
| may find a bargain, and I hope that you'll have fun on | | | | Wine Reviewed |
| this fact-filled wine education tour in which we review | | | | Kloster Eberbach Spätburgunder Trocken 2004 |
| a local Pinot Noir. | | | | 12.6% alcohol about $16 |
| The Rheingau region is the most central wine-growing | | | | Let's start by quoting the marketing materials. Light |
| region in Germany. This area is particularly known for | | | | ruby color with classic Pinot Noir aromas of beetroot, |
| Riesling which represents more than 80% of its total | | | | cherry, and earth. Dry, supple, well-balanced |
| wine production and secondarily for | | | | and-structured, this light-bodied, medium long finishing |
| Spätburgunder (Pinot Noir) which accounts for | | | | wine would match well with grilled rock Cornish hen |
| slightly under 10% of the area's total wine production. | | | | or salmon. |
| The best Pinot Noir in the region is said to come | | | | My first meal consisted of a cheeseless meat lasagna. |
| from Assmannshausen but I was unable to find a | | | | The wine was definitely a Pinot Noir. It was earthy |
| bottle. | | | | and tasted of tobacco and the underbrush. It cut the |
| The Rheingau is eighth in vineyard area among | | | | meat's grease and showed itself definitely to be a |
| Germany's thirteen wine regions, comprising about | | | | food-friendly wine. To the best of my memory this is |
| 3% of German vineyards. It is also eighth in the | | | | my first German Pinot Noir and in fact the first |
| volume of wine produced. Less than 20% of its wine | | | | German red wine that I have tasted. I'll be coming |
| production is QbA wine, the remainder is the higher | | | | back for more. |
| quality QmP wine. | | | | My next meal included baked filo dough pastry |
| Kloster Eberbach, near where our reviewed wine was | | | | covered with sesame seeds stuffed with ground |
| produced, is a former Cistercian monastery. Its | | | | chicken and peas. I topped the mixture with a |
| Gothic and Romanesque buildings date from the | | | | moderately spicy Middle Eastern salsa that included |
| Twelfth to Fourteenth Centuries and formed the | | | | tomatoes, red peppers, green peppers, and onions. |
| backdrop for a medieval murder mystery, The Name | | | | This pairing worked fairly well; the meat brought out |
| of the Rose, starring Sean Connery. | | | | the tobacco in the Pinot Noir. While the wine was not |
| The city of Eltville was known as Alta Villa in Roman | | | | as full as some other Pinot Noirs in its price range, it |
| times. It contains the majestic Kurfürstliche Burg | | | | was moderately long. |
| (Elector's Castle) which was built in the 14th and 15th | | | | My final meal was a slow-cooked beef stew with |
| Centuries. If you go make sure to visit the exhibition | | | | potatoes. The Pinot Noir was mouth-filling; once again |
| of their most famous elector, Johannes Gutenberg, | | | | it tasted of tobacco and earth. Just so you know, |
| the inventor of movable type. The castle's | | | | I'm not a smoker or an ex-smoker. But I do like a bit |
| surroundings include more than 300 varieties of roses. | | | | of tobacco in my Pinot Noirs. |
| You may also want to visit the Church of Sts Peter | | | | I had enough wine left to accompany two cheeses; |
| and Paul and the half-timbered houses near the river. | | | | unfortunately neither pairing was particularly |
| Before reviewing the Rheingau wine and imported | | | | successful. First was a Bel Paese soft cow's milk |
| cheeses that we were lucky enough to purchase at | | | | cheese from the Lombardy region of northern Italy. |
| a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here | | | | This mild cheese made the wine a bit flat. I finished |
| are a few suggestions of what to eat with | | | | the bottle with a German Limberger cheese, famous |
| indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region. | | | | or perhaps infamous for its strong smell. Luckily |
| Start with geräucherte Forelle (Smoked Trout). | | | | enough my cheese had almost no odor. But it did |
| Continue with Saurbraten (Beef Marinated in Wine, | | | | manage to kill the wine's fruit. |
| Vinegar, and Spices) and Reibekuchen (Small Potato | | | | Final verdict. I liked this wine but won't decide |
| Pancakes with Blueberry or Apple Sauce). | | | | whether to buy it again until I try several other |
| For dessert indulge yourself with brandy-filled Pralinen | | | | German Pinot Noirs. But it is definitely worth |
| (Pralines). | | | | considering. |