When celebrating my 40th birthday I thought a champagne tasting wold be in order, especially some good vintage champagnes. And it would be interesting to see how the different champagnes would work together with the food also. But Champagne works very well with everything, right?

The first champagne of the day was a Delamotte Blanc de Blancs from 2002. The smell were delightful. Very good. The taste were of fruits, dry and very elegant. An excellent champagne for aperitifs. Went very well together with the Breasola with Parmesan and olive oil.

For the maincourse of pie made from Västerbotten cheese the first champagne was Wilmart & Cie from 1999, a Grand Cellar d'Or. The smell very strong and delightful yet again. The taste were strong, dry, fruits and a yeast/bread taste which was very good. yet again an excellent wine. Worked very well together with the pie.

The third wine of the evening were a Moet & Chandon from 2000. The smell delightful. The taste of this champagne were very complex. Dry, bread, citrus and a hint of minerals. Very good.

For the dessert which consisted of an Italian Panatone the drink of the day were yet again a champagne. This time a Jaquart, 2002 Millesime. Smelled a bit less tha the three other tasted champagnes. Now this felt like an aperitif champagne. Dry, citrus taste. Very good yet again. Worked very well with the panatone.

A wonderful evening spent discovering the excellent taste of vintage champagnes.

De Venoge champagne, Blanc de Noirs

Almost Christmas and what better way to relax and enjoy a good meal than to open a bottle of champagne. The food of today was hamburger made of boar and cow meat. Maybe not the normal food for champagne, but interesting to see how it would fit together.

The champagne of today was a bottle of De Venoge, Blanc de Noirs. The Champagne House de Venoge has been producing champagne for over 160 years. And a Blanc de Noirs is a champagne made with only with the grapes Pinot meunier and Pinot noir.

The champgne had a very nice taste. Some fruits, a bit apple like and then a very long aftertaste that lingered in the mouth. It was a taste of summer berries, very nice.

The interesting thing was that the champagne worked very well together with the hamburgers. When checking the label after the meal it said that this champagne was served with game or duck liver dishes.

God jul!

Tasting of Italian wines in Itay

When in Rome where are many choices of restaurants to choose between. Many expensive touristic places that are to be avoided so this time in Rome it was decided to try out a Jewish restaurant in the old Jewish ghetto in Rome for some kosher food and maybe kosher wine.

La taverna del Ghetto kosher had two places left on a busy Saturday night in Rome. The food was good with a nice showing of artichokes and koscher meatballs. Since it is a Jewish reasaurants all the wines served was kosher. The wine choosen was a kosher wine from the Frascati, a dry white wine from 2011. However it was not that good and was lacking some cohesion and the aftertaste was not that good.

On the new trainstation in Rome I had an hour to spare before the train left for Bologna so I spent that hour in a nearby bar eating good Italian sandwich while trying out another wine. This time it was a cheap Pinot Bianco Table wine from Veneto. I wonder if this wine was failed s it had the taste of a passito wine but with no sweetness and no subtlety. A complete disappointment.

A visit to San Gimignano

San Gimignano is a beautiful town with many medieval towers situated in the Tuscan country side. During daytime it is full of tourists but when evening comes the tourist leave the town and with darkness falling the town becomes majestic. The small medieval alleys and the tower in the night sky. It is like a setting for a horror movie.

This town also has their own DOGC called Vernaccia di San Gimignano and that meant for dinner it was time to try a Vernaccia di San Gimignano riserva from 2007. The wine had a very good taste of fruits and some flowers and the aftertaste was almonds which lingered for a long time. I bought one bottle for later tasting in Sweden.

When trying this wine at the Ristorante Beppone I had some wonderful food. Go there if you are in the area. In the photo the dish is polenta with rabbit.

