Anyone who has ever visited England knows that the phrase “a nice cup of tea” means so much more. It is an irreplaceable moment that is as calming and soothing as it is encouraging and invigorating, and one emerges all the wiser and more competent for it. In 1946, George Orwell wrote an article for the Evening Standard in which he set out eleven rules for making a “nice cup of tea”. I don’t agree with Mr. Orwell’s list and think it is totally outdated, so I shall post my own golden rules for brewing a pot of tea.

1. There are various processing methods for tea producing six main types: white, green, oolong, black, scented, and compressed. Excellent qualities are available in all categories with at least 3,000 different sorts of tea available world wide. There is no need, like Mr. Orwell, to limit one’s self to only black teas from India. Important is the quality of tea, that it is loose leaf, and that it has been carefully stored. It should be stated here that the quality of tea available in tea bags has greatly improved over the past years. Despite their convenience there remain some disadvantages. Tea bags often release too much tannin because they contain smaller pieces of leaf and lack the fine subtlety of larger loose leaf tea. Tea bags also loose their flavor more quickly. Despite this, good quality tea bags are indispensable for the traveling tea connoisseur.

2. The quality of water for brewing tea is also of utmost importance. Fresh spring water is the best, while soft water, permanently hard water (containing CaSo4), or distilled water are acceptable. Tap water containing chlorine and fluoride that tastes like a swimming pool or temporary hard water (containing CaCo³) are completely unsuitable. With inferior water the tea will not only be dull and flat, if let to stand for only a short time a scummy film will form on the surface.

3. Tea should be made in a suitable teapot. A lead-free pewter pot is excellent for strong teas such as Ceylon, African, and Assam. Porcelain or china are ideal for lighter teas such as Darjeeling, oolong, and green teas. Another consideration is the Yixing teapot made of unglazed stoneware which keeps the tea hotter than porcelain and with time acquires a lining which gives its own flavor to the tea. One should have a different pot for each sort of tea and should never use soap, only fresh clear water to clean their interior. The teapot should be warmed in advance. This is easily done by filling it with freshly boiled water and emptying the teapot shortly before brewing the tea.

4. Tea should either be put directly into the emptied, pre-warmed teapot or into a suitably large infuser in the pot. Small tea infusers such as a tea ball do not give the leaves enough room or enough contact with the water. A swiss gold tea filter or other large infuser is a better solution. One teaspoon of tea per cup plus one for the pot is the general rule for portioning, but this will vary according to the type of tea and personal taste.

5. To bring out the full flavor of tea, plenty of oxygen should be in the water. Black and oolong teas should be infused in water that has just come to a rolling boil — take the teapot to the kettle. You can leave yourself a little more time (take the kettle to the pot, make some toast, read the front page, etc.) with white and green teas for these types generally prefer water between 70° and 95°C for temperature recommendations for individual teas, ask your knowledgeable tea merchant.

6. Stir the tea or give the infuser a few vertical plunges. Put the lid on the pot or over the infuser and leave to brew for the correct number of minutes, depending on the type of tea (again, you may ask your well-informed tea salesperson). If using an infuser, lift it out of the teapot. If the tea leaves have been put directly into the pot, decant the liquor into a second warmed pot. This will keep the tea from becoming over-extracted and bitter. The tea leaves may be use again for a second pot of tea.

7. Just as with wine, the enjoyment of tea includes the appreciation of color and scent. The delicate light golden liquor and green muscatel perfume of a Castleton first flush, the rich red color and smoky fragrance of a Lapsang Souchong, the bright yellow-green and subtle scent of a Gyokuro, or the dark translucent amber liquor and malty full-bodied aroma of a Napuk are just a few examples from an entire world of culinary enjoyment. Adding milk to a cup of tea destroys the very first impression and a bright translucent liquor with many different hues telling of its geographic heritage and production methods is turned into an indistinguishable murky mud. The habit of putting milk and/or sugar in tea should be reserved for children or for nasty, poor quality teas that are otherwise undrinkable. Should one for some other reason feel absolutely predisposed to put milk in tea, it should be remembered that this severely spoils the flavor of all but the most robust teas. Should one decide to cloud one’s tea with milk, whether the milk or tea is poured first is purely a matter of personal preference. There is some logic to pouring the milk first in order to reduce the risk of scalding the milk, which would make it even more unpleasant.

 8. A pre-warmed bone china teacup with a handle is my own personal preference for enjoying a good cup of tea.

Despite its bad reputation, the word “disillusion” is a beautiful, positive concept. “Dis” means to free or divide and thus dis-illusion to free of illusion or false ideas. The German translation, “ent-täuschung”, is the same. I like it: die Täuschung ist vorbei. Let’s get over it.

It’s been a tough road, but here I am in December 2009. I’ve had a fabulous, exciting year. I affectionately call it my year of disillusionment.

