Posts

On the frustration of trying to open a company in Germany

-
 On chapter 37 from his Story of Wine Hugh Johnson decides to dedicate the whole extension of it to the tax system that the Prussians have created in order to favour some wine regions as it also excluded some others from entering a growing wine market.  This sort of commercial war is more than a current theme for us nowadays as this article from Wein Plus brilliantly summarizes. The way Trump has been playing with tax changes has been disruptive and has been creating uncertainty in the global markets and wine is not an exception.  I am not going to go too much deeper on this subject as there are many articles out there portraying this new conjucture and how it is affecting people all around the world. Now that I am trying to get into the business of importing wine from Portugal to Germany, I have been confronted with an unprecedented bureaucratic monster that I could hardly imagine before. To the promises of having a facilitated and fast online business registration I ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Scheurebe Reserve 2025

-
Image
Working at a wine shop you often fall into schemes of answers that you do not make too much effort to answer and you end up selling mainstream wines that reveal few character or terroir and that, personally, you would never get close to. A major part of the German public asks for Grauburgunder (Pinot Gris) with low acidity levels, not too pronounced primary aromas, dry, are you really sure it is dry, they often ask and, most of all, cheap.  This is often rather frustrating and I just indicate anonymous wines that we have in offer and as the clients leave the shop, I often forget their faces and names.  Sometimes I do fell the ambition of trying to recommend better wines as I believe everyone should be drinking better wines, but my attempts are often met with mistrust.  This is a theme that I am often confronted with when talking to fellows from other shops.  Germany offers a wide range of exciting wines and winemakers and I feel it tremendously frustrating to fight a...
Post a Comment
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Read more

Clos Henri Pinot Noir 2016

-
Image
 As I start writing this post I have just finished reading  Drunken Comportment   by Craig MacAndrew and Robert Edgerton. Besides my criticism on how the whole studies that were presented were mainly based on the effects of alcohol in non-western societies and from an outdated anthropological perspective, there were some questions that jumped out. How different people react to alcohol is one of them. Even though there is an attempt to establish a pattern, they do fail to do it. This sends me more to the personal field, saying that it is more dependent on the individual than on a certain culture.  Still,  I do believe that certain moments in certain societies can condition people's reactions to alcohol.  But I do not have a concrete conclusion on the theme due to the amount of thoughts that are still popping up in my mind in a rather chaotic way and that is something typically mine. What I have quite clear is that there is a very strong connection between co...
Post a Comment
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Read more

Hugo Mendes Amphora 2022

-
Image
There are times that I think that to be in the wine business has more to do with an insane passion for the product you are handling than anything else.  Having recently been at the 2026 edition of the Vinoble in Jérez de la Frontera, Spain, I was amazed with the amount of projects I came across which revealed a tremendous audacity and authenticity and that try to imprint a new character in the wine world.   This is what fascinates me the most about working with wine.   The passion that you can feel when you are facing a unique product which reflects a certain terroir, a particular view of a winemaker and an almost life philosophy is something that I can only recommend.  It is this passion that has led me to start importing wines to Germany. More than a business idea, it is an impulse of sharing with others wines that I find  peculiar and that can awake emotions. Just like this Amphora by Hugo Mendes. With tremendous freshness and saltiness, this i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bathoreu Trincadeira 2023

-
Image
  The gothic idyllic location of Convento de Sao Francisco in Santarém was chosen to host the 8th edition of  Tejo a Copo  where 28 producers of the Tejo region were given the opportunity to show their work. Being born in Santarém, for me it was a great opportunity to come across what's happening in the region where I was born.  Even though there were quite some wines which still tended to show an old fashioned and sort of boring expression by the use and abuse of international  grapes that do not really reflect the specificities of a fascinating terroir, there were also some really good and fresh winds of change. Among some really interesting late harvests, sparklings or low intervention wines, there were also the ones which, in my opinion, have managed to reflect the different sub regions of Tejo. One of them was this Bathoreu Trincadeira 2023.  Juicy and elegant with dominant black berries it has also presented some fascinating freshness, promising a go...
Post a Comment
Location: Santarém, Portugal
Read more

Casal de Ventozela Pet Nat

-
Image
 There are certain things in the wine world that puzzle me and the fact that Hugo Mendes is not represented in Germany is one of them.  Since I have came across his work and consequently met him in Santarém that I have the feeling that there is a high potential not only on his work but also on showing how Portugal is going through a wine revolution, redefining its own parameters as well as adapting to a quickly changing market and drinking habits.  From the projects that I was given the opportunity to try lately, I want to highlight my recent fascination with Pet Nats coming from the vinho verde region. If the one from Quinta de Amares has already conquered a fixed spot on the wines that I often go back to, today it was time for me to come across the one by Casal de Ventozela.  Made of Loureiro and Fernao Pires ( this last one quite an uncommon grape in the north of Portugal, I have to say) it has very decent citrus fruits allied with some white tea and a tremendou...
Post a Comment
Read more

Marcel Cabelier Vin Jaune 2017

-
Image
 One of the things that I miss the most from a near past is how spontaneous I would just meet someone and enjoy a glass of wine in a garden. With Spring flowering around and the temperatures considerably raising making Hamburg emerge from the lethargy of the darker months, you feel a complete different vibe all around the city: people tend to smile more, the parks start getting filled with people playing games and grilling. There is a general positive feeling all around. It was in this almost idyllic context that I was invited for a glass of wine outside.  I find it funny how there is an oiled logistic of glasses and coolers to take and soon I was sitting in a bench with a privileged view over a blooming cherry tree.  Somehow, these are the kind of moments that make you feel the world is still in order and everything will be just fine. From the wines tasted, I would like to highlight this Vin Jaune from Marcel Cabelier.  After having recently been completely fascinat...
Post a Comment
Location: Hamburg, Germany
Read more