TN: a bunch of wines while touristing in Berlin (Sept. 2015)

J

Jeff Grossman

Jeff Grossman
My partner and I went on a trip to various destinations in Germany earlier this fall. Thanks to our discussions here I made sure to include Weinbar Rutz and Restaurant Horvath on our evening itineraries. Here are some quick notes on the wines we drank there, plus a few others whose names I managed to get:

At Weinbar Rutz:
Van Hovel 2014 Oberemmeler Hutte Riesling Kabinett "Monopole Lage" - Saar, slate soils, old vines, crisp, elegant, tends towards an exotic nose, a little RS
Koehler-Ruprecht 2012 Kallstadter Riesling Kabinett Trocken - Pfalz, slightly musty nose of old lacquer but this pairs really well with the liver
Schloss Reinhartshausen 2013 Riesling "Marcobrunn" - Rheingau, clay soils, tarter and fatter than the K-R, dense, excellent pair with mushrooms and blutwurst
Schiefer 2013 Blaufrankisch "Eisenberg" Trocken - Burgenland, described as "made with a light hand in an otherwise ham-fisted region", tannic, does not sing but can hum along with the ox and duck dishes
Dr. Heger 2014 Ihringer Winklerberg Grauburgunder - Baden, the only pinot gris on a list of 800+ wines, this is an excellent match with the richer cheeses

Ya got it? Five wines, five regions. The overall success of the flight was enhanced by the good pairings.

At Horvath:
Jamek Gruner ?? Veltliner Sekt Brut - crisp and lively, does not scream g.v. to me but glou-glou anyway
Thallern ?? Rotgipfler Trocken - slightly waxy and resinous, reminded me of the Koehler-Ruprecht, nice but not memorable
Aldinger 2014 Untertürkheimer Gips Weissburgunder - big, fragrant, savory, tactile, wow
Hummel 2012 Villanyi Kekfrankos - no Austrian red by the glass, I guess; the grape is lemberger; 2012 was a banner year at this estate but Jim calls it "shallow" and it's no more than pleasant
"Horvatini" - celery sekt, bitter lemon, and vermouth; delightful
Johanneshof Reinisch 2013 Lores Chardonnay - their website describes black soil over gravel and a light toast on the barrels but what I drank was fat oaky chardonnay, apt enough match for the nuts and cream but pretty blah on its own
Markus Huls 2013 Riesling Schiefen - heart 3; from blue slate, approximately auslese sweetness but good acidity keeps it light and likable
Fraulein Brosels Hazelnut - made from Steiermark hazelnuts, excellent nose and body, this stuff is hard to find
Destillerie Hochstrasser Quince Brandy - more spiritous on entry but a good apple-rose finish

When all was said and done we were a little disappointed with Horvath. The meal took way, way, way too long and the portions were way, way, way too small.

At Restaurant Sagrantino (yes, we ate Italian one night and we also ate Persian one night):
Antonelli San Marco 2010 Montefalco "Contrario" - this was interesting: definitely sagrantino flavor (taut, packed-earth version of sangiovese) but made with a short fermentation and raised in steel so it's not like chewing on barbed wire; still tannic, of course, but also blue-fruited and fragrant with wild flowers; I would happily drink this again if I could find it

At three other places:
Ott 2014 Gruner Veltliner - not sure which bottling, typique
Bassermann-Jordan 2014 Riesling Trocken - nothing special here
Wohrwag ?? Trollinger Trocken - I liked this one
Bod. Cortijo Trifillas 2011 - my note says "red blend" but their website is such a disaster that it's hard to know which one, I liked this one

I've omitted a few random sekts and house riesling trocken.

---

Twice, in Frankfurt, I had a post-prandial glass of calvados with a peeled medlar floating in it. I've never had a medlar before. It has the texture of an apple-peach cross but the flavor is rather more appley.

One more restaurant in Berlin worth mentioning is Das Lokal. Service was high-energy and excellent, they clearly know their wines, and the chef is a US ex-pat (Cincinnati, I think) who does the locavore style really well.

Finally, here's a snapshot of the Goth Bambi at Schwarzwaldstuben (game restaurant):
IMG_5013.jpg
 
We loved Lokal. Many describe it as a touch of Portland in Berlin. That seemed accurate to us. Decent (short but well chosen) wine list too.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
Twice, in Frankfurt, I had a post-prandial glass of calvados with a peeled medlar floating in it. I've never had a medlar before. It has the texture of an apple-peach cross but the flavor is rather more appley.
Click to expand...

Nice! I haven't had medlars in ages. They make good jam, too.
 
It was a funky, funny place. Taxidermy heads on the wall, eclectic seating, cash only (ahem!), and, well, fun 'tude.
IMG_5022.jpg
Welcome to Schwabylon.
 
Had a bit of a disappointing experience at Lokal last night. Ambiance was appealing and the service very friendly. Food was closer to busy than inspired, somewhat tasty, but never more than the sum of the lokal ingredients.

The wine list had a tiny natural section at the back. Of the five labels shown only two were available, the Mosse Pet' Nat and a 14% amphora red from Spain which they knew nothing about (said they were transitioning to a new lineup, and the menus were printed before the wines arrived).

In short, not ideal for those with a special interest in natural wine, but pleasant enough for the average Charlie.
 
I had a similar take on Lokal last year and was really confused about why it gets such good reviews. I continue to read those reviews so I began to wonder if we caught it on a really bad night. Either way, I guess you had the same luck/taste/experience as me!
 
