Don’t let winter get to you – Gluhwein the answer to snow, cold and long winter nights.

Poland has been hit by snowstorms recently, so I have hit the ski slopes a couple of times. There is absolutely nothing better when you get indoors after skiing or spending an hour getting your car out of the snow then Gluhwein. I guess the English term is Mulled wine.

You can make it yourself 3or buy ready to serve after warming up. Since some of us usually don’t have the time to make mulled wine ourselves I recommend buying a ready version and adding some honey and a couple of cloves.

Since there are truly so many different gluhwein’s I won’t recommend any in particular, but I truly like the German ones best, there are variations in Poland and I have seen some French ones but trust me on this one the original German Gluhwein with some honey tastes best, and I bought a bottle at a local grocery store for 18 zł around 6$.

Enjoy!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulled_wine

On the subject of German white wines

To be honest I'm not a great fan of German white wines, they usually taste pretty “champagnish” and what I mean by that it feels they are usually more carbonated then their foreign counterparts.  This might be because I might have been a little unlucky when choosing them myself, I do remember one great wine I drank in Nuremberg a couple years back during the asparagus season, it was quite expensive however and was picked by a local. Maybe its hard to find good reasonably priced German whites when you don't know where to look, if anybody has suggestions please share them :)

A special thank you to Andrea from Italy who is the first person to donate a wine for me to write about, that is not a member of my family ;) Andrea and her husband run this lovely inn in Toscany. (http://www.lespugne.it/en/index.php)

Burgerspital, Silvaner 2008 (Germany)

First Impressions: It does taste slightly more carbonated then other whites, however I left the bottle open for two days in the fridge and I have to say it tasted really nice after airing out.

Winery: http://www.buergerspital.de/wineestate/index.html

(looks like a really nice place to visit)

Grape: Silvaner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvaner

(an interesting grape)

If you have any other wine recomendations please email me with them and I will make sure to get to them. 

The „Celebrate your new born“ combo

Now by no means I’m saying these wines are reasonably priced, but that’s not the point, these wines are a good way to celebrate a special occasion.

Barolo, Vigna D’Vai 2003 Ca’Brusa (Italy)

Grape: Nebbiolo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nebbiolo 

Brunello Di Montalcino, Villa I Cipressi 2004 (Italy)

Grape: Sangiovese Grosso clone Brunello variety http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangiovese

First Impresions:

These have a traditional red wine taste, with a fruity pallet; they have just the right strength.

Are there any differences? Well the second wine has a less fruity taste.

I didn’t drink these to anything but my guess is that it would go great with any red meat, or even a strong tasting pasta.

They did go very well with nice company and celebrating the birth of my son J.

Winery:

The Barolo, Vigna D’Vai comes from Diego Marengo’s winery.

The Brunello Di Montalcino comes from http://www.villaicipressi.it/chisiamo_ing.htm

Both wines I recommend wholeheartedly.

A trip to Italy – on the subject of great house wines.

Now, what I’m about to say will ring well with the elitist wine lovers, but who cares about that right?

Conte Ferdinando Guicciardini – Table wine (the big bottle on the left – 5L – just for comparison a regular sized bottle on the right)

First Impression:

House wines are great, they have a very original taste, are usually sold in large bottles (always a plus), and don’t hurt your pocket.

Ok I have to say that my first experience with an Italian house wine didn’t hurt my pocket at all, I received it as a gift. Writing this blog is starting to pay off already.

This particular one is very easy on the mouth, I’m guessing it has a slightly lower alcohol level which is nice because you can have three glasses a day instead of the cautious two. (Have you read “Younger next year” http://www.youngernextyear.com/ I highly recommend it, its never too early to start)

Where I got it from:

My parents just got back from a trip around Italy where they stayed at http://www.lespugne.it/en/index.php, now if any of you watched “Under the Toscan sun” it should give you a vague idea about how great of a place this is – that’s what my parents said anyway. The place is romantic, very well taken care of, and the owners make you feel right at home. I know my parents will be going back.

The wine was from a place near by:

http://www.conteguicciardini.it/cms/index.php?lang=en

Grapes: no idea, the lable just said “vina da tavola rosso” wich I guess means red table wine but I haven’t checked that in a dictionary.

