In The Picture

Dandelion Vineyards Wonderland of the Eden Valley Riesling 2012

This wonderland seems to exert a powerful effect on all those who go near it. This is more than wine, clearly: what we have here is poetry and magic and fairy dust.

‘This is a highly impressive partnership,’ James Halliday tells us in his Wine Companion, ‘between Peggy and Carl Lindner (40%), Elena and Zar Brooks (40%), and Fiona and Brad Rey (20%). It brings together vineyards spread across the Adelaide Hills, Eden Valley, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley and Fleurieu Peninsula. Elena is not only the beautiful wife of industry dilettante Zar, but also an exceptionally gifted winemaker.’

We're off to a good start. This Riesling gets 96 points from Gary Walsh at the Winefront, who reports ‘remarkable depth and concentration. Lime, almost a lemon curd flavour and perhaps a suggestion of apple–the flavour is there–almost feels soft when you first taste it, then turns crunchy, spicy and runs very very long. Yes, we have plenty of stony mineral stuff too. Fabulous. A real ‘wow’ wine.’

Tyson Stelzer matches Gary every step of the way, and then makes a lunge for the trophy of wine poetry: ‘The bouquet sets out with a fragrance of pure lime blossom and spicy kaffir lime zest, which continue with delicate poise through a palate of seamless line, pristine energy and exceedingly persistent aftertaste. Soft, fine, mineral, chalky texture lingers amid perfectly poised acidity.’

Chris Shanahan just isn’t in the race here: 'God knows where Colin Kroehn’s riesling grapes went before Dandelion’s bright young people came along. But since their arrival we’ve tasted some of the finest, most delicate Eden Valley Riesling on offer – a particularly juicy, taut and delicate wine in the 2012 vintage. The Dandelion team includes Carl Lindner, Brad Rey, Zar Brooks and Elena Brooks, winemaker. Octogenarian Colin Kroehn tends his venerable old vines, planted in 1912.'

Carl Lindner, Colin Kroehn and Elena Brooks

(Sadly, Colin is no longer with us – he died in 2010. He had real style, old style).

 Patrick Haddock, the Wining Pom writes:
'No need to mention the superlative 2012 vintage in the Clare and Eden as it’s going to be a year to secure some bank loans if you’re a Riesling lover. There’s an Edenesque stature and signature of wet flagstones, lifted florals, kaffir lime and hints of candied ginger. It’s as much about citrus as it is about chalky minerals, it finds its trajectory immediately, delivering bursts of lemon, lime and scintillating spice leaving fresh acids to provide a lively, long finish. This is as good as Riesling gets – brilliant stuff. 95+'

Bert Werden at Winestar gets right in there with the best of them: 'There is just so much going on with this wine, so much complexity. Still pale enough to appear as though it were bottled yesterday, the nose shows a full spectrum of citrus blossom from lime to lemon and mandarin with a hint of spice which I love and believe adds a dimension to the better examples of this variety.

'In the mouth it is all Eden and reminds me of the great vintages of Steingarten of yesteryear with its chalky minerality that controls the fresh, somewhat restrained fruit and balances it with balanced with racy, slate-like, textural, crunchy acidity. Is it terroir, is it winemaking genius, is it 100 year old vines? What it is, is exceptional quality never mind the exceptional value at sub twenty dollars! Drink: Now-2023+; Quality: Exceptional.'

There’s stiff competition for all our poets from Dandelion's website, which describes the wine this way:

'Lights on in this Wonderland, an intense late vintage of powerful jasmine, mandarin leaf and even lychee juice bursting fruit freshness, with invigorating, intense smells of lime skin, citrus blossom, green apple, ripe guavas and cinnamon spice.

'An extraordinary precise and clean fruit spectrum of crunch lime and other citrus fruit flavours, stone-fruit, including apricot as well as classic mandarin citrus on the mid palate, developing into rich lemon meringue tart-like flavour but still with a refreshing steely minerality, balanced with racy, slate-like acidity.'

