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Alexander van Dülmen

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Alps

Hisa Franko, Restaurant, Staro Selo (2nd report)

Hisa Franko, Restaurant, Staro Selo, Kobarid, Slovenia

8 points

Returning a year later to Hisa Franko, the home of Ana Ros, I’ve just had another extraordinary culinary experience.

You can find more information about Hisa Franko at https://avdwineandfood.net/2015/04/27/hisa-franko-restaurant-hotel-staro-selo/ and https://avdwineandfood.net/2015/05/03/hisa-franko-restaurant-staro-selo-kobarid-2-report/

Her cooking is among the best in the world. Almost all ingredients are from Slovenia, many coming straight from their own garden; meat and selected fruits and vegetables are sourced from the surrounding area. Continue reading “Hisa Franko, Restaurant, Staro Selo (2nd report)”

Clos Saint Joseph, Blanc de Blancs, 2014, Villars-sur-Var

Clos Saint Joseph, Blanc de Blancs, 2014, Villars-sur-Var, white wine from France

6 points

Another really special wine from Roch Zassi of vinery Clos Saint Joseph is a classical Blanc de Blancs. Please find more about the winery at https://avdwineandfood.net/2016/05/29/clos-saint-joseph-syrah-2013-villars-sur-var/#more-3729

This white blend has a very rare taste – it is pretty ambitious, considering its amazing array of flavors and aromas. It reminds one a bit of a Sancerre, with its slightly salty ground. In contrast to this, the wine is more acidic than any Chardonnay or comparable French blend. Aside from the saltiness, the wine is fresh and carries a very enjoyable minerality. There are all flavors of summer grass as chrysanthemum, chamomile and even dandelion. Elderberry, gooseberry and kiwi – a very exciting mixture: almost exotic but still grounded due to the stony tone of the soil. You would think this wine would need some time in the barrel, but this one didn’t mature in barrique – it’s only steel.

Continue reading “Clos Saint Joseph, Blanc de Blancs, 2014, Villars-sur-Var”

Clos Saint-Joseph, Syrah, 2013, Villars sur Var

Clos Saint-Joseph, Syrah, 2013, Villars sur Var, Red wine from France

7 points

Perhaps the first thing I should say about this wine: it is too young! It could be better to let this wine age one more year before selling it. Since Roch Sassi produces only a few hundred bottles per year of this remarkable red wine, it’s not terribly easy to buy wines from him. Because the wine is of great quality and has a very special character,  you would expect that his wines are pre-sold anyhow, although they aren’t.

WP_20160406_013 Continue reading “Clos Saint-Joseph, Syrah, 2013, Villars sur Var”

Foradori, Fuoripista, Pinot Grigio, 2014

Foradori, Fuoripista, Pinot Grigio, 2014, White wine from Italy

6,5 points

I don’t actually know  anyone (!) who wouldn’t praise Elisabetta Foradori as one of the most innovative, inspiring but also dogmatic winemakers in Europe – if not to say in the world. All of her wines are organic and biodynamic. She has a very strong focus on grapes which have their home where her home is: in the southern Dolomites – Trentino. Trentino is in rorthern Italy and is part of the southern Alps. The soil of this region is always influenced by the mountain area. Like wines from Alto Adige, Valais or Brda, regional wines from Trentino are wines of the Alps.

Continue reading “Foradori, Fuoripista, Pinot Grigio, 2014”

Top Mountain Crosspoint, Hochgurgl

Top Mountain Crosspoint, Restaurant, Hochgurgl, Austria

5 points

Another Pizza review! Since only this winter you can find one of probably most unique pizza restaurant at Ötztaler Alps very close to the skiing resource Hochgurgl / Obergurgl. The name is bad and without any soul: Top Mountain Crosspoint.

Continue reading “Top Mountain Crosspoint, Hochgurgl”

Riserva Mazon, 2006, Pinot Nero, Blauburgunder, J. Hofstätter

Riserva Mazon, 2006, Pinot Nero, Blauburgunder, J. Hofstätter, red wine from Alto Adige, Italy

6 points

Many months ago I already wrote about the vinery J. Hofstätter from Alto Adige. Please find all about it at Riserva Mazon, 2008

I recently opened the wine I describe but this time it was a 2006 vintage and a magnum. The wine was wonderful and confirms to me that 2006 was a great vintage for this region.

Continue reading “Riserva Mazon, 2006, Pinot Nero, Blauburgunder, J. Hofstätter”

Heritage Varone, 2007, Petite Arvine, AOC Valais

Heritage Varone, 2007, Petite Arvine, AOC Valais, Varione Sion, White Wine from Switzerland

6 points

Main reason why so many of us know almost nothing about Suisse wine probably is the grade of dissemination. You cannot get it outside of Switzerland except in some specialized store and of course if you do some researches online. Another barrier is the high customs you have to pay for any Suisse product.

