In what has become an annual January habit…I am now in Europe, at the beginning of a massive wine-buying, story hunting road tour. Last year I found some amazing wines from Germany and France to import, a great stuffed pig’s stomach in the Pfalz, and a terrific burger in no place other than…Paris!
Today, Tuesday, January 14, I am mid-tour in my Mosel visit…where I’m paying calls to shore up relationships with some great Mosel producers (Milz, Dahm, Karlsmühle, etc.) I’ll also be on the lookout for new possible imports (I have a line on an amazing Saar winery that needs an importer…I will visit tomorrow!)
After the Mosel, I’m off to other German wine regions–the Pfalz, the Nahe, the Rheingau, the Mittelrhein–for the same pair of purposes. And good eats, of course.
THEN…I begin a road journey through southern Austria, where I’ll be hunting down some of my favorite rosés in the world…none of them yet imported to the U.S.! An elegant night in Vienna at the Kempinski–opera (Boris Gudonov) and tafelspitz will wrap up the Austrian leg.
THEN…Berlin! Where an old friend is having a spectacular birthday party…which will include a very special private tour of the Reichstag! On Jan. 25, I’ll be celebrating my own birthday in Berlin, joined by my oldest daughter, at some fabulous place with lots of wurst and brew!
AND THEN…France!
I’ll visit Opi d’Aqui, the fabulous Languedoc winery making the great Grenache I import…followed by three days at an organic wine fair in Montpellier where I will be searching for more imports. And looking for top southern French restaurants.
Lastly…an American in Paris whom I met this year has a wine palate that duplicates mine; we’re making a deal for him to be one of my “finders” in France. I’ll also be checking out new top restaurants, of course, staying for the first time at the Paris Mandarin Oriental…and capping it all of with a visit 90 miles east to the Champagne producer, Michel Gonet, that I merrily import.
It will be a trip to remember…and I’ll be telling you all about it as it unfolds.
Every Tuesday for food coverage, every Monday for wine coverage.
Guten appetit/bon appetit!