Domaene Gobelsburg 2011 Riesling

This time I leave Italy but I don't travel that far. Just across the border to Austria, namely the district Niederösterreich which is situated furthest north in Austria. Gobelsburg has been making wine since 1171 when the Cistertian monks founded their monastery. Schloss Gobelsburg has 35 hectares of wineyards and these wineyards were taken care of by the monks until 1995. And the monks had always used organic fertilisers and abstained from pesticides. In 1996 Michael & Eva Moosbrugger took over the management of the property. The Domaene Gobelsburg from 2011 is made from Riesling grapes.
The smell is pleasent and the taste is of citrus and has a lot of acidity. Leaves a long lingering aftertaste. Very good wine.

Veltiner, Stiftskellerei Neustift Abbazia Di Novacella

Alte Adige or South Tyrol has many several good white wines as I have discovered over the last year. This time it is Stiftskellerei Nesustift Abbazia Di Novacella white wine Veltiner from 2010 that is to be tasted. I had tasted one of their red wines earlier. I get a flowery taste in the nose and that bodes well. The taste is of elderberry, some honey and lemon. Good acid and a very nice aftertaste that lingers. Very good aromatic wine.

As usual with these wine yards in South Tyrol, Stiftskellerei Neustift Abbazia Di Novacella is situated in a beautiful place.
One day I will go there for a week and visit these beautiful wineyards and monasteries.

Fasoli Gino one more time

Last time I tried a Fasoli Gino wine it was a white wine. This time it is time for their red Valpolicella called La Corte del Pozzo from 2010. It consists of of 70% Corvina grapes and  30%, Rondinella grapes. The colour is a dark red or maybe light ruby. The wine smells of red and black currants. The taste is a big smack of red and black currants with an underlying taste of vanilla and it is very dry. It is nice for being a red wine. It seem that Valpolicella produces red wines that I like. Definately an area worth a visit.

And if you are in the Valpolicella area. Visit Verona and enjoy the most beautiful town square in the world. Especialy during evening. Salute!

Back to Rabl Eiswein after four years

Four years ago I had my first taste of Eiswein. It was a Rabl eiswein from 2006 and it was a delight. Such taste and freshness. It felt like that it could not get any better at that time. I bought several of Rabl Eiswein and drank them over a years time. Unfortunately the taste did not get better with age and even after a year the taste had changed to the worse. Still drinkable but not as good one year earlier. I have one bottle at home that I will taste one day to see how it has changed over several years.
A year ago the Rable eiswein from 2007 could be ordered at Systembolaget but I saw it to late and it was already sold out. That was a big bummer. However, a month ago the Rabl Eiswein 2008 was released and I managed to buy several bottles.
The colour was not as dark amber as I thought i would be, Much lighter and clearer in colour than expected. The eiswein smells of melon and citrus, very nice. The taste is sharp, sweet, some melon and apricot. Almost a peppery taste and a nice aftertaste.Maybe the 2006 was slightly better but I think that the 2008 vintage will age much better and become better with a few years storage.

German beer after Gustav II Adolf

When driving in Germany I got the tip that maybe on one of the stops on the Autobahn near Leipzig I could find the Gustav II Adolf beer. We stopped and to behold we found the beer in one of the stops and we bought every beer on sale there. It was just eight beers so it was not that many. The name of the beer were Ur-krostitzer and the legend says that Gustav II Adolf drank it in 1631 and liked it very much and as  thanks he gave the brewer a gold ring.
How does it taste? Oh well, that will have to wait until another day.

Pasqua Valpolicella Ripasso 2010

When I make a tagliatelli al ragu at home wine is an important component. When I were younger I used the cheapest wine I could find. But if I can't drink the wine I am using for cooking why should I even use it for cooking? I normally use both red and white wine when cooking a ragu. The nice thing is that if I use a good wine when cooking I can always sample some of the wine while drinking.
For my latest ragu I used a wine from Valpolicella near Verona. And if you ever get the chance to visit Verona go to the town square when darkness falls and enjoy one of the most beautiful town squares in Europe. The Pasqua Valpolicella ripasso are made of several different grapes like Corvina, Rondinella, Corvinone,  and Negara and obtained from the Ripasso technique. I checked the tasting notes before buying the wine so it would go well with the ragu and the tasting notes said a strong taste of cherries. I can only agree as it has a strong taste of cherries and not that much else. Very drinkable together with the tagiatella al ragu.

