Drinking the World Beer Champions!

Drinking the World Beer Champions!

I was short a few beers for a barbecue last week, so called down to my local O’Donovan’s Off Licence. Was picking out a few of my usual until manager Steve guided me in the direction of his Weihenstephaner display. I knew the name of course, knew that it was a good one, so I said I’ll have one of each please.

A very good decision as it turned out. Didn’t know it at the time but it just so happened that I had a bunch of World and European Beer Award winners in my bag. Talking about the 2012 awards here as the 2013 beers are still being judged with the results expected in September.

The Weihenstephan brewery, the oldest in the world by the way, was officially founded in 1040. Practice, it seems, make perfect!

The Weihenstephaner Vitus was the strongest of my selection and that has a couple of titles to its credit. It is the World’s Best Wheat Beer and also the World’s Best Strong Wheat Beer.

Citation: Gentle spicy aroma with sweet fruits and vineous notes. Full, rich and tasty. Smooth citrus flavour. Subtle hop and honeyed notes, bubblegum and coriander. Cloves, spiced apple and sweet grain. Good warming alcohol, surprising balance for its strength (7.7%), smooth yet potent. Good, lingering finish.

The Weihenstephaner Kristal Weissbier was voted the World’s Best Bavarian Kristal 2012. Quite a thirst quencher, it has a 5.4% abv. If you haven’t tried wheat beer, this is a good one to start with.

Citation: Clean, clove aroma. Very bubblegummy. Warming alcohol, round fruity notes and citrus. Spiced apple and clove on the palate, good full mouthfeel. Complex long finish.

The cloudy  Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier is one of my favourite types of beer. This has an abv of 5.4% and was voted Europe's Best Bavarian Hefeweiss.

Citation: Phenols and cloves on a lavish aroma. Big palate, firm and well balanced. Sweet banana, spice, caramel and bubblegum. Crisp and clean, good clove and spiced notes. Refreshing and spicy finish.

Interestingly, the World’s World's Best Bavarian Hefeweiss came from Japan, the Fujikanko Heights Beer Fujizakura Weizen.

Weihenstephaner Hefeweissbier Dunkel also brought home world gold, coming out on top in the World's Best Dark Wheat Beer category. You are heading in the direction of stout with this one!

Citation: Woody aroma, with toffee and dark brown sugar. Sweet and slightly sour, good balance. Gentle smooth body, good bready notes. Chocolatey, nutty and creamy. Light toffee on a fruity dry finish.

Intense Ehrhard Riesling and Fresh Verdelho

Intense Ehrhard Riesling

 and Fresh Verdelho

Lucky to have hit the jackpot with two recent whites, a superb Riesling from German master Carl Ehrhard and also a fresh and fruity Verdelho from Portugal.

Carl Ehrhard Riesling, Rheingau 2008, 12.5% abv, €16.47 Karwig Wines 

No shy nose here as an intense mix of floral and fruit aromas come to meet your proboscis. Colour is somewhere between lemon and gold and you’ll see micro bubbles clinging to the glass.

The palate experience is quite intense, the fruit fills the mouth and stays all the way to the lengthy and eventually dry finish. It is well balanced, delicious and digestible and Very Highly Recommended.

With great acidity and a strong streak of lime it should be a perfect match with Asian cuisine.

I recently purchased “The Finest Wines of Germany” by Stephan Reinhardt. Amazingly, the book, which profiles dozens of German producers, cannot find space for Carl Ehrhard himself but there is high praise for the area: “We might say that the Rudesheimer Berg is the crowning glory of the central Rheingau”.

Rudesheimer is the village of this wine and the vineyard, formidably steep, is Berg Rottland. The author says he has omitted many of the area’s producers, accusing them of “a rather blind pride”. Would really like to see a discussion between Herr Reinhardt and Herr Ehrhard.

But, just to cover myself, I’ll also be seeking out some of wines from the producers that did make the book, one of series that make excellent reading for anyone interested in good wine.

A few German wine words:
Spätlese – late harvested.
Trocken – dry.
Bereich – a wine district. There are 13 German wine regions, divided into 41 bereiche.
Riesling – Germany’s number one variety for quality and quantity.

Adego de Pegoes, Verdelho 2011, Portugal.

Unusually, the winemaker, Jaimie Quendera, is mentioned on the back label. Adega de Pegoes has produced and bottled quality wines since its establishment in 1958.

The Verdelho grape is not very familiar to me but some of you may know as one of the grapes associated with Madeira. This mainland use by Quendera is quite a treat, quite a treat for me also as I was given it as a present.

It is light gold with green tints and the nose is mildly aromatic. The palate is full of fresh fruit flavours that, with some traces of sweetness, reverberate around the mouth before a lingering dry finish. They say this particular wine has been fermented at 150, the better “to preserve all the freshness”. Recommended with fish, seafood and salads.
Highly recommended.

Another German Winner

Another German Winner

Would you like a break from the usual Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio? There are some terrific examples of those grapes out there but I had been looking for some alternatives recently and hit the jackpot with the Lorenz at Karwig’s in Carrigaline. And I still have some Riesling and Gruner Veltliner to try from that visit.

Lorenz Bioweingut, Weisser Burgunder, Rheinhessen 2011, 13%, less then €14.85 approx., Karwig Wines

I had to think

Ballymaloe: May date for Riesling Masters

Click on image above to enlarge

Ballyvaughan resident John McDonnell (Wine Australia) with Tim Adams (left)