I'll let you make of this what you will, but I hope you enjoyed the poetry. My Tasting notes are much briefer, and I have to confess that I didn't find half the things other reviewers listed in their desrciptions. No ripe guavas, no mandarins, no candied ginger, no kaffir lime zest, no wet flagstones. Must enroll in some of Peter Bourne's wine appreciation classes.

Kroehn Vineyard, Eden Valley Township, Eden Valley

Here is an excerpt from an article on old vines written by Max Allen for US magazine Wine and Spirits http://www.wineandspiritsmagazine.com/ , which provides some insight into this remarkable vineyard:

'Colin Kroehn is just a little younger than the modest, hillside vineyard his grandfather established in 1912. "I remember it was 1912," he says, "because Dad told us he needed to get some wire for training the vines a couple of years after they were planted, but he couldn’t get any because the war had started."

Like many other old growers across the Barossa, Colin calls his eleven acres of riesling and shiraz his ‘garden’. This harks back to the very foundations of European settlement in the Barossa in the 1840s, when whole communities of Prussian Lutherans, escaping religious persecution, landed in the new colony of South Australia, seeking a new life.

These first settlers transposed traditions essentially unchanged since the Middle Ages - traditions of worship, of art, of mixed farming - from a cold central European setting to an often harsh, hot Australian environment. No wonder so many of those old vineyards have survived, passed down from father to son for generations.

Colin ... can pinpoint the moment when he saw his own vines move into maturity. "They came good in about 1942," he says. "When they were 30 years old. I know because I used to prune them and pick them as a kid, when they were young, and they were wild, then. But I remember thinking, around ’42, that they were better, and the grapes were better, now they’d settled down." '

Max Allen writes interesting stories about wine in many books and magazines - here's a link to his blog http://realaustralianwines.blogspot.com.au/

Kim

Dopff Grand Cru, Dandelion, Dog Point, Norfolk Rise, Shaw & Smith, Woodlands, Amelia Park, Castle Rock

The bigger they are, the harder they fall

A short preamble before we get stuck into the wines: I've had too much work on, and more tastings than usual this month, and I’m building a website to support this endeavour – the logical next phase.

Bargains have been far and few in between out there. Coles seems happy to play distant second fiddle to Woolworths so the heat has gone out of the battle. Worse, they’re up to their old tricks: bumping up the Rec retail price and then putting the wines on special. One example: Dogpoint Savvy at 1^st Choice on special for $25; you can buy it for $20 at Kemenys every day of every week.

Kemenys prices are always sharp but the latest cattledog didn’t really really tempt me with anything. Villa Maria Savvy 2012 for $11.50? Na. The Vavasour Avatere at $13.25 is most likely a better option – it’s waiting in the wings, I’ll let you know next time. Jim Barry Watervale Riesling 2012 for $13.50 is a bargain if you haven't bought cases of this already. The Mount Langi Ghiran Billi Billi Shiraz 2010 is still on offer for $12.50, and you’d be hard-pushed to get a better BBQ red for the money my friends tell me.

PLEASE NOTE:
Because of the mixed bag of tastings in the last few weeks, and the mixed up photos, I’ve haven’t grouped them as usual. Instead, I’m going through the wines more or less as they came.

Cloudy Bay Pelorus Brut - $27 at Vintage direct (Nicks)

I’ve raved about this wine before, when it was $25 at Winestar. It’s still a bargain at $27, and a better wine than the cheap frogs at $35-40.  Better than most of our bubblies in that range as well. Made mostly from Chardonnay. 2 years ageing on yeast lees shows with hints of yeast and warm bread on the nose. Strong mousse and very fine bead. Creamy texture with flavours of cashew and biscuits, yeast lees and a hint of citrus. Lovely mouthful with depth and length and a soft mouth feel. Perfect balance between power and elegance. BUY

 Saint Clair Gruener Veltliner 2011 - $19 at East End Cellar

Gruener Veltliner is a hardy white variety popular in Austria where it occupies about one third of the vineyard area. It has fans in Australia, where it is being planted here and there. Somewhere between Pinot Gris and ripe Riesling in flavour, with fruit ranging from apple to white peach. Big wine, good with food most likely, but short (lacking acid to clean it all up). Worth buying if you’re longing for something different.

