Blue Nun – German Wine Tasting Session

If I had knew that German wines were so agreeable, I would have drank German wines more frequently.
The thing is, I have sampled many wines; especially during Wine for Asia 2012 in Singapore where there’s a buffet line of wines and all you are required to do is grab a glass, grab any bottle, pour, drink, then repeat.

singapore wine for asia 2012

It was an amazing experience and I left the wine fiesta with more compounded knowledge of wines in general; from its history to tasting to the process of wine making. But as we know, there’s no end to knowledge, and the same applies in any industry.

This session with Blue Nun was another invaluable experience. Blue Nun has officially launched “The New Blue” – a completely refreshed range of fruitier style wines with a striking new packaging design.

In other words, German wines has just gotten more funky 🙂

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Blue Nun is hailed as the world’s longest-lived and most popular German wine brand. Created in 1921 by H. Sichel Sohné, it has been 9 decades of tradition and consistent companionship for the wine community of Germany.

In 1995, a change of hands occured, and the family of Franz Wilhelm Langguth took over on the condition that it continues to develop the brand and maintain its unique style.

BLue Nun wine tasting - German wines

Blue Nun is famous for its blue glass fluted bottle; which housed the originally Rivaner Riesling.  Today, the new Blue Nun ‘Original” white wine is solely produced from the classic Rivaner grape variety.

BLue Nun wine tasting - German wines-002 Rivaner

Below: The Blue Nun Rivaner, made from the classic Rivaner grapes which the Langguth winemakers have crafted to ensure a beautifully finished wine with perfect balance, softness and depth of fresh fruit flavours. This classic wine has the reassurance of the Sichel Superior Vinification.

blue nun rivaner

I have to concur with the fruitiness and softness as mentioned. I find this wine sweet; hence the term “fruity”. Its smooth, almost creamy feel on the tongue was very pleasant, especially for someone like me who dislike the “crisp” and tannin mouthfeel of most wines.

BLue Nun wine tasting - German wines-001 Rivaner

For a more “crisp” finish, The Blue Nun Pinot Grigio should be your choice. As you can see from the glass, its got “fizzi-iness”; contributing to its clean, fresh taste.

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The Pinot Grigio is rich in aromas of ripe apples and exotic pineapples; and ideal for the usual food that’s paired with whites such as pasta and fish.

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At this stage I was quite certain that Blue Nun wines are of a different class from the usual.

Even when I was served with the Pinot Noir, one of the wines of which I’m adversed to; I still found it acceptable since its tannins levels are not as astringent as the French Pinot Noirs.
The Blue Nun Pinot Noir is described as “elegant and fresh with aromas of bright cherries and flavours of mulberry”. It’s medium bodied with hints of oak and a silky texture on the palate.

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Next was something pretty melodramatic.
The Blue Nun Gold Edition is a high quality sparkling wine with very full rounded flavour. I personally loved it as it’s light and gave an elegant finish. But the melodramatic part is the fine pieces of 22-carat gold leaf that’s designed to highlight its natural effervescence in the bottle.

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Each bottle has 22-carat of gold leaves and yes, we were drinking them! As with all sparklings, this is a great apéritif for pre-dinner cocktails and hors d’oeuvres.

blue nun gold edition malaysia

The session was getting more and more intriguing. We found out too that Blue Nun has upped their game with the launch of the new ‘The New Blue’. The brand remains the same, with the unmistakable bright blue bottles but the new Blue Nun has adapted itself to modern tastes, yet without entirely losing its original character. This range boasts of fruitier and sweeter wines which are favorable to most palates, as long as you don’t have wine snobs at the table.

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The Blue Nun Pink Ice is a special quality red wine from Spain with a refined bouquet and taste reminiscent of the sweetness and aromas of fully ripened grapes. As the name implies, the pink ice is best served on the rocks, and sipped slowly to enjoy the soft, fruity sweetness.

