Grüner Veltliner

Grüner Veltliner is a white variety grown primarily in Austria and almost nowhere else. It does however also grow in a few Eastern European countries, such as Slovakia, Yugoslavia and the Czech Republic, but the variety is mostly associated with Austria, where it has been cultivated since Roman times. The steep, Rhine-like vineyards of the Danube west of Vienna produce very pure, minerally Grüner Veltliners intended for laying down. Down in the plains, citrus and peach flavours are more apparent, with spicy notes of pepper and sometimes tobacco. The better wines from top sites have lower yields and can be astonishingly complex, full of exotic tropical fruits, white pepper and lentils. They can also show aromas of green beans or asparagus, an engaging "vegetable" smell that is seldom "vegetal", especially when grown in mineral soil. In Austria it is still very much the tradition to drink the wine as young as possible, which is somewhat regrettable; and to drink them with food, which is absolutely correct. It has a reputation of being a particularly food-friendly wine. Grüner Veltliner is perhaps the single most versatile food wine in the world, often surpassing even Riesling because of its ability to pair with "difficult" foods.

I had a bottle from the Wachau region last night and it was sublime. My first encounter with this particular wine was when I had a head-to-head with a snobby sommelier in France some months ago. It was a bit of a ego battle and the sommelier was clearly not impressed with the wine knowledge of the "so-called" imposter from the south. It was a clear case of him feeling inadequate due to some questions I asked him on a particular matter... no surprise there... Champagne! Now for those who dont know it... sommeliers in France simply "will not be outplayed" on the field of Champagnes...but this sommelier in question came up short. So to redeem himself, he put in a "sucker punch" with his questions to de-rail my proverbial knowledge train. And this is where I stunned him with my reply to his question: What is the most difficult food-and wine pairing? Easy game (i said to myself): GV and asparagus!

heartland

I was waiting

I waited for a long time

In the dark shadows beneath grey skies

In the dark shadows in the silence of my mind

You must have seen me waiting

It feels like forever that I have been waiting

In the emptiness of this broken landscape

In the emptiness of my heartland

One day it will come back

I am confident that it will return to me

It will come from a distant land, over the waters of the sea

It will be carried with the dust and sand of the north wind

My heart will return

Yes, my wounded heart will come back to me

It will stop the rain and blot out the sun

It will bring with it the smell of blossoms to my garden

I waited

I have been waiting for so long
The dark shadows have now gone
And this heartland has been restored

i crave the night

it is evident all around me. the scars of what weakness is capable of is there. it has taken me all this time to get here. to the top where i can look down and see it for myself. see for real the havoc and the pain. i realise today that i am a poison. i am a thorn in your side. if i could take a picture and never forget this moment. how i crave the night where i can hide my scars. i am not looking for sympathy. i don't need anybody to tell me what to do. i dispise the weight of their words and how heavy it weighs around my shoulders. as if they could know. as if they would understand. i will find my way. i will find a hole. i don't need force or voilence to crash my way through. no i don't. but i am out of my depth. discarded and naked. exposed and empty. lonely on the outside but my faith holding me down. i find confidence in a knowing deep within that nobody can see. a knowing nobody can steal. going there is like a dream. i fade away in a haze. what has happened to the reality of it all. or am i now a prisoner in my own slumber. it remains the cause of this surreal calamity. my need is to find an answer. as to where i belong. my hope has turned into signals of anguish. they said time heals all wounds. but this misery has become a substitue of my time. therefore i crave the night. to hide the scars laid bare. where there's no need for anybody to lay their heavy words upon me. i need to find that dream. or cry myself to sleep.

i guess it's better if i run

i've never felt so restless. are these times contagious? will it pass or am i doomed for another season? i can't handle it no more. or is it just my imagination? i've never been this bored before. what is this prize that i've waited for? it all seems gone and forgotten now. while i sit here with the hours passing. is there nothing left here for me to do? i yearn to find the messenger. will he instruct me what to do? but i am afraid the mailbox remains empty. there is only a heap of frustration left behind. what if i run? what if i decide to go? it will be a long way to run. but i can make it. yes i will make it in the end. only just. if i decide to run. but i hang around. desperate to find the cure. or i can sell myself and regain the sanity i once shared. to buy a picture of old memories and safe places in my head. i am starting to process the awakened qualities that i always had. but i don't know how to handle them anymore. i guess it's better if i run.

in retrospect

over the last few weeks i have come to the realisation once again that life is made up of seasons. some are good with the sun shining. others are less favourable. and then you get the outright terrible and challenging seasons. you sometimes stand in the middle of a situation and you cannot for the life in you remember how you got there. on other occasions you did not really question how you got there cos it was pretty good. i mean – you only question the bad one right? so once again i find myself in one of those in between seasons. as a matter of fact it feels like i have been there for a long time. perhaps i did not recognise the earlier seasons of this journey. but i have put every experience in the bag. and i am walking on. like i said season come and seasons go. the time is around the corner where this season will change once more and i cannot help to stop and take a look back down the road that i have been on. what i value most are the interactions that i have had with people and rediscovering friendships that add value to my life. while on the other hand unplugging some others that have become dead wood. life is like that. look at a vineyard. every winter it needs serious pruning where sometimes more than half its wood gets cut and thrown either on the ground or in a fire. this is done to preserve the vine so that it can blossom in the spring and give fruit in the summer. and seeing that my purpose is to bear fruit i myself have to go through this pruning session. so what else is lies behind me in the road? months in a city i truly enjoy, yet it has left me with an empty feeling. i guess i had a different expectation. i thought it would work out differently. it is nobody’s fault. it is just the way it played out and i have to deal with it. some adventures lurking down the road. more opportunities. but none bigger than the much anticipated return to the south.

life for rent

I haven't really ever found a place that I call home

I never stick around quite long enough to make it

I apologize that once again I'm not in love

But it's not as if I mind that your heart ain't exactly breaking

It's just a thought, only a thought

But if my life is for rent and I don't lean to buy

Well I deserve nothing more than I get

Cos nothing I have is truly mine

I've always thought that I would love to live by the sea

To travel the world alone and live my life more simply

I have no idea what's happened to that dream

Cos there's really nothing left here to stop me

It's just a thought, only a thought

But if my life is for rent and I don't learn to buy

Well I deserve nothing more than I get

Cos nothing I have is truly mine

While my heart is a shield and I won't let it down

While I am so afraid to fail so I won't even try

Well how can I say I'm alive if my life is for rent...

lyrics: by dido

never know

when i sit down to write a song
i never know where i should start
to say the words because it rhymes
it has been done too much for me to try

i get up weary and turn around
i never knew we’ve got so right
it feels the same as every time
i’ve come to say that special line

when i sit down to write a poem
i never know what i should say
to speak of you as summer rains
is falling short of ending ride

i get up weary and turn around
i never knew we’ve got so right
it feels the same as every time
i try to say that special line

we get up to walk away
i sometimes doubt if i should go
when i walk out and fly away
i never know when i will return

i get up weary and turn around
i never knew we’ve got so right
it feels the same as every time
i try to say that special line

lyrics: helmuth meijer