Scaling the heights

Last weekend, Jenny and I were in Zermatt for a gig by Newton Faulkner, a musician from the UK whom both of us saw a couple of years ago at a small venue in Zurich, albeit before either of us had even met each other. Apparently, Jenny was in the front row that evening, as she was (is) a big Newton Faulkner fan. I, on the other hand, was only persuaded to attend the gig after a friend of mine said that the concert would be starting at 7 o'clock prompt and that the venue would then be showing the Champions League Final between United and Chelsea. As most football fans would know, United ended up lifting the trophy, which was my huge source of enjoyment that evening. The gig beforehand was quite good as well. Jenny and I didn't cross paths that evening, but we did a few months later.

Anyway, as I was saying, we were in Zermatt last weekend. However, our friend Newton wasn't. A little matter regarding a volcano in Iceland put paid to that one. Nevertheless, the guest bands that played in Newton's absence gave a sterling performance - so the trip south wasn't for nothing in the end (plus, the scenary wasn't bad either).

When we returned to Basel, I cracked open a bottle of Chardonnay:

Weingut Wehrheim, Chardonnay S trocken "Keuper", 2008, Pfalz
Keuper is the type of rock - or "Late Triassic" according to that source of authoritative information, Wikipedia. I didn't make notes for this one, and it's almost a week since we drank the bottle. However, we were both very impressed. We don't normally drink that much Chard, given that there are so many delicious alternatives in these climes. German Chard has never disappointed, though - and this was no exception. In fact, "Keuper" was up there with some of the best. The overriding impression was one of melons and minerals. And elegance and excitement all the way through.