Continue reading “Heritage Varone, 2007, Petite Arvine, AOC Valais”

Hisa Franko, Restaurant, Staro Selo (Kobarid)

Hisa Franko, Restaurant, Staro Selo (Kobarid), Slovenia

8 points

In reference to my previous report about Hisa Franko – https://avdwineandfood.wordpress.com/2015/04/27/hisa-franko-restaurant-hotel-staro-selo/ – I like to highlight the amazing, impressive and memorable cuisine. Ana Roš is a remarkable chef and it is completely not understandable that she hasn’t got more awards respectively she does not belongs to the circle of cooks which shall have at least one Michelin star considering uninspired food experiences in some French Michelin star restaurants.

Continue reading “Hisa Franko, Restaurant, Staro Selo (Kobarid)”

H. Lun, Lagrein, 2013

H. Lun, Lagrein, 2013, Alto Adige Red-wine from Italy

3,5 points  

Lagrein is an autochthone sort of grape of Alto Adige which gives this red-wine its name. Sometimes you can find some rosé out of Lagrein, too.

Although I do not know too much about the vinery H. Lun but it seems this belongs since not too long time to another winemaker of Alto Adige: Cantina Girlan. However, as I don’t like to spread out wrong information I will focus only on this wine. I know the Lagrein of H. Lun pretty long. It was introduced to me more than ten years ago the first time by Heide Pellmann who ran a small wine-store in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg called “Nix wie Wein”. She always has some nice but really also affordable wines which was perhaps this sympathetic lady’s biggest talent. In general a Lagrein cannot be some top wine due to the grape and its rather simple quality. At least I never made such an experience. However a Lagrein has its typical and individual character. I like it because it really differs from a lot of other tasting experiences and due its rather modest approach it can be in certain moments particularly pleasant.

Continue reading “H. Lun, Lagrein, 2013”

Hisa Franko, Restaurant & Hotel, Staro Selo

Hisa Franko, Restaurant & Hotel, Staro Selo (close to Kobarid), Slovenia

7 points 

It was on the recommendation of my friend Gasper Gabrijelcic that I visited Hisa Franko, the restaurant of one of the top, top chefs in Slovenia, Ana Roš, and her husband Valter Kramar, a unique sommelier. Since this restaurant isn’t just around the corner but located in a very beautiful valley in the South-eastern Slovenian alps, it is very reasonable that they offer ca 10 rooms for staying overnight – or for several nights.

Continue reading “Hisa Franko, Restaurant & Hotel, Staro Selo”

Movia, Veliko, 2006

Movia, Veliko Rdece, 2006, suho rdece kakovostno vino ZGP, Brda, Red-wine from Slovenia

6 points

One of the probably most underestimated or let’s say undiscovered wine country in Europe is Slovenia. The most northern country of so-called Former Yugoslavia has three very different wine areas among some real small others:  Podravje (in a triangle of Austria and Hungary), Posavje (toward south-east and Croatia) and Primoska which borders to Italy and Istria / Croatia as well. Although there are certainly interesting and even much less known wines from the first two areas the best known one is Primoska. Probably all internationally recognized wine makers of Slovenia are out of this region which lays in southern foothills of Slovenian alps along long valleys towards the Adriatic sea. Some of the wine growing areas are connected directly with Italian areas Friuli but also Venetia.

Continue reading “Movia, Veliko, 2006”

Angerer Alm, Restaurant, Hochgurgl, Tirol, Austria

Angerer Alm, Restaurant, Hochgurgl, Tirol, Austria

7 points

Imagine you are in the Alps: perhaps you associate this experience with some special music (hopefully not with DJ Ötzi, since then you would be a real freak, but perhaps with music of Hubert von Goisern: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvaqDNEppwQ), and of course with a lot of amazing nature and countryside – but probably also with typical Alpine food. This could be “Leberknödelsuppe” (liver dumpling soup), “Kaiserschmarrn” (Kaiserschmarrn), “Schweinebraten” (roast pork) or, for example, venison. Alpine cuisine is “bodenständig” (this is a wonderful word in German, but you are damned if you need to translate this into English: it is probably a mixture of down-to-earth and native). In my experience, you either get rather cheap food which isn’t terribly delicious but is quite filling – and at least it’s affordable – or you get slightly “better” cuisine which can cost you a fortune, even though you know they haven’t used the freshest ingredients. In all likelihood, the meat was frozen and probably isn’t from Tirol but rather Slovakia. The chefs are probably not even the culprits; some smart managers of hotels and / or restaurants are likely to blame. Much of this kind of food is made quite cleverly and with a lot of “show”. After two or three days, you begin to realize that the sauce always tastes the same, no matter what kind of dish you’ve ordered. There is too much sugar in the salad dressing – you can tell that they’re using spice or herb mixes  for dressing, broths, and any kind of sauces. Quite an effort at deception !

Continue reading “Angerer Alm, Restaurant, Hochgurgl, Tirol, Austria”

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