Thre red wines from Italy, Lungarotti , Mandrarossa and Vajra

The first red wine is from Producer Lungarotti in Umbria. It is called Rubesco and is of the vintage 2016. This is a wine that I have tried several other vintages before. In the taste I get dark cherries and black currants. The 2016 vintage is slightly better than the 2015 for me. A good buy.

Next up the the producer Mandrarossa from Sicily in Italy. The wine s called Frappato Costadune and it is made of 100% Frappato grapes. Frappato is an Italian red wine grape that is mostly grown in Sicily. The vintage is 2017 and the ABV is 13%. In the taste I get raspberry, strawberries and viols. A good nice easydrinking wine.

The last wine is from producer G.D. Vajra in Piemonte, Italy. It is the red wine Langhe Rosso and is a mix of the grapes from the Lange region such as Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto and small amounts of Albarossa, Freisa, Pinot noir. The vintage is 2017 and the ABV 13,5%. I get dark cherry and black currants with some earthy notes and tannins in the back. A very good Langhe Rosso from producer G.D. Vajra.

Leacock's ten year old Sercial Madeira and Blandy's 2010 Colheita Madeira Malmsey

One type of wine that is many times overlooked are Madiera wine. Once you get by the cheaper cooking wines you will find a lot of very good Madeira wine.

Leacock's is part of the Madeeira wine company, this company also includes Blandy's and Cossart Gordon and is run by the family of Blandy's. The Leacock's ten year old Sercial is not for sale at the moment as I bought it several years ago and it has been replaced by a Tinta Negra ten year old dry in the wines from the company.
What is Sercial? It is a green grape grown on the Island of Madeira. It is considered one of the four classical Madiera grapes. This Madeira wine is ten years old and the ABV is 20%.
I get a dry nutty taste with some citrus and some oak. This is true to its name, dry Sercial as the wine is very dry. I had a 10 year old Sercial from Blandy's a couple of months ago and that one felt sweet compared to the Leacock's Sercial. It is very good and I feel that this wine should be more as an aperitif or as a wine during some anti pasti dishes.

Net up is the Blandy's 2010 Colheita Madeira Malmsey which was bottled in 2017 giving it an age of seven years. Malmsey also known as Malvasia is also one of the four classic grapes of Madeira and these grapes gives an extremely sweet Madeira wine. A colheita wine must be at least five years old and older, however after twenty years a colheita wine can be called vintage wine and then the name colheita is dropped. The colheita allows the producers to showcase one year without having to wait 20 years for a vintage.
In the nose I get a nutty caramel smell. In the taste a deep lingering taste of nutty caramel and raisins. A very good dessert wine. It is a bit different from the ten year old Malmsey from Blandy's that I tasted a few months ago and it is a very good Colheita and showcases a good style from Blandy's.

Two white wines from Sicily from Mandrarossa and Teuta Regaleali

Sicily is a big wine producing region in Italy. You can find so many different types of wine from Sicily, both international grapes to the local grapes. Quality can shift a lot as is usual with big wine regions.

Mandrarossa is a relative new acquaintance for me and their vineyards are situated along the south coast of Sicily. I have tasted their wine Zibibbo secco Costadune. It is made of 100% Zibibbo grapes in a dry style. Normally zibibbo is used to make sweet wines. These grapes come near Menfi in the south west of Sicily and the grapes are grown on hills there. The vintage is 2018 and the ABV is 12%. I get peach and tropical fruits on the nose. In the taste I get pear, some mineral and citrus. A nice dry zibibbo.

Next is the wine Cataratto Antisa from the estate Tenuta Regaleali run by Tasca D'Almerita situated in the middle of Sicily. It is made of 100% Cataratto grapes and the ABV is 12%. The vintage is 2017. The taste is fresh with peach, citrus and some minerals. A very good cataratto.

Torcicoda Primitivo from Tormaresco

Primitivo is a grape that in Italy is grown in Puglia. In America it is known as Zinfandel which is the more famous name. Tormaresca is a procucer of several different wines in Puglia in Italy and the wine Torcicoda is made of 100% Primitivo grapes. The vintage is 2017 and the ABV is 14,5%.

The grapes for this week were harvested in the first week of September. After fermentation it was stored in oak barrels for ten months and in bottle for eight months before being sold. This is a rich heavy young primitivo. It has a very nice smell on the nose. In the taste I get leather, black currant and some oak. An excellent primitivo from Italy.