I'll drink to that

Friday night was big. I went on an outing with a group of 'Spouses and Partners of...', to Caduff's Wine Loft, for a rather civilised wine-tasting.

Of course I thought, 'Great! A wine loft!', and immediately envisaged a quaint chalet high above street-level, with mountain views and the fecund aroma of a pregnant vinyard drifting through the window on a mellifluous breeze. (Not going overboard, am I?)

Well, we shed our jackets and followed a waitress through the restaurant, past (smoking) punters, tables weighed down with juicy slabs of meat, and swilling wine-glasses as big as melons... to the cellar. (Of course it doesn't make any sense at all to keep wine in a balmy loft.)

The cellar was candle-lit and atmospheric if a little cooler than the restaurant upstairs. We stood amid wall-to-wall wine racks, and were offered bread.

I have to admit that in the slightly cramped environment, I was very aware that I was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the equivalent of a $2,200 bottle of white. One wrong move could have be disastrous...

As the cellar-keeper said, "Wine is different for everyone. Mostly you have to be ready to drink it."

Here's a truncated version of his comments:

WHITES
Schlossgut Diel, Riesling, 2000, Germany
"Fruity, tropical, dry."

Weingut Robert Weil, Riesling, 1999, Germany
"Fruity and dry also, but a year older, and you can taste the change in the wine. It has a stone flavour (if you imagine a moist stone on a hot day in your hands), and a slight petrol aftertaste. You wouldn't drink this with food. It would be on its own with you reading a book naked in a hammock on a hot day."

(didn't get the name), Switzerland
"The Swiss don't drink their own wines."

REDS
Monta Peloso, Toscana, 2004, Italy
"Darker, stronger; smooth, good for vegetarian food, or red meat, venison."

(didn't get the name), 2005, Spain
"No corners, soft, round, good with pasta"

Petit Castel, 1999, Israel
"Gritty, and you can start to taste the new flavours which come as it gets older. Truffle, and dirt in the forest. Also like a horse." (Although, on consideration, maybe he meant: good to drink if you're eating horse?)

And there's a rumour that the next 'Spouses and Partners of...' beverage outing might take us to the best hot chocolates in Switzerland...