Wöllfer estate Rose table wine

There are not many time I have the chance to taste American wines as I usually stay in the old world especially Italy. This bottle of Wöllfer estate Rose table wine from 2011 was bought at the Wöllfer estate in Long Island outside of New York. This wine is their bestseller so it is going to be interesting to taste it. The colour is slighly pink and it smells slighty of redcurrants. The taste is very neutral and it does not taste that much so it drinks very easily as a table wine should do. A very easy drinking wine.

The Wöllfer estate produces several different other wines such as whites and reds and even dessert wines. And their late harvest dessert wine will be drunk later this year. And to finish it one picture from the estate taken July 2012.

Santa Margherita, Pinot Grigio 2010

When it is summer and hot outside and there is time for barbeque, it is very nice to drink a light white wine that still has a good taste. The wine Santa Margherita made by Pinot Grigio grapes is such a wine. It is from Alto Adigo in Italy. It has a clear crisp taste and leaves a good taste in the mouth. Perfect for a warm day outdoors together with barbeques pork or chicken.

Kabir, Moscato di Pantelleria

From my previous tastings I know that the island Pantelleria near Sicily makes very good sweet wines, especially the passito wines that I have tasted. Moscato di Pantelleria is an Italian DOC for Moscato wines made in the island of Pantelleria. This Kabir wine is made by the producer Donnafugata, http://www.donnafugata.it/pagine/Homepage-ITA.aspx. This is the second wine I have tasted from this producer. Kabir is from 2010 and has an alcohollevel of 11,5%.
The wine smells heavenly. Almost like a fruity herbalgarden. The colour is a bit pale compared to the Pantelleria passito wines I have drunk. The taste is of melon and pineapple and has  very long delightful aftertaste, It worked very well together with a strong blue cheese. I will buy a couple of bottles more of this wine and store them and see how they age. Will be interesting.

Borgoletto Soave

In summer it is nice to relax and just open a bottle and just enjoy life.

I have decided to focus on the Fasoli Gino and see what kind of wines they have. http://www.fasoligino.com/
This due to a friend of mine meeting one of the producers in Italy.
The first wine to taste is a bottle of Borgoletto Soave, I just could find the small 37,5 cl bottle and that feel so small. It is ecologically produced and has KRAV marking for the Swedes reading this. The taste is strong and very much grapefruit. It need some food with the wine and I tasted it with a very strong blue cheese Cabriolego from Spain. And together with this cheese it is very good. The aftertaste lingers long in the mouth. I also tried this wine with salami and it didn't work so well with the salami.
Since the producer is situated in Soave the next wine will be a Valpolicella.

Ecusson Cidre Bio Brut and food

When I was watching Masterchef Australia they cooked a french onion soup but instead of using wine for the soup they used french dry cider instead. So why not try it out as french cider is delicious during summer. At systembolaget there were one cider I havent tried before and it was Ecusson Cidre Bio Brut. A almost dry french cider as usual. For the french onion soup it added an extra taste. More depth of flavour while using wine gave a more sharper taste in the soup. Cider for summer and wine for winter. The taste is of apples taste and some sweetness, not as dry as the Boulard cider. It is also very good to drink with the onion soup and also for pork when having a barbeque. Only an alcohollevel of 4,5% for those wantning something lighter to drink.

