Wine: Rolf Willy Lemberger Weißherbst

It's been more than a year since I last wrote a wine review. Does that mean I haven't been drinking wine? No way! I often drink wine, and I've been drinking more since I was discharged from hospital two months ago. My stomach is still playing up, and wine is one of the few pleasures I can still enjoy. I usually drink a glass late at night, shortly before bed.

The reason I haven't been writing about wine is because I've been drinking wines that I've written about in the past. I don't write about the same wine more than once, or at least I haven't done so until now. Maybe I'll do it if I change my mind significantly about a wine.

Over the last 12 months I've been drinking the Eberbach-Schäfer wines that I love so much, but I've also been drinking the Rolf Willy Samtrot Spätlese, which I still consider my favourite wine. It's not so easy to buy. It isn't stocked by my local stores. Apart from that, it costs about twice as much as the Eberbach-Schäfer wines.

"Weißherbst" is a type of wine that's exclusive to Germany, made according to strict rules. It's made in a similar way to Rosé wines, but it's only allowed to be made with one type of grape from one location. Most (though not all) Rosé wines are a mixture of different grapes. Another difference is that Weißherbst usually has a higher alcoholic content than Rosé, which is brought about by picking the grapes later in the season.

I'm never sure whether to drink Weißherbst wines cooled or at room temperature. Yesterday I drank a glass at room temperature, and I didn't enjoy it. The wine had an acidic taste that clashed with the natural sweetness. Today I cooled the wine first. Much better! The acidity is hardly noticeable. Despite the strong flavour of the Lemberger grapes, there's a pleasant sweetness. It's a very refreshing wine. I'm drinking in the evening as I write this, but I can imagine this would be a good wine to drink outside on a sunny day.

After a random visit to a supermarket in a nearby city I stocked up with a variety of wines that I haven't drunk before, so I'll be writing about wine more often in the next few weeks.