An over the top aromatic German red but how does it taste?

Posted by winesleuth in German wine | 0 comments

“I want you to be as critical as possible about this wine.” That’s not usually a directive one gets at a wine tasting at a friends house but this was no ordinary wine and it was The Wine Rambler‘s house. We had in front of us, a German red wine. Pale ruby and almost translucent in colour, we were drinking it blind and had no idea what it was made of, other then German red grapes.

Incredible aromatic, raspberry and ripe black cherries aromas swirling above the rim glass, practically jumping out and shouting smell me! smell me! I was not the only one with this opinion, some comments from my drinking companions – ‘the nose is so charming, you expect a little more from the palate’; ‘lovely nose, fragrant.’ It was almost impossible to ignore this wine, it was so invitingly aromatic. I just wanted to grab this wine and hug it to my bosom. So far, it was winning plaudits on the nose front. Now it was time for the taste test.

Cherry coca cola! Sweet, ripe black cherries, the sensation was overwhelming. I didn’t even have to think about the words to describe the taste sensation. Alas, after the initial cherry rush, it seemed to fade into oblivion. As someone observed, it ‘…could have a little more concentration on the palate.’ A very light drinking wine, it was reminiscent of a beaujolais nouveau, the flavours rushing at your tongue but by the time it hit the back of my palate, it had disappeared, like smoke on the water. If only those flavours had stuck around a bit more, this was a wine that I would have liked to have savoured.

We were all a bit disappointed that the wine didn’t have more staying power as it seemed to promise so much and then fall down at the last swallow. That was  until Torsten revealed that the winemaker, Lukas Krause is just 20 years old! Wow! When I was 20, I was just starting to think about drinking wine, let alone think about making it.

It was  a wine made by the young German winemaker Lukas Krause who is currently growing and making wines in the Pfalz. We had had the unique experience of trying a German red wine made from primarily, get ready for it…..Pinot Meunier! Yes, the same pinot meunier used to make champagne. It was blended with blauer portugieser , a red varietal once common in Germany and Eastern Europe. We tasted the Lukas Krause, Krause Schwarzer 2008, named in honour of his grandfather.

An interesting wine all round and based on his sylvaner’s, which we also tried, I can only surmise that  his red blends will improve with time. I wanted to find out more about this winemaker but unfortunately, his funky website is only in German. Lukas, please translate your page so we can find out more about you and your wines. Now, back to the sylvaners….

Thanks again to the Wine Rambler for sharing his wonderful collection of German wines with us Londoners.