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Lewis & Clark reach the Pacific Ocean on this day in 1805. Clark's first words upon seeing the vast body of water were, "O! The Joy," which is often the same expression said by consumers of Encyclopedia wines after their initial taste. |
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  | Bavaria, we were told by someone from a more northern part of Germany, is that nation's Texas. That is to say, southern, conservative, suspicious of foreigners, and speaking a nearly unintelligible dialect of the language. I might add a few myself: loud, friendly, and aesthetically inclined toward oversized, tacky things (see also: 1L beer steins, Baroque artistic tradition).
Would that, then, make Austria Germany's Mexico? No, Germany's Mexico is Poland and if I assigned Germany two Mexicos my paradigm would be ruined. Perhaps Austria is Germany's Dirty South then? Well, no. Switzerland is obviously Germany's Dirty South. If you go through the lyrics of Youngbloodz' "Ridin' Thru Atlanta" and change all mentions of "Atlanta" to "Geneva," the rhymes remain so uncannily accurate it is as though John Calvin himself had earned the songwriting credit.
Pic: The sun sets awkwardly on the figure of Austrian military might and imperial supremacy.
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 | One day. Just one day do we take a break from wine and look what happens. Now, more than ever, my allegiance is set.
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 | I didn’t think I’d find myself wearing a one-day-worn-too-long-post-
Federweißenfest-hoodie when I’d be tasting the oldest wines I've tried to date, but here I am. I’m on the Mosel River, in
Bernkastel-Kues, at a spontaneous dinner party playing our new favorite
game, Name That Wine.
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On weekends, the Viennese flock to the outskirts of town, for hikes, wine and spectacular views of the city.
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| The historic Hospice de Beaune began making wine over five hundred years ago when town chancellor Nicholas Rolin founded the hospital and donated land to its nuns. The oldest winery in Burgundy, its sixty-one hectares of vineyard parcels were all donated from various benefactors over the years. Itself a charitable institution, the Hospice holds the world’s oldest wine auction, and this year many of the proceeds will go to cancer research. The auction is held every November, and the negociants are already tasting new wines in the Hospice’s cellars, deciding which of the 2008 barrels they will bid on. On this day, Arnaud Orsel of Francois Frere graciously agreed to take me to the winery and cellars of the Hospice de Beaune to taste this year’s vintage from casks that are expected to fetch prices in excess of 100,000 Euros.
Pic: Tasting a Batard-Montrachet chardonnay.
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| In 1986, a child was born to American parents amid the turmoil and turbulence of a world torn asunder by infighting between Germans and tourists--a child so ornery that he threw hysterical fits at the sight of animals, the game Operation, and especially windmills.
Now possessing means and sophistication, he’s returning to Bernkastel a changed man in an unchanged land, seeking wine, sausages, and perhaps atonement for his dark past so many decades ago.
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| A quick stop in Salzburg on the way to Vienna led us to Mozart's childhood home, and now a museum. This picture shows his first aid kit, a box of herbs...part of his luggage while he was on tour. Quite different than what these wine correspondents carry in their baggage...at this point, mostly dirty clothes, EmergenC and wine.
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| During a brief stopover in Beer Country (Munich), I stumble upon an unusual site...
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 | Gonzalo caught in the act of cheating on wine, at the biggest bordello of all, the Hofbräuhaus in Munich...
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 | Since Ben, Holly and Gonzalo just wrapped up a visit to the Federweißenfest in the storybook town of Cochem, I wanted to offer a few more interesting facts about Germany's favorite fall beverage.
- Federweißen, which can also be spelled Federweisser, literally means “feather white,” and is named for its cloudy color.
- This "new wine" is sweet, lightly effervescent and is still fermenting. Because of this, bottles of Federweißen are not corked or fully-sealed, and are always stored upright.
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The French, as we’ve seen, are great lovers of the pleasures of the senses: as the Burgundians told us, theirs is a culture of “food, wine, and sex.” They are known to indulge in a few glasses of wine, perhaps paired with a hearty meal and/or some sex.
However, they are not voice-raising, fist-banging, tabletop-dancing, falling-down-in-the-middle-
of-the-day-as-an-oompah-band-plays-in-the-background drinkers.
There is a different word to describe this kind of drinker, and that word is “German.”
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| "It's a round moon tonight," our waitress said.
Yes, it's a full moon, for me it’s a plump moon over the romantic Rhine River in a village whispering fairy tales. A full moon after I had just
eaten a very full Trout: still in tact--head, bones, eyes, skin, all of
it--at Kurpfalzische Munze in Bacharach, Germany.
Let me explain why it's good to drink wine on full moons...
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| To those who see wine only as the intimate beverage of candlelight and conversation, to those who believe wine belongs to the aristocrats, and to those who doubt the reckless imagination of a wine-worn night, I offer Cochem, Germany in early November. I offer Federweißenfest. For every year, hordes of Germanic Germans make their way up the Mosel River to this riverside splendor; the annual watermark of another harvest done, another year gone. An epic embrace of all things loud and beautiful. During our two days in one tent, the pulse of the village, the region, and the country were stuffed under a white tarp, soaked with wine, and set free. To those who believe wine love is a quiet love, KnoWine says nay, Federweißenfest says nay, Germany says nay!
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| Aside from the fruit in Burgundy wines, the other crucial ingredient is oak. Not just any oak, only the finest quality French Oak. We visited Francois Frère, a century-old cooperage based in Burgundy. They not only make barrels for their French friends, but wineries around the world.
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| A new favorite feature of mine on the Wine Correspondents section of this website is the Current Location button. Located in their personal page, you can now view an interactive map of each Correspndent's travels since they left their homes late last month. We'll update their maps regularly with photos, fun facts and links to corresponding Journal entries as Ben, Gonzalo and Holly continue their wine adventures.
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After a day of eating at the Gastronomical Fair, and endless days of
wine, we decided to cleanse our palates and systems with a dose of
Mother Nature, in the lovely Alsace Winemaking Region with a picnic
lunch, on top of a mountain.
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| The people have spoken. After days and days of tallies and tabulations, the results are in. Through both comments and e-mails, our citizenry participated in what was surely a historic decision. And though it came down to the wire, we must learn to accept the decision of the majority. The car is everyone's car, even those who may have voted for a different name.
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