New Zealand Grüner is like “Austrian Grüner Veltliner with hormones – it is much more aromatic”, according to John Forrest from Marlborough’s Forrest Wines. He told Drinks Business back in late 2010, ‘Marlborough may have done to Grüner Veltliner what it did to Sauvignon Blanc as much as 30 years ago.’

Our winewise Bill S bought the Laurenz V. 2005 on the right for $8 at auction. The nose suggested old Riesling but the palate was more like Chardonnay. Again it was short but what a bargain.

Dopff Riesling Grand Cru Schoenenbourg 2009 - $28 at Dan M’s

Over the $25 limit again, and worth it once more. This is a stunning Alsace Riesling, big and ripe but classy, like a bowl of ripe fruit without the citrus that is the hallmark of our Rieslings. More minerals here, and more complexity, a towering example of what Riesling can do. Big enough to stand up to the pork and goose dishes of the region, I’m sure.There's a touch of sweetness, be warned. BUY

The Jim Barry Lodge Hill Riesling 2012 behind it has won 7 trophies, but this is the third time I’ve tasted it and wondered why it had won all those gongs. It’s a nice, soft ripe Riesling but the standard JB Watervale holds more promise in my view. Still NOT CONVINCED, not for $20 at Winestar.

The Shaw and Smith Sauvignon Blanc 2011 didn’t impress Reg, Andy or me. This is often described as Australia’s best Savvy, and we were wondering why. Simple, almost flabby, no zest, no real depth of flavour – it’s a $22-23 touch and makes no sense. AVOID

We all thought the $13 Norfolk Rise Sauvignon Blanc 2012 (Winestar) was a better drink by far (Andrew’s find). Fresh, crisp and herbaceous, lovely with the oysters and prawns we had. Great summer drinking at the price. Won a gold at the Melbourne Show (96 points) but we’d give it 91 or 92 (pretty good). BUY

Dandelion Vineyards Wonderland of the Eden Valley Riesling 2012 - $18 at Winestar

I had read a lot of raves about this little wine with a very big name, which has a fascinating history to boot. From the website: ‘Dandelion Vineyards is a unique fusion of vine and vigneron … Our wish is to nurture the unique character of these vineyards and express their terrior (sic) in our wines. Capturing variety, vintage and vineyard requires an enlightened approach and although our growers see the Devil in every weed, we encourage the humble Dandelion amongst the vines as they supress winter weeds, provide mulch in summer, and proffer their Wishing Clocks in spring top blow off to make our wish come true.’

The fruit for this wine comes from Colin Kroehn’s 100 year-old vineyard, which he tended from 1950 to his death in 2010. This Wonderland of the Eden Valley Riesling 2012 was ‘bottled directly without fining or filtration to capture the essence of the vineyard … whole bunches were hand-picked on the 16th of March then destemmed in small batches without crushing the fruit to fill our press exactly. The free run juice was then fermented in small tanks between 11 and 14 degrees Celcius, the wine has a high level of natural acidity, 7.5 grams per litre, a pH of 3.01 and although bone dry, only 12.5% alcohol.’

 

So much has been written about this Riesling that I dedicated a whole blog post to it. I’m almost loath to venture my opinion on it, which is that it’s a fine Riesling that leans to the chalky/mineral side of the spectrum. I prefer the Pewsey Vale from the same region, for the extra fruit and and zest it has in abundance. The Dandelion is a bit more restrained at this stage but has the structure to develop for some years. A classy dame, but a bit aloof and hard to talk to at present. 

