Headed "north" with a 2006 Hans Lang Charta Trocken Riesling and homemade Borscht.

2006 Hans Lang Charta Trocken Riesling - Rheingau

I'll start with the wine because I've been excited to crack this one open.  Rieslings are one of my first loves when it comes to wine.  This goes back to when I first started reading about wine.  Almost all my studies have begun with Alsace, France and riesling.  Although they relatively come from the same part of the world, German rieslings have a unique character that can't be found anywhere else in the world.

This "trocken" (dry) riesling was true to its label.  There was no residual sugar on the palate, but there was still plenty of aromatic fruit to go around.  As I've been re-reading some of my older wine post I realize that my strict-to-ISG standard tasting notes are not the most user friendly, so I'm going to try something new: para-phrased, sentence form tasting notes (although I still have my notebook with ISG tasting notes if you ever want to see thorough, objective tasting notes).

With a beautifully faint, yellow tinge and swift but well-defined legs, my first impression was that this wine was going to have a little residual sugar considering its 12.5% alcohol (although that is fairly high for a typical German riesling).  On the nose the fruit is sweet and very ripe.  It almost reminded me of a basket full of delicate fruits that have been sitting out a couple days too long.  Another drag at the nose and the definite mineral backbone and sweet honey and petrol notes emerge.

Then it hits your palate.  Wow, this a dry riesling.  No residual sugar, crisp but in check acidity and low alcohol give this riesling some serious body and length on the tongue.  The fruit on the palate is less expresive than on the nose, giving more evidence of bruised, ripe yellow apples and tangy, sweet persimmons.  Again, there is that minerality that does almost as much for the structure of this wine as its acidity.  I would imagine that is why good riesling, and this is a good riesling, can take some bottle age.

Check out this interview with Mr. Lang:

http://www.trulyfinewine.com/videos/winery_hanslangvideo.html

Borscht

So what do you eat with riesling?  (I guess most people ask what you drink with food, but often find myself a bit flip-flopped.)  Cold weather food of course!  My inspiration to make this Russian beet soup was inspired by the sour beets recipe in the book Wild Fermentation which was gifted to me by a friend.

First, I julienned a HUGE beet into long strips and fermented it for two weeks with caraway seeds in a saltwater brine.  Similar to my Porotos Granados recipe, I sweated the garlic and onions and then added the chopped potatoes, carrots, celery and beets.  I also added some ground, pan-toasted caraway seeds and about a tablespoon of fresh dill.  Then, I added boiling water, stired and lowered the heat to simmer for 20 minutes.

Topped with a nice quenelle of sour cream and some more fresh dill, here is the finished product: