In the Train: Eurostar from Paris to London in October 2009

Pictures: St. Pancras station and Eurostar

The Eurostar provides a very comfortable way of traveling from Paris to London in a little bit more than 2 hours. You leave at the Gare du Nord in Paris and you arrive at St. Pancras, the new railway station close to King’s Cross, in London.

I traveled 2. class and the wine list was disappointing. Not worth mentioning. In business class, however, one is served a meal with drinks like in a plane.

Anyway, 2. class or not,the world changes when you arrive at St. Pancras. The St. Pancras Champagne Bar, just next to the tracks where the Euro Star arrives, offers an amazing selection of Champagne. In addition, the set up is very nice and comfortable with a range o different seating options. The Champagne Bar has an outstanding and very wide selection of NV Champagnes as well as older vintage Champagnes. It is a formidable place to celebrate the arrival in London or wait for the departure of the train for Paris or Brussels.

Furthermore, next to the Champagne Bar is an Oyster Bar. They had 6 different varieties, both native and rock oysters, on the menu. There is also a nice restaurant if you want a more complete meal.

In the Train: ICE (Second Class) from Frankfurt am Main to Paris in October 2009

The ICE has a bistro and a restaurant. The restaurant is small and lacks class. But both the bistro and the restaurant have a selection of 10 excellent sparkling and still wines.

I had the

2008 Riesling, dry, Rheingau, Peter Jakob Kuehn, Euro 8.20 for the 0.25 liter bottle

An excellent Gutswein from a top winemaker from the Rheingau. An every-day table wine with a densely mineral structure and fine fruit.

And the

2005 Cuvee Gaudenz, dry, Pflaz, Knipser, Euro 8.20 the 0.25 liter bottle

An unusual wine from the Gault & Millau Deutschland 2009 winemaker of the year. A blend of Dornfelder, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. The latter two grapes have only recently begun to be planted in Germany, reflecting global warming. An easy to drink wine with strong blackcurrant notes. This wine has been aged in old French oak barrels for 12 months.

The other white wines were a dry Grauer Burgunder from Baden, a dry Spaetlese from Krug’scher Hof in Rheinhessen and a Chardonnay from Australia. The other red wines were from Spain, Australia and the Ahr region in Germany.

The Sekts were also impressive: a dry Sekt from Germany’s largest Sekt estate Rotkaeppchen and a brut Sekt from one of Germany’s finest Sekt estates Menger-Krug in the Pfalz.