My year began in a remote monastery at a retreat for meditation and rejuvenation. The theme was “letting go and starting new”. Over the following months as I grudgingly let go of the illusion. Illusions may appear beautiful, but sooner or later they bust apart. Then you are left with reality. And reality is … well it is what it is. Once I accepted that my life seemed to grab me and pull me back into its stream. Miraculous things began to happen.

I have a very good man in my life who showers me with affection, support, and encouragement. I have tremendous respect for him, as he does for me. We’ve shared a lot of amazing adventures together this year.

My 14-year-old daughter is a source of joy and light for me. She’s in the eighth grade this year. Although her friends and social life are pretty much the main focus of her life at this point, she does make time for her mother and I treasure every moment. There is a special wisdom about her – an old soul and a young spirit. She’s one of my greatest teachers.

As everyone knows, you don’t just loose your spouse in a divorce, you typically loose other people that once played an important role in your life as well. There are disappointments, but your real friends remain and you also make new ones. Time has passed and I find myself surrounded by a lot of sincere, warm hearted and caring people; inspiring people that are making a positive difference in their communities and our environment.

Surrounded by all this support and inspiration, life began to happen again. And it has swept me off my feet! It has taken me to three continents and 12 countries this year. I am a student of the Institute Masters of Wine. Work has been productive: I co-authored and/or edited several wine books and numerous articles. I was able to re-unite with old friends and extended family members and kindle new friendships.

The highlights of this year were certainly my two trips to North America. The ultimate highlight was my trip to the USA with Sophie. She was able to get an inside view to “my culinary San Francisco” before enjoying many memorable experiences with family and friends in the Pacific Northwest and tons of family she never even knew she had in my State of birth, Minnesota. Another fabulous trip was with Gerhard. We began on Vancouver Island and travelled down the west coast to San Francisco visiting lots of friends and family and all the wine regions along the way. As far as my studies and work go — it’s pretty amazing. Success can be measured in many ways. I may not make a lot of money, but I get to travel to a lot of beautiful places and meet inspiring people and support projects that contribute positively to our environment and society. I feel incredibly blessed to be able to make a living at something I love, at something where I feel I make a positive difference in this world, however small. To top it all off this year, I won the prestigious IMW Yalumba Scholarship which took me to Australia for studies and an internship.

With all this travelling, the frequency of extensive mountain tours on skis or by bike have decreased dramatically. I’ve been hiking and walking, but that is not vigorous enough for me. I don’t really like to run, especially alone in unfamiliar places, so I’ve started doing early morning aerobics wherever I happen to be. It’s a compromise, but not a long-term substitute for what vigorous mountain activity does for my soul.

My goals for 2010? A more sustainable lifestyle. A return to more mountain tours. Increased engagement in my community, in particular for immigrant integration. Working to make the wine industry a leader in environmental and social responsiblity. A new website. A couple new books. Good results on the MW exams.

And my most important duty of all? Just plain loving and living a good life! I owe that to myself, my partner, my daughters, my parents, and all the people around me!

„Die Presse“ veranstaltet gemeinsam mit dem Weingut Höpler ein hochklassiges Weinseminar. Durch den Abend führt Weinakademikerin Julia Sevenich.

Das Seminar kostet nur 55 Euro (statt 120 Euro).

Donnerstag, 21. Jänner 2010, 19 Uhr
SAS Radisson Blue, 1010 Wien, Herrengasse 12
Anmeldungen an leservorteile@diepresse.com bis 17. Jänner
2009 Kennwort „Weinseminar“

diepresse.com

Louisa Rose, the chief winemaker at Yalumba has invited me for a Viognier Breakfast today, or better said, she has arrived here at Percy’s with a chef and several appetizing looking bottles in tow.

Louisa, or “Lou” as she is affectionately called by her friends and colleagues, has been a winemaker since graduating at the top of her class from Roseworthy in 1992. Since 2006 she is the chief winemaker here at Yalumba. I’ve been able to observe Lou at work this week. She’s a no-nonsense woman that shoots straight from the hip. She’s honest to the point of being blunt, but the reason she can pull this off with such admirable grace is that not only does she have an impeccable palate and is extraordinarily good at what she does, she is also a very fair, honest and warm-hearted boss and colleague.

One of Lou’s great achievements at Yalumba has been her work with the Viognier grape variety and the creation of one of Australia’s great icon wines – “The Virgilius” Viognier. Indeed, the amazing popularity and success of Viognier in Australia is largely due to the efforts at Yalumba.

It is worth recalling that back in 1968 there were only 14 hectares of Viognier growing in the northern Rhône in the tiny appellations of Condrieu and Côte Rotie. Not much of it was growing anywhere else in the world. Due to the variety’s demand on climate and difficulty in the vineyard, it had become nearly extinct, having been replaced by easier and more predictable varieties.