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I kid you not that this was one of the best “reds” I have had! Ok, it doesn’t taste like your typical red, and it’s sweeter than a red should rightfully be. But then again Blue Nun wines are not your typical politically correct wines. Almost alike our Ribena drink with a slight bitter and tannic aftertaste; the only reminder that this is a wine after all, the Pink Ice was a truly lovely and enjoyable drink for me.

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Another wine that I won’t hesitate to buy and serve in my parties is the Blue Nun Eiswein Riesling.

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Served on the rocks as well, this was sweet and pleasantly creamy on the palate. Yes, again it’s fruity. Obviously that’s the reason I liked it so much. The reason why I loved the Blue Nun new range of German varietal wines, each with its own contradistinctive character and style from the usual wines.

The Blue Nun Riesling Eiswein is a beautiful golden hue with a rich, mouth-filling fruitiness balanced with a refreshing acidity; the only factor that reminds me that this is a wine and not a fruit drink. We were advised that this is best paired with desserts or served as an after dinner drink.

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Here’s a titbit about the production of this gem.

” Eiswein is the finest German dessert wine produced from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine. The grape sugars and other dissolved solids do not freeze, but the water does, allowing a highly concentrated grape must to be pressed from the frozen grapes, resulting in a smaller amount of more concentrated, delicious sweet wine.
Only healthy grapes keep in good shape until the opportunity arises for an Eiswein harvest. This gives Eiswein its characteristic refreshing sweetness balanced by crisp acidity.”

According to Blue Nun, the thing that sets them apart from other winemakers is called “Sichel’s Superior Vinification”, which basically means choosing the best vineyards and only the best grapes. That, and a huge amount of care in pressing, temperature controlled fermentation, maturity and bottling.

Have I gotten you curious? Well, the Blue Nun is exclusively distributed by Monde Cellars (Hong Bee Distributors Sdn Bhd) with branches in Pg and Puchong.
Contact:
Joyce Lee (016- 449 6618) or Jeff Ong (016 – 374 4443) for your Blue Nun! 🙂

Last but not least, here’s why the Blue Nun is so pleasantly sweet and fruity.

Below depicts the acidity, alcohol and residual sugar levels of each wine.
Blue Nun Gold Edition:

Alcohol 11,0% vol.
Acidity 5,7 g/l
Residual sugar 34 g/l

Blue Nun Rivaner:

Alcohol 10,0% vol.
Acidity 6,5 g/l
Residual sugar 30 g/l

Blue Nun Pinot Noir:

Alcohol 12,5% vol.
Acidity 6,0 g/l
Residual sugar 7 g/l

Blue Nun Pink Ice:

Alcohol 11,0% vol.
Acidity 5,0 g/l
Residual sugar 129 g/l

Blue Nun Riesling Eiswein:

Alcohol 10,0% vol.
Acidity 8,0 g/l
Residual sugar 156 g/l

If you see the residual sugar for each, then you’ll understand the sweetness of each wine! :DD
I like my wines fruity and smooth, what about you?

This Post Has 8 Comments

  1. Sean

    ooo, i’m not sure if i’ve ever tasted german wines. sounds like something to look for! hopefully more restaurants in kl will have them (but at reasonable prices, heh)

    1. rebeccasaw

      I tried some German wines before.. but I can’t rmbr liking it!
      So this one, Blue Nun specifically is really unique! I love the ones I tried that day!

  2. ulric

    I prefer more oakish-type of red wines…definitely not the sweet ones =)

    1. rebeccasaw

      Ahhh.. You’re a true wine connoiseur! 😛

      1. ulric

        No lar…just dun like those sweet wines…really gets on my taste buds 🙁

      2. rebeccasaw

        🙂
        I know what u mean. I got a sweet tooth in general though .. hahah!

  3. Kishor

    Like the way you have provided information non Blue Nun. me and my wife are blu nun lovers. My wife just loves it and wouldn’t accept any other if blue Nun is on the table. The only problem is donno know where to source the Blue Nun whites in Singapore. Any idea???

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