The sweet fruity white wine in the black bottle fell out of favour as tastes shifted towards drier whites and a lot more reds in the 90s. Reh Kendermann Weinkellerie, a third generation family-owned winery, acquired the flagging Black Tower brand in 1992 and began the long process of building it back up. Having reconquered the UK, they've now set their sights on our fair land.
Winemaker on fire (OK, the camera moved): Christine "Teen" Prostler
Black Tower is positioning itself as very modern, and it has a very modern young winemaker. Christine Prostler is just 28 and she learned English in New Zealand - which raises smiles when her otherwise typical German accent slips into pure Kiwi for a word or phrase. Although the iconic black bottle is still available (slimmer and more elegant looking), the range has been expanded and broken out into varietals. Furthermore, the wines are available in tetrapak in Ontario.
After a great Asian-fusion lunch at Monsoon in the Entertainment District, I had a new viewpoint on Black Tower. There's no denying that it works with Asian style cuisine. I don't recommend it for sipping on the patio, however: way too sweet. One thing that hasn't changed? It's still dirt cheap.
The Wines
Black Tower Riesling 2006. $10.95
A fresh, light, fruity nose with fairly typical riesling notes of peach and apricot. The acidity is only medium, but there's enough of it there to give the too-sweet finish a lift out of the "cloying" category.
Black Tower Pinot Grigio 2006.
Forget what you know from Italy - this is pure German sweetness. In fact you'd never guess it as a pinot grigio with its teutonic tonne of sugar (20g residual vs. one tenth that in a typical Italian). It's also a lot lighter and fruitier. Again, medium acidity, but this one does feel cloying on the finish.
Black Tower Rivaner 2006. $9.15 ** BEST VALUE **
Very sweet and candied in style, with ripe plum notes. Also very simple and uncomplicated: this one seemed like a total loser … until paired with the food. It not only stood up to, but complemented the ginger miso, wasabi and spiced pork, among other Asian flavours. A real eye-opener. Forget the sake, try this with your next Japanese meal. And so cheap too.
Black Tower Dornfelder Pinot Noir 2006. $10.95
Very bold nose of dark red fruit, also very dark and rich looking colour. Acidity is crisp, keeping it fresh. Alas it's a very simple wine, with soft tannins and no secondary development at all as there's no oak used. Very easy drinking though. We were told that about half the people who drink this in the UK chill it first. That would probably help...
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