Wie die meisten “gut organisierten” Events, startet auch diese mit Verspätung.
Allerdings sind wir Blogger ja beschäftigt und bloggen schon mal los.
Ein ereignisreicher Tag steht uns bevor!
The 4th Annual European Wine Bloggers’ Conference will start tomorrow, October 14th. More than 200 bloggers, journalists, importers and wine lovers from more than 34 countries will attend the 3 day conference in Brescia.
Tour du Vin is attending this exciting event to try amazing wines and to share with you our new discoveries.
Nicht nur die von Ingrid Salamon auf ihren Reisen in Sachen Wein aufgenommenen Photographien, sondern auch der von ihr ausgewählte Wein kam bei den geladenen Gästen sehr gut an. Die hervorragende Käseauswahl von Feinkost Schmalenberger ergänzte das Angebot und machte den Abend zu einem gelungenen Genuss rund um das Thema Wein.
Freitag, 10. Dezember 2010, 18.00 bis 22.00 Uhr
ART HOTEL LAUTERBACH, Fruchthallstrasse 15, 67655 Kaiserslautern.
Das ART HOTEL LAUTERBACH präsentiert:
Kunstwerke, die man trinken kann!
Tour du Vin – eine Reise in die Welt des Weines
mit Fotographien von Ingrid Salamon.
Für das leibliche Wohl wird gesorgt mit
Champagner von Ludovic Joseph – Winzertalent aus der Champagne
und Weinen von Tour du Vin (Germany) GmbH, Trippstadt
sowie Käsespezialitäten von Frischedienst Schmalenberger.
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wir freuen uns, Ihnen unser erstes “Tour du Vin Magazin” vorstellen zu können.
Es enthält interessante Informationen rund um das Thema “Essen und Trinken”, Menü-Vorschläge mit Rezepten und passenden Weinen zu den Festtagen und natürlich spannende Angebote zum Kennenlernen unserer exklusiven Winzerweine.
Sollten Sie Ihr persönliches Exemplar noch nicht erhalten haben, schicken Sie uns einfach eine kurze Nachricht, damit wir Ihnen postwendend die Ausgabe “Tour du Vin Herbst/Winter 2010″ noch zukommen lassen können.
Viel Vergnügen bei der Lektüre wünscht Ihnen,
Ihre,
Ingrid Salamon
OIV Master of Science in Wine Management
What a weekend!
We would first of all like to thank all those who attended the gourmet events featuring Paul Cluver Jr. of the Paul Cluver ‘De Rust’ estate in South Africa’s cool climate Elgin valley. To celebrate the launch of Paul’s wines in Germany, with Tour du Vin as the exclusive importer, we decided to take a road trip to the most exclusive and trend setting restaurants in 3 major cities: Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt, as well as Martin Scharff’s star decorated Wartenberger Mühle right here in the heart of the German wine region. What better place to show off what the Paul Cluver Noble Late Harvest Riesling is capable of! No need to rush to our online shop however, as we are already sold out of this very rare bottling!
With four successive events in four days, needless to say the pace was pretty fast as we raced from city to city. But with Paul’s great attitude and sense of humor, the entire trip felt like an adventure punctuated with fantastic dinners, great wines, and most of all, an amazing group of wine lovers who came out to meet Paul. Some of you had already experienced Paul Cluver’s wines in South Africa, others were just discovering this world renowned talent. In every case, it was very refreshing to speak with internationally minded guests and witness the genuine interest for authentic wines beyond the European borders.
Looking back at this exceptional tour, the most striking thing is actually how different each evening was. From the setting to the food, the context in which Paul and his wines were presented offered a completely different perspective on both!
Hamburg: Süllberg Seven Seas
The first stop was Hamburg’s Süllberg “Seven Seas” restaurant, with a specially prepared 4-course menu by star decorated TV chef Karlheinz Hauser.
Sullberg's "Seven Seas" star decorated restaurant TV chef Karlheinz Hauser with Tour du Vin founder Ingrid Salamon
Amuses w/ 2009 Elgin Sauvigon Blanc
Then we had the 2009 Elgin Riesling Noble Late Harvest with an amazing Foie gras dish, Karlheinz Hauser’s specialty. Unfortunately, it was so good that it disappeared from our plates before the photographer could snap a shot!