Les Murets d'Esprades Muscat de Rivesaltes 2010

For midsummer I was looking for a wine to accompany strawberries. For the first time inb my life I was thinking of doing strawberries in a jelly, so a strong sweet wine was needed with a strong taste. I choose to go for a fortified wine and one that I thought would fit were Les Murets d'Esprades Muscat de Rivesaltes. A vin doux naturel is made in southern france made from Muscat or Grenache grapes. They are especially commom in Languedoc-Roussillon. The fermentation is stopped by adding grape spirit which leaves the fortified wine very sweet. The taste of the wine is of fruits and pineapple. And it is very sweet. The aftertaste lingers for a long time and is very sharp. Works very well with strawberries but as a standalone wine it is to strong. And how did it work as a jelly? Fairly well. Had to add some water to reduce the taste as the jelly otherwise became to strong.

Otello Rose

For midsummer I had the chance to taste an Italian spumante called Otello Rose thanks to a friend of mine. Spumante is an Italian sparkling wine which can be dry, semi sweet or very sweet. We all thought this one would be half sweet and would make a good aperitiff wine for our midsummer dinner. But on the first taste there were no sweet taste at all. It tasted very dry and looking at the back label it said extra dry. I found it smelled like rasperries. The taste was very strong, rasperry like but with a strong tqaste like a fortified wine like sherry. Strange but good. It is always nice to be pleasently suprised by wines.

Swedish Hill, Viking White

And now for something completely different. Wine from Swedish Hill in the state of New York. I drank it two years ago and saved the bottle beacuse I liked the name. Viking White from Swedish Hill. My impression of this wine was that it was nothing special. Just a standard table wine that left no impression except the name.

Madeira Malmsey ten years old

The fortified wines from Madeira are one of the most interesting wines in the world. Due to the taste and the history of Madeira. Not many wines can be stored for hundreds of years. Unfortunately good Madeira are hard to get in Sweden. The few Madeiras at Systembolaget are not that interesting with a few exceptions. Many of them are just for cooking good sauces and not for drinking. One of the few good ones are a ten year old Madiera from the producer Cossart Gordon made by Malmsey grapes or malvasia grapes as they are also called. This bottle I decided to open when I had a chocolate tasting with several good dark chocolates from the producer Maglio and an extra milkchocolate from the producer Venchi. The colour of the Madeira wine was very dark amber. I have never seen a wine so dark amber. Woyuld be interesting to see the colour of an even older madeira wine. The taste was sweet, some nuts and dried fruits. Excellent. And of the all chocolates tried it worked so very well together with the cioccolato al latte extra. It is these occasions there one plus one is more than two. The Madeira worked good together with the other dark choclates. Next time I have a Venchi milk chocolate I better bring out the Madeira. For those interested in Madiera check out http://madaboutmadeira.org/

L and F Martin, Coteaux du Layon 2003

In 2008 I bought three bottles by L. and F. Martin of their Selection de Grains Nobles (botrytis) wine from 2003. It was a nice price for them considering they were five years old at that time. I opened one at once and that was a dissapointment, it just tasted sweet and I felt there was no balance in the wine. So the two remaining bottles went into the wine cellar and there they remained until 2010 when I thought I should try the second bottle. And behold, now the wine had changed. Two years of extra storage had brought on more complexity and now the wine was really good. From what I remeber the colour was golden and the taste was rich with taste of pineapple and rasisins. Very good and at that moment I regretted not buying three more bottles. Maybe these sweet wines from Coteaux du Layon need long storage before getting their act together like the more famous Moulin Touchais. So now I am wondering when to drink the next bottle. Drink this year and get a tasting report two years apart. Wait a couple of more years and hope that it will become even better with age. Any suggestion?
Coteaux du Layon is an AOC (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) for sweet wines in the Loire Valley. And the wines are made from the grape Chenin Blanc. This wine has an alcohol level of 11%. Very low compared to the Sauterness wines.

