Germany Week!

Good morning, stay-at-home-w(h)iners!

I hope you've had a great week so far, and are looking forward to some German wine tasting with the W(h)ining Army Wives this week! We had a full house this weekend, with all of our w(h)iners together, at last, to try out two white, German wines!

It was a little extra silly this weekend, but we also got some great reviews for you. Check out the recap video below!




 And now that you've seen all our beautiful faces again, let's get down to the nitty-gritty.

Leonard Kreusch 2011 Auslese

We started the night off with a white wine--of Auslese quality--with a nice $13 price tag.

As we started smelling the Auslese, we agreed it had a hay-like scent, that then brought out grapefruit and melon aromas. And a fairly strong clove scent topped off the bouquet.

When lips touched wine, the w(h)iners found a deceptively sweet wine hiding beneath the spicy aroma. It tasted, as one w(h)iner described it, like a pear puree (and also, sugar water)--very sweet, and watery. A very slight hint of a tart apple could be detected near the middle of the sip, and the entire experience was finished with, again, a slight spice with clove.

Across the board, we could not agree on balance, harmony, complexity, and completeness with this wine--with each w(h)iner having a different opinion on which the Auslese had. However, we unanimously agreed the label was ugly, and that it was a pretty good wine.

Five out of six w(h)iners classified it as a "Yum," with only one dubbing it a "Meh"--not too shabby for a $13 wine. The sweet-loving w(h)iners went on to finish the bottle, once dinner was dished out, as well.

Bottom line: Would we recommend this 2011 Auslese? Yes. 
***Especially if you are someone who likes fruity drinks, and maybe not so much wine--definitely give this one a try. It would be perfect in the summer, and maybe even in a sangria.


Clean Slate 2012 Riesling

Moving on to our second white, German wine, we went in expecting another sweet drink our majority would love.

Initial sniffing revealed an apples and pear bouquet, enhanced a little with honey and even a floral perfume aroma. It all rounded itself out with a slight peppery scent, but the overwhelming guess was sweet.

Until we tasted it. We were immediately greeted with an oddly bubbly sensation in our mouths--one that might be attributed to tannins (the dry feeling in your mouth), though we couldn't say for sure. The first real taste we could name was spice--namely pepper. As one w(h)iner so perfectly put it--"I feel like this wine smelled sweeter than the other one, but the other one tasted sweeter." There was even an oddly sour taste--one that we originally thought could be green apple, but then found that lime was the best descriptor for it.

Once we got past the sour taste on our tongues, we pretty completely agreed this wine did have a harmony, and an odd complexity to it. The label was appealing, though nothing exciting, and the cost--at $12--nice and low. This wine received mixed reviews from our w(h)iners, getting two "Yums," two "Mehs," and two who thought it was somewhere in between.

Bottom line: Would we recommend this 2012 Riesling? Maybe.
***If you're looking for a sweet riesling, divert your eyes, my friend. This is a pretty yummy--but very sour wine, that we think could go well with a light-tasting or Mexican dish. Sweet, summery wine, it is not. (The Auslese above would be perfect for that, though.)


Well, my friends, that is all we have for Germany Week. We hope you enjoyed learning about some different wines, and our surprise with these two! Have a great week, and we hope to see you next time for some w(h)ining!