Author Archives: elineouwehand

Pre WSET3 studying involves some wine tastings. Which are definitely not my finest moments. ‘Oh yes, I recognise it, but I can’t place it’, are my most uttered words I believe. Right now I feel like I can sample about three or four wines, before they all begin to smell and taste the same andContinue reading “Is blind wine tasting really that hard?”

As we are rapidly approaching the holidays & festivities, it’s always good to prepare for this. What kind of wine to accompany a certain food? Just stick to some simple basics: For beef a bit of power is needed for beef, big, round, in your face full-bodied wine, whether it’s a red, rosé or a white,Continue reading “Some basics”

Sometimes I pick up a couple of wine bottles while travelling. Souvenirs. While in Bremen, Germany, I got myself a nice Riesling: Hexamer Meddersheimer Rhine Grafenberg. Limited edition, I might add. This Riesling was in honor of the ‘Schaffermahl, which is the world’s oldest annual fraternal banquet. Schaffermahl The Schaffermahl or ‘mariners’ meal’ is a proudContinue reading “Limited edition”

And here it is… October… And this means in the city of Leiden, the Netherlands, an annual celebration takes place on October 3rd. What celebration you might ask? Leidens Ontzet Leidens Ontzet is the celebration of the liberation of the city of Leiden during the Siege of Leiden in 1574, during the 80 Years War,Continue reading “October”

Yes, you, Laurel Glen! A while ago, I got the opportunity to go to Laurel Glen, which is located in Glen Ellen, California. While this is indeed charming, not much seems to happen here in this little village. But looks can be deceiving. Next to some really nice restaurants, you can also taste some niceContinue reading “Laurel Glen, I love you.”

During my little roadtrip in Napa & Sonoma, of course a must see/visit was the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. You can get the full Coppola experience in Geyserville. Next to the wine tastings, also on display is a lot of Coppola movie memorabilia, such as the desk used in the movie of all movies, theContinue reading “Francis Ford Coppola Winery”

Travelling around gets you in unexpected places. One of those is Santa Barbara Wine Collective. Not knowing much about Santa Barbara county wines, it turned out to be a great and quick lesson to get up to speed on this region. While walking around Santa Barbara, I stumbled upon a nice warehouse space  (originally housing theContinue reading “Wines of Santa Barbara”

Hunting wine is not always easy. Hunting t-shirts is neither (well, this time). While on a mission for the latter, I found myself in downtown Napa, Ca, on 920 Franklin Street to be exact. At a nice little tasting room called Outland. Outland is a collective of three winemakers; Forlorn Hope wines, Poe Wines andContinue reading “Outland, Napa.”

Claus Preisinger is young and talented biodynamic winemaker from Austria, with a philosophy of creating clear, strong and confident wines. Maybe not a wine you might quickly pick in the winestore, Zweigelt is a red grape developed in 1922, by crossing the St. Laurent grape and Blaufränkisch grape, in Austria, by Fritz Zweigelt. Currently it isContinue reading “Zweigelt by Claus Preisinger”