And on a digressionary note...

I'll be in Berlin for the weekend of September 9-10, so if any regulars (or lurkers) will be there please message me.
 
Last night was Cordobar's turn. Generally lauded as having a deep German and Austrian inventory with a natural, or at least organic and biodynamic, bent.

Ambiance was a bit dark; candle-lit can be atmospheric, but this was closer to sepulchral. Not too many patrons, so, not enough tattoos. Service was efficient, but not particularly friendly.

The wine list was impressive enough, with lots of familiar names from Latin countries following the ostrogoth luminaries we had come for (but no Niks, oddly, perhaps).

On the premise that Gut Oggau is always good to go, I ordered a bottle each of Theodora and Winifred, from the same generation, thus roughly comparable. But the Winifred was no longer available, despite not sporting the out-of-stock mark that graced many. Seems to be the story of my life lately, outdated wine lists at restaurants in places as diverse as Lisbon, Venice, and Berlin. Enough to make one pine for that stab-me-with-a-pitchfork monstrosity, the tablet wine list.

Having lost my plan A, since they had both whites and reds btg f
 
Last night was Cordobar's turn. Generally lauded as having a deep German and Austrian inventory with a natural, or at least organic and biodynamic, bent.

Ambiance was a bit dark; candle-lit can be atmospheric, but this was closer to sepulchral. Not too many patrons, so, not enough tattoos. Service was efficient, but not particularly friendly.

The wine list was impressive enough, with lots of familiar names from Latin countries following the ostrogoth luminaries we had come for (but no Niks, oddly, perhaps).

On the premise that Gut Oggau is always good to go, I ordered a bottle each of Theodora and Winifred, from the same generation, thus roughly comparable. But the Winifred was no longer available, despite not sporting the out-of-stock mark that graced many. Seems to be the story of my life lately, outdated wine lists at restaurants in places as diverse as Lisbon, Venice, and Berlin. Enough to make one pine for that stab-me-with-a-pitchfork monstrosity, the tablet wine list.

Having lost my plan A, since they had both whites and reds btg from Gut Oggau (2015 Theodora and 2014 Joschuari Blaufränkisch) and Christian Tschida (2015 Non Tradition Grüner Veltliner and 2014 Himmel auf Erden), that was plan B. It was effective enough, though btg's seldom scale the peaks. Theodora was a bit reduced, so the Tschida did better. Himmel was a bit simple, so the elegant Joschuari did better. Pours were small. When I asked for a touch more of mine because Marcia's pour was bigger, the waiter walked away saying that he had actually overpoured hers. May have been true, but was hardly endearing.

The food. Better than Lokal's. No doubt. But if you compute the dead on both the Greek and Trojan sides, I'd say that, after all is left unsaid and remains undone, Lokal and Cordobar may be very different, but generate the same total on the was-it-worth-it? scale. Tonight we go to something called Wild Things.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:


The food. Better than Lokal's. No doubt. But if you compute the dead on both the Greek and Trojan sides, I'd say that, after all is left unsaid and remains undone, Lokal and Cordobar may be very different, but generate the same total on the was-it-worth-it? scale. Tonight we go to something called Wild Things.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that. I haven't been in a year, but always enjoyed the creativeness of Cordobar. No the execution is not on the level of top Nyc places, and my companions have often complained that it was too creative, but I always found it pretty intelligent food-wise. And despite the increasing number of out-of-stock wines, there have always been lots of goodies with a bit of age in the 60-90euro range that would be twice that at a comparable Nyc restaurant. So on balance I left feeling good.

I hadn't heard of Wild Things before you mentioned it, looks interesting!
 
So, last night we found something closer to happiness at Wild Things, a dive in a grubbier, more off-the-beaten-track part of Berlin (I heard it called the Turkish district).

We were given a table in a large back room with unkempt stucco walls and some graffiti; a Berlin Wall esthetic. Ended up being the only patrons in the room all evening, so there was a whiff of exile in the air. But the tapas style food was very good, and tends to be the ideal complement to a random assortment of natural wines. A 2016 Olivier Cohen Rosé Foncé was glou glou enough, though lightly candied. A delicious, frothy 2014 Sumoll SM from the hip Partida Creus. A very fine 2015 Quinto Quarto orange from Franco Terpin. Last, and possibly least, a 2015 Trollinger from Andi Knauss; not the delish Without All, just the regular that comes in a liter bottle, which I have generally found less inspiring. There was also a 2016 Le Coste white Litrozzo that I shudda got but didn't.

Things go better when you deal with the owner, who took us in hand and organized things so that wines and food arrived with something resembling a synchronized pace. All in all, quite good and real, especially if you don't need your joints to be chichi.
 
I like the way you feel no obligation to drink domestic wines!

Apparently there are a fair amount of international selections (beyond Austria) on the list tonight. Will see what we get into (although I fear your natural inclinations may not get satisfied).
 
Ordinarily I favor locals, but there was only one other German, besides the Trollinger, plus a Warnung Grüner from Kamptal. So European Union seemed to be the way to go.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
It was a funky, funny place. Taxidermy heads on the wall, eclectic seating, cash only (ahem!), and, well, fun 'tude.
IMG_5022.jpg
Welcome to Schwabylon.
Click to expand...

By coincidence we had lunch there on our last day and had that Trollinger you mention. Good gamey sausage. Déja vu thanks to Bambi.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top