Traveling Light Relay

One of the Rieslings we had in GINI 11 is Domaine Weinbach Riesling Schlossberg Cuvee Sainte Catherine Riesling from Alsace.  First, I want to decode the words here.  Domaine Weinbach is the producer. Schlossberg is castle hill in German. Cuvée is same as the English word Reserve.  In Rhone Valley, producers produce special, deluxe lots of wine or a lot of wine from a specific grape variety that they bottle separately.  These lots are often referred to as cuvées. ((Wein-Bauer, Inc.)) So I guess Sainte Catherine is the name of the reserve lots.  According to the producer’s website, it situated half way on the Schlossberg slope. ((Domaine Weinbach))

I have always thought Alsace is a region in Germany, because Riesling is well-known in Germany.  Alsace is part of France, but it was part of Germany before.  In fact it changed hands a few times.  Riesling is probably best of Alsace’s varieties.  It is clean, apple and lemon scents, and it can smell like petrol (in a good way they say)

The other Riesling we tried was Joh Jos Prum Riesling Spätlese Graacher Himmelreich Riesling.  Another decoding is needed.  The producer is Johann Josef Prüm (Joh Jos Prüm).  Spätlese is Late Harvest in German.  Himmelreich is the name of the vineyard, which is in a town called Gracch.  So the word Graacher on the label is to Graach as New Yorker is to New York.  Finally, the region is called Mosel-Saar-Ruwer (MOE-zul Zahr ROO-ver).  The Saar and Ruwer rivers are both tributaries (streams) of the Mosel, which is the main river in this region. ((Immer, Andrea. Great Wine Made Simple, New York, 2000. Pg 246-247))  Riesling from Mosel is often described as floral, racy, elegant and finesse; very much like perfume.