Filet of Bretagne Turbot with truffle infusion and celery w/ 2009 Elgin Chardonnay
Duo of Iberico pork with pearl onion, polenta and Pimentos Padron w/ 2008 Elgin Pinot Noir & 2008 Elgin Seven Flags Pinot Noir
Small, flower-scented mango torte with cocoa and lemon grass
What start of our Tour du Vin with Paul Clüver! Karlheinz Hauser’s delicious fois gras served with granny smith sorbet was a perfect match with Paul Clüver’s Riesling Noble Late Harvest, a true rarity. As a matter of fact we went from one delight to the next and Paul Clüver’s Chardonnay, as well as the Pinot Noir together with the Seven Flags Flagship made a real statement: pure elegance from South Africa thanks to the cool climate region has Michelin Star class.
We are proud to say that the entire range of Paul Cluver wines have been listed on the Süllberg’s prestigious wine list!
Berlin: Cookies Cream
The next evening at Cookies Cream Berlin was a completely different experience to the Süllberg, with a gourmet vegetarian menu by one of the most trendy chefs in the German capital, Stephan Hentschel. It’s amazing to see what creative cooking can accomplish with only the freshest produce, but also how well a vegetarian menu can pair with wine!
Paul Cluver entering Cookies Cream Berlin
The Cookies Cream menu:
Apéritif : 2009 Paul Cluver Elgin Sauvignon Blanc
Mache with Bamberger Hörnchen potato w/ 2009 Elgin Chardonnay
Stuffed pepper & potato pie with Crotin de Chavignol cheese w/ 2008 Elgin Pinot Noir
Nougat mousse with Avocado creme w/ 2009 Elgin Riesling Noble Late Harvest
A real challenge for any wine but gracefully mastered by the Riesling Noble Late Harvest was the creative dessert Stephan Hentschel had come up with. It was only the second evening out of four, but it already was evident how well Paul Clüver’s wine can be paired with the most different food styles. Even the most delicate vegetarian flavors came out extremely well with the Paul Clüver wines, which astounded quite a few of our vegetarian guests.
After a quick sight-seeing tour through Berlin, it was time to get something more down to earth to recalibrate out taste buds: a typical “Curry Wurst” from the famous Curry36 stand, before we had to head back to the German wine region, where Paul Cluver could prove that cool weather elegance and finesse could also be found in South Africa… given the right conditions.
Paul's very first Curry Wurst! Best paired with a cold beer 
Frankfurt: Weinsinn Weinbar
The Weinsinn Weinbar offered a more casual and intimate atmosphere which fueled a seemingly more open and passionate discussion around the wines, but also more general topics such as the evolution and internationalization of taste, or even the true identity of the city of Frankfurt. It was great to share some thoughts with like-minded defenders of personality & individuality!
Paul Cluver inpects the old meat slicer at the Weinsinn Weinbar
The Weinsinn menu:
Salmon tartar w/ 2009 Elgin Sauvignon Blanc
Pike filet with lentil salad and Chorizo butter w/ 2009 Elgin Chardonnay
Entrecôte with melted duck liver, herb mushroom and thyme polenta w/ 2008 Elgin Pinot Noir
Kaiserschmarrn with plums and honey ice cream w/ 2009 Elgin Riesling Noble Late Harvest
A great menu which really brought out the classic varietal aromatics in the wines! The salmon tartar was wonderful with the refreshing Sauvignon, and the Chorizo butter gave the fish dish an extra something to accompany the intense Chardonnay flawlessly. The preparation of the steak was ideal and the pink center had a texture to match the elegance of the Pinot Noir. Before the Kaiserschmarrn even came out, the sweet Riesling aromas already had me picturing a fruit pie and honey. This dessert seemed to mirror exactly what was in the glass. Well done!
