Much to drink you still have, young Padawan

More wine (including one of the best non-champagne sparkling wines around), accompanied by yet another plate of unremarkable pasta. Oh well, even poor students need to eat and drink from time to time.

Basic and unremarkable

And now for something a little different...

Friends of the Neapolitan tailoring tradition be warned: These photos may contain the exact opposite of your viewing habits. In the first picture, you can see a traditional Austrian jacket with nehru collar and bellows pockets. The last one shows a bolt of silk lining which is commonly used in these jackets. In between is my version of a contemporary women's blazer which I designed for my girlfriend. If everything goes well, it will turn out rather sharp and Tom Ford-esque with full-cutaway quarters, narrow skirt, shirred shoulders and rounded back hem. It should be ready for a first fitting in march.

Wine, Vibe and Gesang

The other night, I was drinking one of my current favorite wines. Guess what: A white. Guess what again: A Riesling!

Gernot Kollmann, known to the wine geek as former winemaker for Roman Niewodniczanski's Van Volxem (another one of my favorites), has revived a once-famous estate called Immich-Batterieberg in the Mosel Region. The estate's few hectares are planted with Riesling — and Riesling only. The name originates from the unusual way the main vineyard was brought to life: Batterieberg (German for "cannon hill") was man-built using canon fire in order to achieve optimal exposition.

Kollmann's wines are razor-sharp, although not analytically dry. Prominent but ripe acid builds the backbone of the 2010 "C.A.I."(a tribute to the original founder, Carl August Immich) in my glass, which is accompanied by lemon, lime and very clear slate minerality. A real pleasure to drink, especially at 10 % vol.!

By the way, you can get an idea of Gernot Kollmann's wines at a tasting event in Munich called WineVibes. Klick the link for more information and tickets.