Archive for the ‘Making Wine’ Category

OWS#13: Ernst Loosen Interview

Thursday, October 26th, 2006

This episode is a an interview with German Riesling extraudeair Ernst Loosen [pronounced Lohzen]. Besides mentioning that he was Decanter's 2005 "Man of the Year", I think the following quote sums him up;

"Ernst Loosen doesn’t mince words. Passionate, irrepressibly irreverent, ironic and outraged – all within the same sentence – he is a fascinating conversationalist and an erudite lecturer. He has been called Germany’s winemaker rock star and its best wine ambassador. Sandra Shoji, The Daily Yomiuri (Tokyo), April 12, 2003"

ernst_loosen.jpg

The interview was done at the Frankland Estate International Riesling Tasting by Dave Brookes – Sydney wine blogger and all-round good guy. Dave contributes to WineFront and has his own blog at www.vinosense.com. The interview is a bit hardcore but is a great insight into many topics surrounding Riesling, Germany, Australia, Washington State and matching grapes to production methods and food pairing.

For more info, here's two documents from the drloosen.com site;

If the interview sparked an interest in Ernst, try his entry level "Dr Loosen" Riesling 2004 or 2005. Cam Wheeler from Appellation Australia has a review of it here . There's a review of the more pricey "J L Wolf Jesuitengarten Riesling 2004" at winorama .

If you're having trouble with your local wine stores, click here to try the Oz Wine Show wine search feature , type in "loosen" and click "go".

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All the best, Hugo 

Posted in Blog, Dave Brookes, Germany, Hugo Sharp, Industry Insider, Interviews, Making Wine, Podcast, Riesling | 1 Comment »

OWS#4: Merlot Revisited and Effect of Vine Age

Wednesday, December 7th, 2005

Merlot has had a rough time of late, being the recipient of much bad press (need i mention the movie Sideways). It does feature regularly in lesser priced bottles but many drinkers have cast aside the entire variety as being “new world plonk”. Mick and I believe there is good in all that comes from the vine so in the next show we’re going to open up a bottle and see what it has to offer.

We thought Peter Lehmann’s 2003 Merlot ($18) would be a good starting point. A great label and a decent price, so if you’d like to join us in a tasting, pick one up before you play the next show.

Also, why not pin a photo on The Oz Wine Show Frappr map. Click here.

Hugo

Posted in Making Wine, News Review, Podcast, Varietal Reviews | 9 Comments »

OWS#2: Hunter Valley Review, How to Taste & New World vs Old World

Saturday, October 22nd, 2005

OWS#2 features a review of one of Australia’s largest wine producing regions, an explanation of what to do a look for when tasting wine and a discussion of the “new world versus old world” wine debate.

Intro:

  • During the week, Mick interviewed Matt Gant, last years “Australian Young Winemaker of the Year”, which will feature in the next episode. Don’t miss a unique opportunity to taste St Hallett’s superb 2003 Faith Shiraz with the man who made it.

    • News:

  • Research finds wine helps you socially!
  • Bubbly for Aussie Blokes says Fosters.
  • $1084 for a bottle of off-the-shelf Penfolds.
  • Wine makes France go round: Fine French wine used to fuel cars.
  • $24 bottle wins Adelaide Wine Show. The bottle was 2004 Thorn-Clarke Shotfire Ridge Quartage from the Barrossa.

    • Features:

  • Review the Hunter Valley Wine Region. The Hunter is known for it’s aged Semillons among other things and as part of the review, we outline how to taste a glass of wine as we delve into Brokenwood’s 2005 Semillon.
  • Old world snobs and wine McDonalds’ style: we open up the “New World vs Old World” wine debate.

    • All the best

    Hugo & Mick

    Posted in Brokenwood, Hugo Sharp, Hunter Valley, Krinklewood, Making Wine, Mick Barrett, News Review, Podcast, Region Reviews, Semillon, White Wines | 8 Comments »