Wine of the Month - October 2015

German Riesling is proof that wine doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg to deliver great pleasure. Provided you choose a good producer, even their entry level Rieslings can be great. Poor and mass-market Riesling will often use sweetness to mask faults in the wine and lack that electrifying quality that the best Rieslings possess - a combination of thrilling acidity and explosive fruit. This month's WOTM is produced by Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt, managed by Annegret Reh-Gartner whose husband is a two-star Michelin chef.

Wine: Reichsgraf von Kesselstatt RK Riesling 2014

Tasting note: Made from a combination of own-grown and purchased fruit from the Mosel, Saar and Ruwer Valleys. Light bodied with a little residual sugar, this wine has immediate charm, but also packs a solid extract of quince, grapefruit and lime flavours. An ideal wine to entertain guests or with light dishes, the wine's low alcohol (9.5%) and bracing acidity simultaneously refreshes and stimulates the palate.

Tolpuddle Makes a Splash at Shaw + Smith Luncheon

Producer: Shaw + Smith, Tolpuddle Vineyard

Michael Hill Smith (R) with Monopole Managing Direct Michael Chong

This year Shaw + Smith celebrates its 26th vintage. In town for a tasting of his latest wines (paired with exquisite dim sum from Jade Palace Restaurant), winemaker Michael Hill Smith MW shows no sign of resting on his laurels. Highly anticipated was the tasting of wines from Tolpuddle Vineyard, an estate in southern Tasmania that Michael and his cousin Martin Shaw had acquired back in 2011. “We went on a road trip not expecting to buy anything except lunch and dinner in Tasmania, and ended up with probably the best vineyard in Tasmania with 20-year old Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.” The north-east facing vineyard has soils composed of light silica over sandstone.

Weekend Winery Business with a Co-op

This post was contributed by Lucia Santoso, an avid wine lover, musician and traveller currently based in Germany.

Harald Weiss presents a selection of Schriesheim wines

Imagine you’ve inherited a hectare or two of vineyard. What do you do? Quit your day job and honour the family tradition by launching into the wine business? What would be the risks? Can you earn a living out of it?

First world problems, I see you roll your eyes… But in Germany this can be a real situation one would face, and there is a solution - keep your day job and run the wine business in the weekend, by joining a winemaker’s co-operative (Winzergenossenschaft), explained Harald Weiss, GM of the Schriesheim co-op.