Wartenberger Mühle The tour ended just as it had begun, with a luxurious star decorated menu, but this time, in the heart of the Pfalz. Paul would have to catch a flight early the next morning, and Martin Scharff‘s delicious meal was a perfect send off. A well earned reward after a very long weekend!
left to right: Paul Cluver, Martin Scharff, Ingrid Salamon of Tour du Vin
Last minute planning with the sommelier
The Wartenberger Mühle menu:
Amuse bouche Variation w/ 2009 Elgin Sauvignon Blanc
Carabiniero Gambas on a salad of green asparagus with avocado, mango and "Dragon Head" herbs w/ 2009 Elgin Sauvignon Blanc
Yellow-finned mackerel from the grill on a sweet potato curry with ginger-lemon foam and African blue basil w/ 2009 Elgin Chardonnay
Duo of South African farm goat on colorful bean assortment with corn slices and Seriette herbs w/ 2009 Elgin Pinot Noir
Orgie of Uganda vanilla with Cape gooseberries, baby pineapple and lemon balm w/ 2009 Elgin Riesling Noble Late Harvest
From start to finish, we had another great star decorated dinner with a more South African menu which Martin Scharff had carefully selected. Again we experienced a perfect match and a true delight.
For Paul and myself who had the opportunity to taste all four dinners in a row, dinners prepared by 4 different chefs with four completely different styles, we both felt extremely lucky to have had this very unique opportunity to experience Paul Clüver wine behavior in this intense and compressed way. Despite the fact that we will have to intensify our sports programm to loose the 2 kg gained in 4 days….. But it was indeed a true lesson of “complexity” of a wine! We’ve been lucky enough to experience Paul Clüver wines’ complexity at its best.
A big thanks goes to each of the our four chefs who prepared this unforgettable evenings for us!
For those who missed out, we’re currently offering a specially priced sampler pack of Paul Cluver’s wines. Even if you had a star decorated chef at home, it still wouldn’t be quite the same without Paul and the other wonderful guests to share them with, but we trust you can enjoy them just the same!
More pictures are available on our Facebook page, and don’t forget to sign up to our newsletter to stay informed about upcoming events, or check our events page often! Hope to see you around next time!
Evolving palates
After more than a decade of focus on intense, ripe and powerful wines lead by the American palate and a certain influential wine critic, elegance is making its comeback on the international wine scene! Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a rich, juicy red from time to time, but the new generation of wine drinkers is rediscovering the virtues of a more contained and fresh style as well: aromatic subtlety, purity of terroir expression, and drinkability!
So what makes elegance?
While in the Robert Parker days, winemakers were able to induce richness and concentration following recipes involving heavy extraction and new oak barrels, elegance is a quality that is born in the vineyards. A region’s climate plays a very important role in allowing grapes to ripen slowly, while developing a wider palette of subtle aromas and a livelier expression.
While this style is traditionally a hallmark of “old world” wines from Europe, certain pioneers like Paul Clüver have sought out special, cooler micro-climates in South Africa’s Elgin Valley for instance, which are more adapted to the production of elegant wines. Elgin is a high mountain plateau, protected by the mountain ranges, and enjoys the cooling influence of the sea close by. All the right conditions are gathered for crafting wines of finesse.
Elgin Valley, South Africa’s leading cool-climate wine region
Cool climate varieties
But climate isn’t everything. Winemakers must know which grape varieties to focus on in order to draw the full potential of the vineyards. Certain grape varieties only truly express their greatness in cooler climates, such as Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Noir for example. These grapes can’t just be grown anywhere with success, whereas other varietals such as Chardonnay or Syrah/Shiraz are more flexible, and offer very different, but equally interesting styles depending on their origin. Riesling is the ultimate cool climate grape variety however, with its roots in Germany at the northernmost limit for grape growing. The fact that our preferences are leaning more and more towards elegance is probably no stranger to its growing success!
Paul Cluver wines are exclusively imported in Germany by Tour du Vin.
September 9th through 12th: Paul Cluver comes to Germany in person for a gourmet tour through Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt and the Pfalz!!
Ever wondered what this popular buzz word actually means?
Although it is commonly used in the wine trade to describe the specific combination of soil type, micro-climate or exposure of a particular vineyard, true terroir runs much deeper than mere geology. While specific vineyard attributes and a given vintage’s weather conditions make up the first two pillars, the third and we think most important facet of terroir is the human factor.
While the passionate men and women who express a region’s natural environment are often forgotten, we were very happy to see them at the center of the definition of terroir made official in the recent resolutions taken by the international governing body and authority on wine: the OIV* (Organisation Internationale de la Vigne et du Vin).
“Vitivinicultural “terroir” is a concept which refers to an area in which collective knowledge of the interactions between the identifiable physical and biological environment and applied vitivinicultural practices develops, providing distinctive characteristics for the products originating from this area ” (Resolution OIV/Viti 333/2010).
