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Back in the good old days before facebook, cell phones, and Love Island, there was still wine. However, it didn’t come in glass bottles, fancy cans, or even cheap cardboard boxes. That beautiful beverage of Bacchus used to be stored in large clay jars sealed with tree sap!! This not only kept the bugs (and children?) out, but also imparted a strong taste to every single sip. Since it was always there, it presumably wasn’t any more noticeable than oakiness would be today, just one of many flavors which imparts interesting character.  A bottle of inexpensive Greek retsina (yellow liquid) enjoyed at an AirBnB in Athens along with other fine, Greek wine. Yes, that is what you think it is in the background (upper right). To the modern degenerate, though, the taste of pine sap in your fancy grape juice can be surprising at best, and ghastly at worst. Palates differ, though. Pine and wine remain a popular combination in one of the best wine regions of the world: Greece. The Greek people still produce and drink wine that tastes like the good old days. They call it retsina and it is produced by many vineyards. We like it, but it’s not for everyone. Making matters worse, the Greeks are smart enough to keep the good stuff for themselves. Therefore, much of the wine exported to the US and UK can be of pretty low quality. As a result, that first cheap bottle you drink could leave a bad first impression. It would be akin to meeting a supermodel, but only after she accidentally took PCP and went on a 48-hour cavalcade of drinking and fighting across the many dive bars of Kansas City with no time to shower, fix her makeup, or even properly accessorize. Just like retsina, you might want to give her another chance.  Mediterranean Cellars’ tasting room is located in Warrenton, VA. It boasts multi-generational and decades of wine making experience. Our proper favorite wines are the retsina and chambourcin, but the ports and chardonnay are also worth a taste. So where can you get some good retsina in the states? You can try the imported section of your favorite wine store. If you are ever on the East Coast of the US, you could even try something a bit more local. The only wineries we are aware of which produce a good domestic retsina are Mediterranean Cellars and Molon Labe vineyard. Both are located in Virginia of all places. Both also have very good quality wine, but we prefer Mediterranean Cellars a wee bit more. They produce a white retsina called rechina. Having been there many times, we have it on good authority that the wise people of Mediterranean Cellars import their pine sap directly from Athens, so you will not be tasting the trees of Arlington or Richmond, but only the actual Greek stuff. This makes sense, as the founders of the vineyard hailed from the same land that gave us Homer, Heraclitus, and John Stamos. Now, if you are a bit of a wine snob, try to bracket your snootiness and give this interesting drink a shot. Some part of you out there must be bored tasting the same old Chardonnays and Pinot Grigios, so you should give it a try. You could even turn it into a quick meal by enjoying your retsina with some fresh bread, Greek feta, walnuts, raspberries, and dates.  Mediterranean Cellars’ flagship rechina (i.e., retsina) made with real Athenian pine resin. Tasting notes
Unlike traditional Greek retsina, Mediterranean Cellars’ rechina is far lighter on the pine. The judicious use of resin is more perfume-y and less overpowering, so it’s more accessible to a less adventurous palette. It tastes of:
Interestingly, this seems to get better and more complex as it gets warm. You can drink it cold, of course, but we prefer it closer to room temperature. Better yet, you could split the difference by pouring yourself a big cold glass and drink it slowly for a strange and rewarding taste experience. If you can, grab a bottle of the 2010 vintage before it sells out, as it is particularly good.