Elizabeth Siddal Marsanne Roussane Viognier 2010 - $13 at Bond’s Corner Fine Wine

Tiny vineyard, one of John C’s finds at Bonds Corner at Northbridge. Very restrained and refined for a McLaren Vale white, will take a few more years to open up. Minerals and wet pebbles at the moment; not exactly Chablis but it’s sure different. Not Sure

Dog Point Sauvignon Blanc 2012 - $20 at Kemenys

This is classy Savvy with fruit in the herbaceous spectrum, plus minerals, lots of flavour, some depth and length. A fine wine but like all the 2012 Savvies I’ve tried it’s pretty forward – pretty much ready to go. Not quite convinced it’s worth the money.

Barwang Tumbarumba Chardonnay 2012 - $13 at Winestar

This gets regular good reviews as a modern, cool climate style of Chardonnay. If it is, I don’t want modern or cool climate. The fruit is in the lemon curd/acid jazz spectrum, almost sour – or is it the oak they use? No, not likely. The 2011 was much the same. This wine actually got worse the longer we left it in the open bottle. Ghastly stuff - AVOID.

D’Arenberg The Hermit Crab Viognier Marsanne 2010 - $13 at Kemenys

The last bottle of this struck me as fairly developed but this one was pretty fresh. A great food wine with plenty of flavour, nice change from Savvy and Chardy, try it with Italian food like pesto/creamy pasta. Much better than the 2011 that is turning up in the shops. BUY

Sadly, the Olive Grove Chardonnay 2011 from the same stable is not enjoyable. Not a lot of Chardonnay character, plenty of generic flavour that is a bit hot and clumsy, and all squashed up on mid palate. Just 88 points from Halliday. Probably reflects the awful vintage year in SA. AVOID

The Spy Valley Chardy is not readily available. It’s no great loss since it's not that exciting for over $20. I was more impressed with the Riesling and Gewuerz from this maker. Haven’t been able to track down the 2011 Chardonnay which was declared NZ’s best white by Michael Cooper. We can only wonder if the Oz distributor is fast asleep or if the Kiwis kept it all for themselves.

Catching Thieves Margaret River Chardonnay 2011 - $11 at Dan M’s

One of the many horses in the McWilliams stable, I gave this the thumbs up a while back: simple, fresh, mouth-filling and enjoyable. Not much oak, more like an unwooded Chardy. Surprise packet for the money. BUY

Domaine de la Baume la Jeunesse Syrah 2011 – $13 at Dan M’s   

The boys at Dan Murphy’s Balgowlah recommended this big soft, cuddly red from the Languedoc in the south of France. Not going anywhere but easy on the gums and packed with velvety flavour. A bit short and a bit unstructured but I’m being picky. BUY

Woodlands Margaret River Chardonnay 2012 - $22 AT Dan M

Woodlands is one of my favourite labels so this was a disappointment. The wine is too simple and nowhere near as tight as a quality young Chardy should be. Light on flavour and oak, and depth. Can’t see it going very far but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt. NOT CONVINCED

Amelia Park Sauvignon Blanc Semillon 2011 - $17 at Dan M’s

I wasn’t convinced by the Amelia Park Cabernet Merlot from this highly rated winery a while back, and this one is about the same: well enough made but unexciting and lacking essential flavour, depth and length. It’s cheaper than the Cab Merlot but that doesn’t really help. Margaret River blends like this should be shining beacons. NOT CONVINCED

Holm Oak Vineyards Pinot Noir 2011 - $17 at Mosman Cellars

I wasn’t expecting much from this – given the price and the wet year and the few drinkable Pinots under $25 - but Maz at Mosman Cellars said it was good so I grabbed a bottle. Sadly, he’s wrong. As luck would have it, I think he sold it to me at the Holm Oak Ilex price, which is a cheaper range. This wine is $30 at Dan Murphy’s. It’s not a great Pinot, in fact it’s barely drinkable. There are some dried herbs here but not a lot of fruit. It really doesn’t taste that great, and sure isn’t worth the money. I feel for the producers trying to make a living in such a vintage, but … AVOID

Maison de Grand Esprit Cote de Nuits-Village La Belle Voisine 2009 – was $22 at United Cellars but sold out

