Octoberfest Meal

The weather remains unseasonably cool - more like late October than late September, so for the first time since early April winter style food went into the main oven to braise.  And since it was a German inspired meal the wine had to be German as well.  The wine was a 2009 Max. Ferd. Richter Riesling Kabinett from the Veldenzer Elisenberg vineyard.  I picked up this wine when the current proprietor, Dr. Dirk Richter, was in town for a drop in tasting a year ago. 

The one pot meal was pork spareribs and shoulder cuts with sauerkraut, apples, onions, and celery all braised in just pressed, local apple cider.  For the last half hour some fingerling potatoes were added to the mix.  There was a wonderful interplay between the sweetness of the cider and the bitterness of the sauerkraut and the tenderness of the pork.  A similar interplay was at work with the wine - the bitterness of the sauerkraut and the off dry sweetness of the wine were dancing while the crispness of wine sang a duet with the pork and apple cider.  Wonderful match.

After a brief blast of sulfur the wine settled into an aroma of apples and pear and that unique smell one gets when fresh rain hits dry, exposed rocks.  A very tart taste up front was balanced by a mid palate sweetness that flowed into a wonderful sweet/sour finish.  Great as it was to just sit, sniff and sip, it was even greater with the food.  Sadly, this was my only bottle of Kabinett from this particular vineyard, though there are a number from some of Richter's other vineyards resting in the cellar, and a bottle of the Spätlese from the Veldenzer Elisenberg site.

8.5% alcohol and $20