Sounds complicated… in short, it means that the “collective knowledge” of the people who have made the wine for generations is just as important as the “physical and biological” elements such as soil and climate, which we usually associate with terroir. From the type of grapes that they decide to plant, to the way in which the wine is made from those grapes, humans have not been left out of this definition. Quite the contrary, it would appear that there can be no terroir without some kind of consensus as to how humans should “interact” with their shared slice of nature.
At Tour du Vin, we like to take this a step further. While we also think that a region’s wine “community” develops a certain style and know-how, we also believe that individuals have an even greater impact on the wine which goes into the bottle. To the collective human factor of terroir, we add the personality of the man or woman which has labored in the vineyards and taken all the major decisions in the cellar which make their wine unique.
This is why we suggest browsing winemakers by personality rather than region!
* OIV : at Tour du Vin we have a particular interest in the OIV’s activities, since not only do their decisions influence the future of wine, but their educational branch is also responsible for the elite, on the field Wine Management Master program which took us on our original “Tour du Vin”: a full year of traveling throughout 26 different countries to meet with the most influential producers and decision-makers in the wine sector.
Through this program, we have not only perfected our own wine knowledge at the leading international wine institutions and through daily tastings directly at the wineries, but we’ve also developed a network of insiders throughout the world’s different wine regions, allowing us to stay one step ahead of game and present you with the stars of tomorrow!
Between Bastille day and the Tour de France events, France has taken center stage this month at Tour du Vin. After dominating the international wine world for centuries, France had lost a little bit of its edge, with the New World of wine such as Australia, Chile or Argentina generating enough excitement to put France’s supremacy into question. Also, aided by its gastronomy, Italian wine has shot up to new heights since the 90s, and with a more modern, youthful approach, Spain has been following the same path to international success.
While countries which are only now discovering wine, such as China, are heavily focused on France, and in particular Bordeaux, other key export markets such as the UK or the USA are reaching out to new regions and French wine has slowly been on the decline. And yet, or maybe precisely because of this, there is an incredible amount of movement within France’s vineyards, both outside of the mainstream, as well as right in the heart of important regions such as Champagne and Bordeaux.
This is what we tried to convey at our Revolutionary French Wines tasting in Frankfurt at the Weinsinn wine bar last Wednesday (check out a blog review at Blind Tasting Club). With a good group of interested wine lovers, we poured 3 of our most interesting wines:
It’s always a pleasure to meet new wine lovers and share very special bottles which embody the excitement that is currently going on in France. We hope you join us at one of our next events. If you would like to try these three wines at home, our sampler pack is at a special price until the end of the month.
What a great evening! The Champagne theme was perfect to beat the summer heat, starting with a refreshing strawberry Rossini cocktail to cool the guests down as they took their seat on the beautifully decorated terrace at Trippstadt’s Immenhof Restaurant.
Joseph-Bouché’s Champagne Blanc de Blancs was served along with a delicious lobster cocktail including hints of fruit (including pineapple!) which complemented the very refreshing Champagne perfectly! This was a big hit, and the sommelier for the evening would have loved to cool off with a glass of the Blanc de Blancs himself, had he not been offering refills to the very happy dinner guests. This Champagne definitely goes down smoothly!!
A big part of our job at Tour du Vin is to give you the background info on interesting wines, and this was especially true with the Larmandier-Bernier Champagne Rosé de Saignée Extra-Brut which we served along with the main course of Venison! First surprise: the color. Resembling a red Burgundy (it’s made from the same Pinot Noir grape) this is not your typical rosé, and it has the structure and body to go with it! This is why we poured it in a red wine glass, rather than the typical Champagne flûte. Everyone agreed that the venison was a perfect match, and we were quite happy to have offered this new experience to our guests.
After the gustatory explosion of the main course, Joseph-Bouché’s Champagne Rosé made for a more refreshing finish to a perfect meal. Everyone took it easy on the terrace as the sun started to come down, including the Immenhof Restaurant’s Mr. & Mrs. Kerschnitzki who were extremely pleased with the evening.
We were also very pleased to meet a friendly group of wine lovers. And as you can see, Tour du Vin’s Ingrid Salamon was also quite happy to talk about her favorite topic with fellow connoisseurs: Champagne!
Overall, a huge success!!
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