Purchased at Meijer, as a gift from Thomas and Matthias when they visited us this week, I finally had a chance to open this bottle of wine.  I am not a German wine expert, and I think relative to the number of wines produced and available in Germany, America is exposed to very few of the varietals.  Naturally, Riesling is a varietal that is widely available in America.  This particular bottle, at 9.5% alcohol, was quite sweet.  I've had several rieslings before, and they run the gammut of sweetness and color.  While I paired this with the Penne Alfredo I made for dinner, this'd probably work better with less-creamy jalepeno spiced dish or to accompany a salty dry cheese such as parmesan.  Outside of my pairing choice, I liked the wine very much.

My brother actually picked this wine out over Memorial Day.  We enjoyed it so much, I purchased another bottle for our dinner with Hope's German co-workers.  At 14.5% alcohol, this $15 bottle (Sam's Club) is smooth and full-bodied.  I am so pleased with this wine, I'd like to have a case of it sitting around.  Paired with our steak dinner, this was a perfect pair for beef.  It was not overly tannic, and would probably not go to pot with mildly spicy food.  This was one of those bottles of wine that, when finished, left me feeling completely content.  Tim picked the wine originally because of the name and the label.  Nice job, marketing guys!  Additinally, Thomas and Matthias noted that in German, when referring to being drunk, you'd say that your 'lights were knocked out'.  So this made a particularly notable impression on Thomas who split this bottle with me.  Happiness in a 750ml bottle.

UPDATE 06/22/08 - Tim brought over two more bottles of this.  One 2005 and another a 2006 vintage that seemed to be a touch sweeter and had a heavier mouthfeel.  I wouldn't compare the two, they're both great!  The 2006 has a silver cap instead of black.

I'm going to add wine to my blog.  I'm not a wine expert, I don't have a wine philosophy, these aren't wine reviews.  Unless it punches me in the face, you won't hear me refer to a wine's 'notes': tar, smoke, boysenberry, mineral, football leather, etc.  It's just a way to finally jot down my wine experiences for my own personal reference.  If it helps you, great.  On to the entry.

This Bleasdale wine was terrible.  I don't require a lot from a wine, especially a Shiraz.  It just needs to be red wine, I should be able to put it in my face, swallow it, and become drunk.  This is all I was asking for this bottle of wine.  That's why I picked a Shiraz and not a full-on cab or zin.  This wine was a blend of Shiraz and Cab (79% and 21% respectively).  At 14% alcohol, I would say the overwhealming alcohol taste was what ruined this wine.  It was rough around the edges and finished like a shot of vodka.  I am not opposed to high-alcohol wines.  I just think some of the other attributes of this wine were not quality enough to stand out against the alcohol here, I guess.  It took me two days to drink.  This breaks my one bottle-one night goal.  I was incapable of consuming this bottle in one night.  I've had good Syrahs that actually became better overnight.  So I was hoping to let it lay fallow overnight.  No such luck.  Tasted exactly the same the next day.  I think I paid about $14 for this at Sam's Club.  I wouldn't even carry a free case of this wine away from a generous doner expecting to drink it.  I would pick Miller Light over this wine when presented as an alternate option.  Should I go on?