Aldi St Amandus Beerenauslese

blorg

Anyone know if this is still available anywhere? (Not in Parnell St.) Anyone had this Beerenauslese? I'm fond of German sweet wines when they have acidity and are not flabby. Now I am not expecting _great_ things at €5, but it is only €5!

pjq

I'm not a lover of sweet wine ,, but I get it for the older members of the family , who like it sweetish. I tried the Beerenauslerse , and found it very pleasent , and so did they . In contrast the Eiswein at €9.99 for 50cl was way too sweet and honeyed for those who prefer it red and dry and even the old sweeties took it Sauergespritzte ( with fizzy water) . I can recommend the Ausslese ( in a blue bottle) from Aldi which the sweeties also appreciate .

blorg

Well this is the thing about German sweet wine, it can have a refreshing acidity along with the sweetness. I did get a bottle of the Eiswein which I thought was OK, not great, but kicking myself over missing the Beerenauslese. I wasn't exactly expecting great things, but at €5!

Is the Auslese a permanent thing? The Eiswein and Beerenauslese were just in on the special offers.

If they like it sweet, you should try serving up your oldies some Pedro Ximenez. That would show them!

oblivious

pjq wrote:

In contrast the Eiswein at €9.99 for 50cl was way too sweet and honeyed for those who prefer it red and dry and even the old sweeties took it Sauergespritzte ( with fizzy water) .

For 9.99 I wonder if this is really an Eiswein. Production of this wine is notoriously rigorous. It take 4-5 pounds of grapes to make a table wine but around 40 Kg or more to make a Eiswein , also the grape must be harvested at -8c or it not technically an Eiswein.

pjq

Blorg,
The Auslese ( blue bottle) is a permanent item for +-€6 . Are you sure that the others are one-offs , they are in Aldi's xmas catalogue ?

Oblivious ,
I don't know if its real Eiswein , but the Germans who own Aldi would not dare to mess with such a pillar of Order and Regulation ( Eiswein Law) ,or?
pjq

blorg

Yes, unfortunately I thought they might be permanent but both the Beerenauslese (all gone) and Eiswein were located out of the off-license bit with all the other specials. Also despite Beerenauslese being one rung up from Auslese it was priced at €5 (I presuming they are both from the same producer.) pjq- have you tried the Auslese?

oblivious- I am pretty sure it is real Eiswein, it had all the standard stuff (QmP, region, grape, etc.) on the label and I believe that these terms are highly regulated. I know the production process but I am sure there are shortcuts that still fall within the regulations, certainly I have bought Eiswein in Germany for €10 before (and generally it would be pretty much as expensive there as here!) Anyway producer, etc. is going to be more important than the technical quality level.

pjq

Sorry it's not an auslese , the blue bottle is "Gutes Domtal QmP Spätlese Rheinhessen Niersteiner 2003/2004" for €4.99 for 75cl , dont let the price put you off , it's very drinkable ( if you enjoy it sweet) .
The Eiswein is on their website and it says "Try a glass with that special Christmas dessert – as long as it isn’t too intensely chocolatey" so...sweet wine and chocolate dont mix??
And the Auslese "made from individually late-harvested, fully-ripened hand-picked grapes,mainly from Ortega and Optima"
PJQ

blorg

Might well give the Auslese a go.

I'd think sweet red dessert wines maybe go better with chocolate - things like Port/Maury/Rivesaltes/Banyuls or Recioto. Personally I am also fond of Pedro Ximinez which is technically a white wine although you might not know to look at it, it tends to be quite sweet and viscous. The whites can go better with something a bit lighter; this can be especially true of German wines which can have a bit of acidity. Muscat is probably one of the few whites that can work well. I have had to work on this one as besides my affinity for dessert wine, chocolate tends to be my favourite dessert!