Elfenhof Trockenbeerenuslese 1995

I have a sweet spot for sweet wines. Unfortunately that is not is shared by many people as nowadays it seem that dry wines is the fashion of the day. Germany and Austria produce many good sweet wines and the best ones and most powerful ones are either Eisweines or Trockenbeerenauslese (TBA). TBA is made fromselected grapes affected by noble rot or as it is known botrytized grapes. And Elfenhof has a Trockenbeerenauslese ruster cuvee from 1995. Elfenhof is run by a family since 1642 and is situated in Austria along the west side of the sea Neusiedlersee. Now the smell of this TBA is divine. Deep and lingers in my nose. The colour is deep amber. So beautiful. And the taste is true to a TBA. Very deep that lingers in the mouth for minutes.Very fine acid which goes well with the high sugar content. And I should have bought more bottles of this wine as it seem to be stored for a long time. I have heard the term liquid gold about Trockenbeernauslese and eiswein and that is so true. Compared to Sauterness wines the Austrian TBA has a much lower alcohol level. Only 11,5% for this TBA.

Wine for barbeque

The days have slowly become warmer and yesterday was the first really good day to have a barbeque but due to other circumstances it was shifted to Sunday instead. And that was even better as the weather today was better, more warmth and no cold winds at all. Instead of the usual pork fore the barbeque I had beef for once. And what wine would go fine with the beef. Looking through the cellar I found a Marques De Arienzo Gran Reserva from 1998. That would be a fine addition to the weather and the barbequed beef. Marques de Arienzo started in 1981 and in 2010 it was bought by Marqués de Riscal S.A. This wine is made from Tempranillo grapes and has an alcohol level of 13% vol. The smell was very good. A good sign of a well stored wine. The colour of the wine was deep ruby red, very nice. The taste of the wine could be split into three difefrent phases. The first phase was a strong taste, almost earthy and leathery. Then t became a bit bitter to be followed by a long nice aftertaste. For those interested the 2001 Gran Reserva can be found at Systembolaget.

Rotari Rose 2007

Time again to try yet another Rotari sparkling wine and this time it is their Rose from 2007. Rotari is a producer from Trento region in northern Italy and this rose sparkling wine is made from Pinot noir and Chardonnay grapes. I have a weakness for sparkling rose wines. For those who want to know more about Rotari can go to , this page is in Swedish.
The wine has a weak salmon colour. The smell is nice very nice. Smells a bit like red berries. The taste is dry and reminds me of wild strawberries and grapefruit. Nice and as strangely enough it tasted better the day after opening the bottle.

A different bourbon

Bourbon has been for me really bad. Jack Daniels and Jim Beam. Awful stuff to drink. So when I tasted the bourbon Makers Mark that I got as a birthday gift I was suprised.
Makers Mark is a bourbon that is distilled in Loretto, Kentucky. Its trademark is is the almost square bottle which is sealed with red wax. And they use the scottish spelling of whisky, not whiskey. The taste of the whisky is very flavourful. It has a taste of oak, vanilla and much more. A few drops of water in the whisky and it ggives away more taste. Very good.
 I wonder if I will every visit this distillery. Wold be fun to try it out there they distill it. I can always look at the pics from their site, http://www.makersmark.com/.

Eiswein, not a normal Tokaji and grape juice

This weekend brought some very different wines and also some grape juice.

Eiswein has been a fascination of mine since I ever tasted it. They are among the best wines one can drink and unfortunately can be very expensive and also hard to find. Eiswein are made from grapes that picked from the vine while it is freezing temperatures outside. The water freezes and this allows the grapejuice to become much more concentrated when the grapes are pressed while frozen. This eiswein is from the producer Josef Ehmoser in Austria. It is made from the grape Grüner Veltiner from the year 2009. These grapes were harvested on the 15th of december. The smell is very concentrated and it is clearer to the eye than other eisweines I have tried. First time I tried this wine I was dissapointed with the tatse. Nice good taste but I was expecting a huge hit. Two days later I trie dit again and now that my expectations was lower it tasted much more nicer. It is more subtle than your normal eiswein but still has depths of taste layers.Very fresh and yummy.