I only mention this because John L brought it along for lunch, and I said: if our winemakers could produce wine like this for under $25, they’d be ecstatic. It’s a perfect budget Burgundy, an object lesson in bourgeois French winemaking but sadly several shipments of it sold out in hours once word got around. Our young Turk winemakers used to ridicule the French for their méthodes anciennes, but I suspect they’d keep very quiet if they tasted this. BUY if you can find it

Castle Rock Great Southern Riesling 2012 - $18 at Kemenys

This is from down south in Western Auastralia and generally well reviewed. To me, it lacks the zing and zippy acid of the best young Aussie Rieslings, a bit one-dimensional and subdued, maybe going through a stage, but not really exciting right now. There are more convincing Rieslings out there for less money. NOT CONVINCED

Swings & Roundabouts Margaret River Cabernet Merlot 2011 – $17 at Dan M’s

A pretty ordinary effort, this. Lacks charm and appeal, and the fruit and oak are a bit clumsy. No real class, pretty ordinary for Margaret River Cabernet Merlot. The Madfish Bay Gold Turtle Cabernet Merlot 2010 is both cheaper and better. NOT CONVINCED 

Woodlands Cabernet Merlot 2011 - $22 AT Dan M’

Another disappointment. Plenty of soft plummy fruit and good mouth feel but quite forward, pretty well ready to drink and nowhere to go. Not good enough for this money or this label. NOT CONVINCED

Te Mata Merlot/Cabernets Woodthorpe Vineyard 2009 – $20 at Dan M’s

This is the little brother of the widely admired $70 Coleraine Cabernet Merlot. The colour isn’t that strong and shows some development, and the nose supports that impression. The flavour is developed too, with some leather and herbs and spices. Seemed a little light on body at first but opened up, filled out and came good after a while, better still the next day. Good food wine, great with chicken cacciatore. Not too heavy.

Ferngrove Frankland River Symbols Cabernet Merlot 2009 - $13 at Dan M’s

This is a highly rated winery in Great Southern WA, but this wine will do it no credit. It’s the winery’s cheapest label but it offers us nothing to enjoy. The palate is a jungle. The wine is big and clumsy and devoid of charm. AVOID

The next lot of wines were provided by Bill S at Andrew’s book club evening, along with the Gruener Veltliners reviewed above

Arthur Metz Alsace collection 2011 - $15/16 at Ultimo Wine Centre

These wines are pretty decent for the money if you want the taste of Alsace without lashing out for the grand crus. This is a commercial label as we can see from the simple descriptors at the top. They’re fairly decent wines for the money but won’t worry Aussie winemakers too much. They’re all quite ripe and forward and flavoursome, but they didn’t make me want to rush out and buy some. Am I being hard on these? Tell me if I am. NOT CONVINCED

Bill said all of the reds that follow had won gold medals at national shows, but I didn't much care for most of them. The Wicks Estate Shiraz 2010 ($16 at Dan M's) was unremarkable, the Long Road Shiraz 2010 ($20 at Dan M's) was all arms and legs and remarkable only for the fact that it was made from grapes grown at Gundagai.

The Robert Oatley McLaren Vale Shiraz 2010 was the only red with some polish here, but even it wasn’t that exciting. Mind you, Huon Hooke called it a ripper of a McLaren Vale Shiraz and gave it 93 ($16 at My Cellars). The Ingoldby Shiraz 2010 ($12 at Vintage Cellars) was the same old inky, blunt edged McLaren Vale Shiraz I’ve always loathed – consistent is about the only positive I can think of. AVOID this one. NOT CONVINCED by any of the others.

The Wolf Blass Gold Label Barossa Shiraz 2010 is usually a $20 touch, and it tastes like Wolf Has handed down his secrets of oak maturation to the current winemaker (WB has been part of the Treasure Wines/Fosters/Southcorp stable for some years). This is a slick number for sure, with lots of ripe, plush dark berries and soft tannins - slips down the hatch like a little Jesus in velvet pants as they say in Burgundy. Polished, and showing a lot of front - just like the old Wolfie. 14.5%. BUY if you like the style. I found it for $90 a sixpack on the maker’s website. 