I heard that the Hill-Smith family family fell with the variety on a trip to the Northern Rhône. I wasn’t able to confirm that, but I do know that they planted 1.2 hectare of Viognier on their Vaughan property in Eden Valley in 1980. They experimented with it quietly for about 10 years before subsequently extending their Viognier vineyards not only in the Eden Valley, but in the Riverland and Limestone Coast regions of South Australia. Much of Australia’s Viognier vine material actually originates from the Yalumba estate nursery.

The clone used for nearly all of the early plantings was the Montpellier 1968. In the late 1990’s Yalumba initiated discussions with other great Viognier makers around the world and placed cuttings from their best vines into a clonal development program at the Yalumba Vine Nursery. This work continues today where Yalumba, after years of observation, have selected 11 of the most successful clones for its youngest Viognier plantings in the Virgilius Vineyard on Flaxmann Valley Road in Eden Valley.

The original vines in Eden Valley were planted on their own roots, but these new vines have been grafted just as Yalumba’s other subsequent Viognier plantings have been grafted. Although there has not yet been phylloxera in South Australia, that pest is not the only reason to graft vines. In a replanting environment in the Riverland, Ramsey rootstock is used to help combat nematodes, salinity and drought. In the Limestone Coast Teleki 5C and Paulsen 1103 are used as they have good lime tolerance and reasonable, but not excessive vigour to cope with the shallow limestone soils.

Louisa Rose says, “Getting the cropping levels right early in the season is the biggest challenge. If the vine is left with too much fruit it will struggle to develop sufficient canopy to set the berries and ripen the crop. If the vine is struggling then leaf health is severely affected. If over cropping occurs on young vines it can take a number of years for the vine to recover due to poor cane development and the vine ends up with stunted growth and poor spur or cane positioning.”

The Virgilius

The flagship Viognier was conceived as the white partner to the flagship Barossa Shiraz called Octavius. The name “Virgilius” stems from the Roman poet Virgil who was also friend and mentor of the first Emperor of Rome, Octavius (Augustus). After nearly twenty years of experimentation, the Virgilius made its debut in 1998.

Virgilius is sourced from the best Viognier vines from the Eden Valley. Viognier can be notoriously high in alcohol and flabby due to it inherently low acid. This is because it needs to be really ripe before it develops all those lovely peach and floral aromas. And when Viognier finally does ripen, it ripens very fast. Louisa monitors the ripening progress diligently and gets her team out there to pick quickly in the cool early morning hours to preserve that precious acid.

To minimize the high phenolic content, she practices whole bunch pressing. Structure, balance and longevity are her goals with this big-bodied wine so it is fermented slowly with indigenous yeast in used French oak barrels. The wine remains on its lees for 9-10 months. Only the best barrels are chosen for the final blend.

The Breakfast

Lou presents the entire line-up of Yalumba Viognier with our breakfast. We have two variations of eggs Benedict: one with spinach and Barossa ham and the other with smoked Pacific salmon. All three of the dry white Viognier wines pair superbly with the eggs. We began with the 2008 Yalumba Y Series which exhibits excellent varietal character with jasmine and white peach flavours. The 2008 Yalumba Barossa Eden Valley is a bit more rich and intense with apricot and peach laced with a little citrus and orange blossom – I really enjoyed this with the Florentine version of the eggs. The Virgilius is a really sexy wine and I really have to hold myself back. (It would be easy to sit for a few hours enjoying this, but do still have a day of work ahead of me.) The 2008 Virgilius has intense aromas of peach apricot and ginger spice. It is wonderfully textured and displays well-balanced structure with vibrant acid and integrated alcohol. The finish is very long and mineral and while this wine is generous, it is by no means blowsy. I adore it with the salmon and the Hollandaise sauce. In the tradition of the northern Rhône, Yalumba also produces three dry red wines that are Shiraz blended with a small amount of Viognier. This adds a discreet floral components and bright yellow stone fruit to dark briary Shiraz. The 2008 Y Series Shiraz Viognier is reminiscent of crushed raspberries and rhubarb with a bit of cinnamon and jasmine. This is a jazzy medium bodied wine with soft juicy tannins and actually goes pretty well with the salmon. The 2006 Yalumba Barossa Eden Shiraz Viognier is a deeper darker wine with plum and black raspberry fruit and a cedary juniper berry component. The 2007 Yalumba Handpicked Shiraz Viognier is a complex wine with blackberry, honeysuckle, wild heather, dried apricot and a hint of roasted coffee. The tannins are abundant and very fine-grained and the finish lingers long with an array of spices and fruit. Yalumba also produces a sweet botrytized version of Viognier in adequate vintages. The 2008 Wrattonbully Hand Picked Botrytis Viognier is absolutely delicious with the fresh fruit. The superb ending to our meal is the Yalumba V de Vie, which is the pure, clear distilled Viognier.