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Nick-named “The King of Wines” and “Wine of Kings”, tokaj aszú once filled the posh glasses of royalty and aristocrats all over Europe. Sadly, many wine snobs today haven’t ever had, or maybe even heard of this very special wine from northern Hungary. Hungarian wine? Are you joking? Before we started travelling, we didn’t know much about Hungary except for goulash, paprika, and the inimitable Bela Lugosi. But this one fact is true: Hungary makes some of the best white wines in the world. Learning this was extremely upsetting. All those bottles we could have finished had we known sooner. Youth is truly wasted on the young…  Hungarian wine grapes in the beginning stages of the noble rot. Tokaj aszú is a VERY special wine. More posts on it will be coming, so we’ll be brief here. The base of this wine consists of some dry local varietals (e.g., Furmint, Hárslevelű, and Sárga Muskotály). To this is added grapes who have “the noble rot” (i.e., botrytis cinerea). This is a gentle way of saying that these poor grapes got infected with a special mold which caused them to shrivel up. As the grapes are affected by this wrinkly fungal shrinkage, the flavors and sweetness intensify. Having sampled some straight off the vine, let us assure you that the taste is extreme. Then, when all is ready, the master Hungarian winemakers mix baskets (i.e., puttonyos) of these moldy little raisins into the dry wine base. The more puttonyos listed on the bottle (i.e., usually 3-6) the more of that sweet funky raisin action can be found. If you can imagine a more intense French sauternes, you are getting in the general ballpark of the flavor of tokaj aszú  A traditional wine cave in Tokaj Hungary. Notice the dark walls? The black is a special mold that is essential to traditional Hungarian winemaking processes. We were on holiday in Teplitz, which is a beautiful spa town in northern Czech Republic, when we came up with this recipe. It is a beautiful town, and famous for two geniuses meeting there for the first time: Goethe (of Faust fame) and none other than Ludwig von Beethoven. They met, strolled about the town, and had lovely chats. So, it was in this locale (and running low on tokaj aszú) that we decided to turn tokaj aszú into a cocktail. Some may call this heresy, but it seemed like a good and reasonable idea at the time. The flavor is so intense, though, that it took a bit of trial and error. We eventually hit on the “simple is better” approach and formulated this recipe for what we shall call an Hungarian Kiss. Hungarian Kiss Recipe
Two boozes. That’s it. Is it even a cocktail? When you have two genius ingredients, who cares? After all, Beethoven and Goethe were able to have a great time walking around Teplitz and chatting about whatever the hell two world-class geniuses talk about. They certainly didn’t need a third wheel cocking-up the conversation, and this drink certainly doesn’t need any silly lemon wedge or mummified cherry. Enjoy! Tasting Notes This drink is sparkling liquid sunshine. Though simple to make, it tastes sophisticated, almost celebratory. This a good drink to whip out when you’re trying to impress a date or celebrate something special. The acidity of the aszú blends extremely well with the dry champagne. To our taste buds, it seems to make the acid even more complex and lingering on the tongue. The bubbly also cuts some the pronounced sweetness of the aszú and morphs this into a far-too-easy-to-drink libation with hints of honey, apricot jam, mild pineapple, and maybe even a bit of saffron. A plus to this recipe is that you can make the admittedly spendy bottle of tokaj aszú stretch a bit further and keep enjoying it. NOTE: If you have a hard time finding tokaj aszú, you might have some luck at Total Wine and More in the US or either Sainsburys or Waitrose supermarkets in the UK.  Hungarian Kiss is only two ingredients - so not a real cocktail. However, this is something to whip up on a first date or couples dinner club night.  Some fun Czech candies (i.e., 4 sójový bars and a musli). You should give them a try. A Slavic friend once joked that these candy bars “taste like communism”. English information is difficult to come by for Sójový, bars in general, but some brands like Zora – maker of Sójový Řezy – have been in continuous production since the 1950s. Thus, they have survived not only communism, but the cold war and the many horrors of disco. Non-Czechs may be puzzled by this longevity when they first open the wrapper, though. That is because these tiny treats look like small cylindrical slices of very firm playdough. In the Sójový Řezy bar you will find no colorful layers of ganache, nougat, or caramel - and certainly no peanuts – but will only gaze upon a uniform off-white color that leans toward an unhealthy, somewhat jaundiced, flesh tone. Both the firmness and the color likely result from the main ingredients: sugar and ground soybean flour. Ubiquitous in many bars as a filler, soy takes center stage in these treats. But what do they taste like?  A Zoro Sójový Řezy bar from Czech Republic. Tasting Notes You will first notice the texture of these bars. They are quite chewy and firm. Not quite gritty, it is clear that pressure was used to form these little soy joys into cylinders. You will then notice that they are not sickeningly sweet like many US and UK confections, but pleasantly sugary and mild. Next, you will taste something seemingly unexpected for a Central European candy: tropical flavors! Though not overpowering, coconut is very much the dominant tone. Hints of artificial rum seem present as well. We should note, however, that there are other versions of sójový bars we may review later which use other flavorings (e.g., vanilla, chocolate). Coconut is the original, and from our humble perspective, the best.  Our typical candy haul when visiting Czech Republic. More posts will be coming on these strange and delicious things. We love these things. From a traveler’s perspective, they are brilliant. They are compact and resilient, too. Easy to carry in a rucksack or your pocket, they will not get crushed like many other snack bars. We’ve all had that feeling of profound disappointment when a chocolate melts or a wafer candy disintegrates into powder. This will never be an issue with the beloved Sójový bar.