I think that’s enough for now

Kim

Penultimate Front Bench Dinner at Peter Bourne’s

At Pyrmont, that is. Sadly, Peter is leaving these lovely rooms soon

After all the debates about reducing the number of wines at these events, I didn’t notice any difference. Makes it hard for the pourer (Peter M), the scribe (Chris A) and the photographer, later on when cheeks get flushed. Paul F missed out, and we missed out on his Delphic utterances. Still, we had enough fun as you can see (please click on any image to see a large version):

The tucker was tops as usual 

And the wines bloody lovely

How lucky are we to have friends who share ancient treasure like this so generously?

And this lovely lot of Murray's best - interesting to see the transition from Hunter River Riesling to Semillon. 

John L brought a whole bracket of Turkey Flat Shiraz, one of my favourite Barossa reds, 1992 – 96.

Remarkable were two things: utterly consistent modern Shiraz style, and the wines’ steadfast refusal to show signs of age. Will they outlast us? Sadly, I didn’t get a shot of these lovely, John.

Someone kept moving the bottles off the table

Just warming up with this lot

And this lovely bunch

Serious stuff on the table now.

Someone took a photo of me – don’t remember that – offering one of the strong opinions I have so many of, with Reg looking non-plussed and Peter smiling politely.

Would you believe a 1939 Dolcetto from Johnny Walker’s Rhinecastle? Still with us as well? In good company here.

Thank you all for a wonderful evening

Kim

Summer of Riesling, winter of Discontent

Tasting wonderful wines in a grotty city laneway

This is what the promoters promised:

A fabulous street fair focussed on wine tasting and meeting winemakers from around the country. Around 300 punters are anticipated this year. They’ll sip their way through all the Riesling they can handle, feast on street food, and generally enjoy the awesomeness that is summer in Sydney. This is wine tasting the way it was meant to be.

And this is what they delivered:

A grotty, overcrowded laneway behind the Oak Barrel where winemakers and punters stood in the gutter much of the time - Nithsdale lane. The covered area was about the length of a semi trailer, and full of people. 400, it turned out. You couldn’t move in there, you couldn’t see or find the wines you wanted to taste, you got pushed and jostled by others trying to squeeze past – it was about as comfortable as standing on a Sydney bus during peak hour. Even taking photo in there took the flexibility of a Houdini.

Got lucky with this one. Met young winemaker Jonathan Holgate, raved about his Pinot Noir 2009,  told him Reg reckons he made the best Riesling he ever had, and enjoyed these Rieslings going back to 2006. Southern Highlands! Tasted lovely Riesling from Orange as well – Cargo Road – and some from New Zealand and Alsace.

This wasn’t the place for serious wine tasting, but a chance to taste a few appetisers from new sources. It was also a chance to confirm what a great vintage 2012 was for Riesling in South Australia.

There was a food bar at one end of the lane, and a band at the other. The guys calmed down after they realised that the narrow laneway enclosed by concrete walls acted like a giant amp.

The good part of this summerofriesling event was the quality of the wines and the no-limit $25 tickets. When I sent out a tweet on Monday morning summing up my feelings in 140 characters, I got a smart response from the summerofriesling organisers saying the other 399 punters loved the venue. They weren’t the ones we talked to, clearly. A winemaker we chatted with said the cost for him was much more reasonable at this event than at the upcoming NSW Wine and Food Fair in Hyde Park. There you go.

Kim

Britain’s great German Monarchy

And now for something completely different - did you know that Huns occupied the British throne for 2 centuries?

Central Europe was officially known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (German: Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation, Latin: Imperium Romanum Sacrum Nationis Germanicæ) by 1450.