Hungary is famous for it sweet Tokaji wine but not as much as for its dry wines. So time to test a dry wine from 2010 made from the famous Furmint grape. It is bottled by Royal Tokaji and is from 2010. The wine has a taste of pear and has a sharp taste. The aftertaste is very long and reminds me of grapefruit but this aftertaste is very sharp and I didn't like it. But with food that can cover the aftertaste it works fine. But there are better white wines that I would rather drink.

The last bottle is grapejuice from Cognac in France of the variety Ugni Blanc and Colombard. Since I have never drank grapejuice it would be very interesting. I didnt have high expectations but I was totally wrong. It taste like a sweet applejuice but with much stronger taste and a bit sweeter. good and interesting.

Two Italian red rubies

When I was in Bologna the capital of food and visited a very good winestore I asked for wines that would go well with prosciutto and cheese. The salesman dissappeared into the backroom and soon came out with two different red wines. One he said was very strong and the other one was more elegant. The elegant was a Blauburgunder from Südtirol or in Italian, an Pinot Nero from Alto Adige. The man from the winestore suggested that I should start with that one first and the move on to the stronger wine. And the strong wine with a lot of taste was made with Carmenere and Melot from the Veneto region.
The Pinot Nero from 2008 is made by Stiftskellerei Neustift situated in Südtirol. Kloster Neustift. The Augustinian Canons Regular monastery Abbazia di Novacella is the producer of the wine. This monastery was founded in 1157 and someday I will visit it in real life as it looks beautiful there. The wine was elegant as the man from the wineshop said. Not as powerful as red wines can be. Very easy to drink and the taste was of red currants. Lovely even for a white wine lover as I am. Wonder if I can find their wines here in Sweden?
The next wine is a Carmenere Pui from 2007 by Inama from Veneto. Inama is a family that has been producing wines for more than forty years near Soave.Imama wineyard. Unfortunately I did not have the time to visit this wineyard when I was in Soave this year. The Carmenere Pui consists of 70% Carmenere grapes and 30% Merlot grapes and these grapes comes from Colli Berci, a line of gently volcanic hills. The look of the wine is deep red almost ruby. Smell of black cherry and the taste is very powerful and strong. Exactly as the wine salesman had said. No sour after taste as is very usual with these wines. Very good. Unfortunately this one is not availeble in Sweden either.I need to find some contacts in Italy that can ship me these wines.
Very good wines and for a Swede excellent prices. I think they were ten euros each.

The view from Soave.

Fiano Di Avellino 2010

The wineyard Terre di Ora produces the Fiano Di Avellino 2010 from Italy. It is made from the grape Fiano which is an ancient indegenous grape. The smell is of tropical fruit and I was suprides tyhat the taste was very strong. Not as light as I thought it would be. It has a very rich taste and a full body, maybe fruity. And it is a very dry finish. A grape that I have to check out more in the future. Worked very well with the tagliatelle al Ragu.

Dr Loosen against Juliusspital

Two sweet German wines. Both made from Riesling grapes but from different regions. The 2009 Riesling Auslese Juliusspital if from Würzburger Stein. It has a very delicate flavour. The sweetness of this wine is very light to the taste and it feels very fresh. Only 7.5% alcohol makes it very easy to drink. Despite the bottle being 500 ml it was consumed very quickly. As usual with the Franken wines the bottle is a Bocksbeutel. Not the normal wine bottle. The Dr. Loosen Riesling Beerenauslese is from Mosel and is 7.0%. This is the first time I have seen such a small winebottle, only 187 ml. This rich dessert wine is made from grapes afflicted with botrytis (noble rot). It has a light colour not as amber as they usually are. The smells is of nectarines. Has a taste of honey and is a bit intense. I think with a couple of more storage this will become even better. So which one is the best? I would prefer the Juliusspital for warm summer evenings while Dr. Loosen for autumn and spring.