As they are made of soybean flour, they also have a good bit of protein (13 grams x 100 gram bar). So, if you fancy a snack half-way between candy and a protein bar, your dreamboat has docked. We should also mention that we buy loads of these when in Czechia, and sometimes forget about them. Interestingly, they seem to stay fresh and flavorful way past the “use by date” listed on the package, but doing that is obviously up to your own discretion.  Nietzsche’s boyhood home in quaint Röcken, Germany. You can almost picture the young antichrist frolicking around… The tiny, idyllic village of Röcken, Germany isn’t known for nightclubs or theme parks. Unless you’re one of the 170 or so people who live there, Röcken may just be seem like another one of those “blink and you’ll miss it” towns scattered throughout rural Deutschland. You may only seek it out as a destination if you needed to relax for a few days or perhaps fancied a quiet place for writing. Many visitors may be unaware of the fact that a GIANT is buried in Röcken’s teeny tiny little church courtyard. No less a person than Friedrich Nietzsche lies there in final repose. Yes, author of Zarathustra, The Antichrist, and On the Genealogy of Morals. He also spent a good bit of time there when he was alive, as he lived in the house that rests on the grounds nearby when he was just a little antichrist. For our money, Nietzsche is the most important philosopher of the 19th century. His works influenced not only philosophy, but also psychology, aesthetics, philology, and literature. Always an iconoclast, he had no problem criticizing what he viewed as the more problematic and excessive parts of European culture. Sadly, his books were also prescient, and he successfully predicted some of the more terrible aspects of the 20th century. If you’ve never read his book Twilight of the Idols, you should do yourself a favor and pick it up on Amazon.  Art installation over Nietzsche’s faux grave. Rumor has it that two people mistakenly thought this was his actual gravesite and decided to make some whoopie on it. However, as philosophy is not necessarily a proper degenerate topic, we should get back to the travel bits… There is a little museum in Friedrich’s old house. Very informative place. Later, while on a tour of the grounds, we learned an interesting tidbit from the guide. One night a couple – I pictured two goths with black clothing and even blacker lipstick – broke into the churchyard and, shall we say, got a bit frisky on the Nietzsche’s final resting place. We’re not sure why he was viewed as such an aphrodisiac. Maybe it’s that irresistible walrus moustache? Regardless, these turned-on trespassers should have done a bit more reading and a bit less heavy petting: they had sex on the wrong grave. There are actually two “graves”, and the more visible of the two is actually part of an art installation. They chose poorly… And - in case anyone is wondering - we are aware of the irony of visiting Nietzsche’s grave. Were he alive, he would have found this very amusing and probably wither us to the core with an acid-tongued comment. However, we would humbly say that it’s ok to pay a little tribute to people who have been important to you. And, just to be clear, paying tribute does NOT mean having sex on top of their moldering corpses.  The true grave of Frederick Nietzsche. Assessment
This is a good place to visit, especially if you are a Nietzsche nerd. It’s not too far from the city of Leipzig and you could easily turn it into a nice history-themed day trip. Information on location and hours can be found below. The entry fee is low and it would be nice of you to give them some additional euros to help with maintaining the grounds. http://www.nietzsche-gedenkstaette.de/engl/memorial.html |
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