After Queen Anne’s death, at the age of 54, George I ascended the British throne as the first monarch of the House of Hanover. Over fifty Catholics bore closer blood relationships to Queen Anne, but the Act of Settlement 1701 prohibited Catholics from inheriting the throne, and George was Anne's closest living Protestant relative.

George was and remained unpopular in England throughout his life, partly because of his inability to speak English. His son George II succeeded to the throne on his father's death on 11 June 1727. His wife was another German: the Margravine Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach. George II died in 1760 and was succeeded by his son George III.

George III was King of great Britain and King of Ireland from 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he became King of the United Kingdom of Britaion and Ireland until his death.

He was concurrently Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and prince-elector of Hanover in the Holy Roman Empire until his promotion to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover but he was born in Britain and spoke English as his first language.

You think this was the end of the Germans in Britain? No way! George was succeeded by two of his sons George IV and William IV, who both died without surviving legitimate children, leaving the throne to their niece, Victoria, the last monarch of the House of Hanover. That wasn’t the end of the Germans either because her son King Edward VII belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg Gotha.

Victoria was German, of course - the daughter of Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and the grandaughter of George III. Queen Charlotte of Wurtemberg was her aunt, and her maternal grandmother was Duchess Augusta of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld.

The young Princess Victoria, as the only legitimate child of the fourth son of George III, became heiress presumptive after the death of George V in 1830. In 1837, William IV died from heart failure at the age of 71 and Victoria became Queen of the United Kingdom at the tender age of 18.

 

And whom did Victoria marry three years later? Her first cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, another German. He was loved by the British but died at a very young age (42). Victoria and Albert’s story is well-known, but the reason the Irish didn’t like her is not: During the potato famine, Victoria donated 2000 Pounds to help Ireland. The Ruler of the Ottoman Empire offered 10,000 pounds, and Victoria asked him to reduce his offer to 1,000 so as not to embarrass her.

Another little-known fact is that Victoria and Albert’s first language was not English (German). In fact, English wasn’t even their second language (French) Victoria had a long reign as we know and died in 1901 at the age of 81. By her side was the first of her grandchildren: Wilhelm II, the German Kaiser during the first World War.

As her husband Albert had belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Victoria’s son and heir Edward VII became the first 'British Monarch’ of this new house. In 1910, George V became King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperoro of India until his death in 1936. He was the first British ruler of the House of Windsor, so you might think the Germans were finished at last.

But you’d be wrong. George V had created the House of Windsor from the British branch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. You see, anti-German sentiment reached a peak in Britain in March 1917, when the Gotha G.IV, a German aircraft capable of crossing the Channel bombed London.

Gotha G.IV became a household name and King George V and his family were forced to abandon all titles held under the German Crown, and change German titles and house names to anglicized versions. They adopted the name Windsor by a royal proclamation in 1917. At the same time, Prince Louis of Battenberg adopted the surname Mountbatten.

Upon hearing that his cousin had changed the name of the British royal house to Windsor, German Emperor Wilhelm II joked that he planned to see Shakespear's play The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The two cousins had been previously photographed riding horses together in 1910 at the funeral of George's father, Edward VII, and again at Potsdam palace circa 1913. This is why the first World War has at times been called a family feud, albeit an incredibly bloody one for the millions of innocent people who perished.

We’ll skip the two Edwards and go straight to Queen Elizabeth II who was the daughter of King George VI, the son of King George V who created the House of Windsor from its German origins. And what does she do? She marries another German: Lieutenant Philip Mountbatton.

German, you say? Wasn’t he known as Phil the Greek? Yes, he was, but he was the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg. His mother’s origins are clearly German, and Philip’s father hails from the old-familiar House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg. Not exactly Greek.

So Philip was a royal Prince of Greece and Denmark, and also a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderberg-Glucksburg. The standard practice for a prince was to adopt his family’s household name but Phillip did not do that and renounced these titles before his marriage to Elizabeth. He also adopted the surname of his maternal grandparents to become known as Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten.

There you go!

My thanks to Wikipedia for most of the information and images in this story

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_George