What I drank it with:

Italian Gorgonzola

Polish smoked ham

Spanish olives

Went great with everything.

A special thank you to Andrea for the white wine I received from you, I will make sure to write about it next :)

The wine of this past weekend

Kanonkop Kadette 2008 (South Africa)

50% Pinotage ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinotage ), 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Merlot, 10% Cabernet Franc

First impression of the wine:

Well, the reason why I’m starting to believe that I’m more of an amateur than a professional oenophile (thank you Jeff ;)) is that I really like mixes. The Pinotage grape is one of my favorites, and has been since early wine experiences ;) What I read is that this grape is a signature grape from South Africa.

Its not a collectable item, good, solid taste, perfect for a stay-at-home weekend night.

Price and where I got it from:

Received it as a present (I think it costs around 40 zł = 12-13$)

Winery:

http://www.kanonkop.co.za/

How to satisfy your preagnant wife and enjoy a good bottle of wine in the meantime ;)

Ok so its Tuesday night and you got home late from work, your wife is preagnant, and all you want to do is drink a glass of wine and enjoy a peaceful evening...;)

(what you need – one bottle of wine, two camembert cheeses, one egg, bread crumbs, one pear, cranberry sauce and thirty minutes)

Crack open a Teanum – Favugne – Rosso 2008 (Italy) bottle and do the following:

- take the two camembert cheeses you bought earlier

- put it in egg yolk so that it covers the cheese

- when its all covered in yolk sprinkle bread crumbs on it so that they stick to the cheese

- throw it on a hot pan and fry it (I used olive oil) should look something like this:

- once it starts getting brown, flip it on the other side until it starts melting ever so slightly

- put it on a plate and add some pieces of pear along with cranberry sauce

- enjoy the wine, eat the cheese, look at the happy wife and empty plates

First impression of the wine:

The word „fruity“ comes to mind but its hard to be exact, it really has a rich palet. it should be good with read meat however I ate the camembert served with pear and cranberry sauce and it worked great.

Price and where I got it from:

Again the great http://wine-express.pl/en/italy

(however I can’t seem to find it on their website right now) it costs around 30 – 35 zł (10-12 $)

Winery:

http://www.teanum.com/index_en.htm

A great crisp white wine (perfect for dates)

My second post:

A special thank you to John Borrell who provided inspiration for me to start writing this blog, if your ever in Poland I truly recommend visiting his very special Kania Lodge http://kanialodge.com.pl/en/

Le Coq D'Oc 2009 Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc (France)

Recommendation:

A great crisp wine for dates

First impression:

This wine was truly enjoyable. A crisp, fresh taste, not harsh at all. My wife, who is pregnant so couldn’t partake in the festivities, took just a sip and loved it.  

Intresting note: goes really well with a fresh cold apple.

Price and where I got it from:

30 zł (10$) – Which is a bargain for a French wine

http://wine-express.pl/en/france

Winery:

http://www.domaine-sainte-rose.com/

Grapes:

Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc mix (less on the sauvignon side.) 

First Post - Madiba - Cinaut/Ruby Cabernet 2008 (South Africa)

The goal is to keep this blog pretty informal and simple.  The plan is to publish a photo of the bottle I just tried, write a bit about my first impression of the wine, the price I was able to buy it for, and the winery where it comes from, the grapes it was made of, and so on…

Here we go with the first post: 

Madiba - Cinaut/Ruby Cabernet 2008 (South Africa)

Recommendation:

For people who like a strong tasting wine.

First impression:

Pretty awful to be honest, it was really harsh. It might have been something I ate just before that had an impact, however to be honest I’m usually pretty easy to please when it comes to a good price, this wine however was slightly to much on the “aggressive” side

I left the bottle open for two days on the kitchen table, my brother was over for dinner and I have to say we both enjoyed it, ok I’m not saying it is a great wine, but after two days of letting it air and drinking it to chicken served with fired spinach it went down really well J

Price and where I got it from:

http://wine-express.pl/en/south-africa

Price 23 zł (around 8,50 dollars)

A little about the winery:

http://www.wine.co.za/directory/about.aspx?PAGEID=688

A little about the grapes:

Both grapes are resistant to heat and drought (ruby cabernet is popular in California)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinsaut

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Cabernet