A trio of Italian wines

Italy has many good white wines and also their passito wines are excellent. First of is a wine made of Grillo and Chardonnay from Sicily by Duca di Castlemonte from 2005. This is a first time I have tasted Grillo grapes and it was good. A good combination together with the Chardonnay. Was excellent together with my homemade tortellini al ragu. The next wine is another white wine from my favourite wine area in Italy, namely Südtirol or Alte Adige as it is also called. Now this Pinot Bianco from 2009 by Kellerei Cantina Terlan is very nice. The Pinot Bianco grape is a nice experience. Finally but not least is a Passito di Pantelleria. The Ben Rye from 2008 by the producer Donnafugata is everything a passito from Pantelleria should be. Sweet but not overly sweet and with the passitos strong flavour. Luckily I have several bottles for storage for drinking in later years.

Domaine Zind-Humbrecht

Some while ago I tested two wines from Alsace from the producer Domaine Zind-Humbrecht. This producer is situated in the village Turckheim in Alsace very close to the German border. The two wines tasted was one very dry Riesling from 2007, the second one was a Vendange Tardive from 2002 made on Pinot Gris grapes. The rieling dry wine is probably the best dry rielsing wine I have ecer tasted. From what I remeber the taste was excellent. Vendange Tardive means late harvest in french and are made from late harvested grapes bot not any grapes afflicted with botrytis. The result is a wine full of great richness. And this Verdange Tradive from 2002 is excellent. Such good taste that I can almost drink it as a normal wine. Unfortunately I could not find any more bottles of this wine aftre I tasted as it had sold out.

Rotari Riserva 2007

I haven't tried so much Italian sparkling wine but I have drunk good still wine from Trento so the sparkling wine Rotari from 2007 seem like a good choice to start. The Rotari Riserva is made from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes. And it is fermented in the bottle for at least 36 months on the lees. My bottle had the degorgement done in 2011. The colour is very nice and the taste was a bit to harsh with green apples. It is dry with no hint of sweetness. The next day I tasted it again and now the taste was mych better. Maybe I was to tired the day before to truly appreciate it or it had become better after been aired for a day.

Terredavino Barolo 2007

When in Liguria very close to Piemonte what should I try then? Yes a Barolo is a good choiCE. And it is a Terredavino from 2007. Before drinking it we had it decanted on hour before. Very nice smell and the taste of it is very fine. Yet again no sour notes that I dislike with normal red wines. I like this wine. Since it was easter we also had easter eggs, to much of it as can be seen in the pic. As a dessert wine I had a sweet dessert wine from Sicily made by malvasia grapes. Unfortunately my picturs of the label is so blurry I cannot see what name it was or type.

Marco Rabino, Pey 2007

Genova is a nice twon full of small alleys and very nice places to eat. The place for this evening was a meat restuarant in an alley in Genova. Their specialty was raw meat. The wine of the evening was a wine from the neighbouring region Piedmont. A Barbera d'Asti made from Barbera grapes by the producer Marco Rabino called Pey from 2007. I like this red wine as it was not this sour taste as I get in so many red wines. Good smell and taste. The strong alcohol of 15% was not felt when drinking this so all in all very good. And the food? Delicious. Genova makes the best pesto.

Return to Osteria Broccaindosso

When in Bologna a visit to Osteria Broccaindosso is a must. They serve a big feast and they serve very nice wines. And the owners will greet you with a warm smile. The wine of the day was a Traminer from Veneto by Marco Scolaris. The colour is yellow with a small greenish hint. The taste is very good. As all Italian Traminer wines they are smoother than the Alsace wines and has a good herbal taste. Like it a lot. The food was a delight as usual. Fiften different starters as the anti past, very good carpacchio and the amazing dessert buffet with the best ever chocolate mousse I have ever tasted. As I said, they serve up a feast.

A visit to Ambasciata Calabrese

My first taste of the Calabrese food from south of Italy at the trattoria Ambasciata Calabrese. The white wine of the dinner was a Critone from Val Di Neto from 2011 made from Chardonnay and Sauvignon grapes with an alcohol level of 12,5%. The wine went very well with the spicy anti pasti. For the spicy secondi I had the red house wine was was good.