A Sweet, tasty German! (Josef Prader Liebfraumilch)

Member Name: Blurbubble

Product:	Josef Prader Liebfraumilch
Date:	22/01/02 (71 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good white wine for all round versatility

Disadvantages: Maybe too sweet for some tastes

Mmmm, this is one of my favourites! Yes folks - back on to the booze again and back to the white wine - my preferred tipple at the moment.

Liebfraumilch, in all its various guises (including the tacky 70s brands such as Blue Nun and Black Tower) has been in and out of fashion over the years but seems to remain a staple favourite on the shelves of most supermarkets, wine shops (and drinkers' fridges!). I tend to buy Josef Prader Liebfraumilch because it is available at my local Alldays stores in three different bottles sizes at a comparatively good price (although they are always more expensive than a large supermarket). Of course it is the larger 150cl (litre and a half) bottle which is most important to me! This size is priced at £5.99 a bottle, the litre size is £4.99 and the standard 75cl bottle is about £3.99-£4.30 but I am not sure as I never buy that size!

This wine is produced in Germany originating from the Rhine Valley. Described as a "light, flowery medium white wine" this is quite sweet (about 5 on the dryness scale which goes from 1-9) but not sickly or cloying and has a nice sharp after-taste to it. It is delicately fruity with no one particular over-powering flavour. As for being "flowery" well the aroma is a gently sweet, fruity one with maybe a hint of a floral fragrance!

According to the label the name "Liebfraunilch" originates from the "Liebfrauenkirche" (Church of Our Lady)in the City of Worms where the heart of the vineyards used to grow the grapes which produce this wine are. Indeed this Josef Prader brand has a blue nun on the label so presumably this is where the Blue Nun brand originated and took its name from too.

This was one of the first wines I tried when was first "onverted"to wine drinking a couple of years ago and so remains a favourite when looking for something light and reliable. The alcohol content is 9.5% volume which is a little lower
than many other white wines I have tried so the tipsy, tiddly, merry effect doesn' kick in until you've had quite a lot of this! This also makes it a very versatile wine, perfect for drinking on its own or as an aperitif but it also goes well with lighter meals such as salads, fish and pasta.

If you are ever entertaining and you're not sure what to provide in the wine department I imagine this will go down well in most cases and it will certainly remain a firm favourite of mine.

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