Manzone Dolcetto D'Alba and Cantina di Gasorga Barbera D'Asti

Nebbiolo is the famous grape from Piemonte but two other good grapes are Dolcetto and Barbera. Manzone is a producer in Monforte D'Alba. The Manzone Giovanni winery was founded in 1925. The production is limited to about 50000 bottles per year. The bottle I have tried is their Dolcetto D'Alba Le Ciliegie with the vintage 2016 and an ABV of 13,5%. It consists of 100% Dolcetto grapes which are harvested in the beginning of September. The ageing is all done in steeltanks for 11 months after which it is bottled. So this is a Dolcetto which is to be enjoyed young. In the nose I get a lot of red fruit. In the taste I get blackberry, plum, sour cherry and tannins in the back. Quite a punchy straight in your face Dolcetto which I love.

The next wine is a Barbera D'ati from producer Cantina di Gasorga. It is made of 100% Barbera grapes and the vintage is 2017. This is a very much berry driven wine. In the taste I get  a lot of cherry and red currants. Nothing wrong and it is drinkable but a bit one dimensional for me. For those who love a lot of red fruits this will be a winner.

Bocale Montefalco Rosso and Villa Poggio Salvi Caspagnolo

Bocale is a producer in Montefalco, Umbria. The Valentini family created the Bocale winery in 2002. This winery produces several different wines such a Sagrantino di Montefalco and Montefalco Rosso. For their Montefalco Rosso the following grapes are used, 70% Sangiovese, 15% Sagrantino, 10% Merlot and 5% Colorino. The ABV is 15% and the vintage is 2017. The wine is aged in Bottis and Barriques for 12 months before being bottled. In the taste I get black pepper, dark sour cherry, some blackberry and tannins. Very well integrated and the taste is very good. Yet again a wine from Montefalco delivers. And as always I would recommend to visit Umbria, one of the hidden gems of Italy.

The next wine is the wine Caspagnolo from producer Villa Poggio Salvi. This wine is from the Chianti Colli Sienesi. I have tasted one wine from Villa Poggio Salvi earlier and that was their Brunello di Montalcino. So it will be interesting to see how a non Brunello tastes. This is a Chianti wine and the grape composition is 90% Sangiovese and 10% Merlot. The vintage is 2016 and the ABV is 13,5%. This is a nice light red wine. I get cherry, some strawberry and some tannins in the end. Very good and it looks like Villa Poggio Salvi delivers all across the board.

Ragaletti, Castel Del Monte Riserva 2008

From the heel of Italy (Puglia) comes wines from the Castel Del Monte area and most of them have pictures of the famous castle. The Ragaletti Reserva consists of 100% of the grape Nero di Troia. It was aged for 14 months in barrels before being aged 8 more years in other containers. I get red currants, spices and some tannins in the end. Quite nice and interesting wine.

Dr Loosen Riesling Spätlese Graacher Himmelreich 2007

Dr Loosen Riesling Spätlese Graacher Himmelreich 2007 is a bottle that I bought together with the  Dr F. Weins-Prüm Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese 2006. It will be interesting to see how these two different wines have developed.

In the taste I get apricot, citrus and some peach. It has kept up well for being so old but I am lacking some acidity to balance this wine and get it up to the excellent Dr F Weins-Prüm wine. For this wine I would say drink now, it won't get better and the chance is that it will get worse.

Domaine Pouderoux, Maury, Grande Reserve 2003

The wine Maury, Grande Reserve 2003 from producer Domaine Pouderoux is a wine that I had bought a bottle of around 2009 and had forgotten about. It was lying on a lower shelf hidden away. So what is this wine? It is a fortified wine from the Maury district in the Languedoc region of France.
Maury is a "vin doux naturel" style where by adding fortifying spirits (brandy)  to the wine in mid-fermentation the fermentation is stopped. This kills the yeast leaving the wine with a high sugar level. Maury is vinified in a manner similar to port, but initial ageing is often conducted in large 25 liter glass jugs known as bonbonnes or les dames jeannes to get an oxidative ageing. The wines may also be aged in wood for up to 15 years.
Domaine Pouderoux is a producer of wine in Languedoc. This family has been wine producers for six generations and the wine here comes from the middle of Maury.
The wine Maury, Grande Reserve 2003 is made from 100% of Grenache Noir grapes. For this wine several ageing methods are used such as wooden barrels and bonbonnes.
So how does it taste after being forgotten on the shelf for 11 years? It has a very deep red colour, almost dark mahogny. In the taste I get plum, leather, fig, raisin, cinnamon an some vanilla. Quite a complex wine with a lot of flavours and taste. A very good wine that has developed nice over the years.
Maury is an underrated region of fortified wines.

Fondo Antico, Memorie 2010

The wine Memorie 2010 is a rose (rosato) wine from the producer Fondo Antico in Sicily, Italy. It is a very special kind of rose wine. It is made of 100% of the grape Nero di Avola. This wine is then aged in oak barrels for a year and from what I understand the following the following four years the maturation is done in Acacia barrels before being bottled. This is done to give the wine an oxidative character So this makes the wine have a more amber rose colour that showcased the age of the wine.

Because of the oxidisation this wine feels like a lighter sherry. It is very interesting and this wine feels bone dry. This is not a wine for normal rose wine lovers but it is a wine for people who likes the dry sherry styles with a hint of rose mixed in. For me this is a good wine which is very interesting.

Rabl Grüner Veltiner Eiswein 2006

This bottle of Rabl Eiswien from 2006 is one of several bottles that I had forgotten about that I had. The last time I tasted it was in 2012. It was undergoing a metamorphosis changing from a youthful Eiswein into an older wine. So what has eight more years done to this wine? In the taste I get dried fruits, raisin, honey and some acidity. Such a lovely eiswein. Will probably keep for some more years but my recommendation is to drink it now. It is at the peak of perfection right now.

Dr F. Weins-Prüm Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese 2006

For a couple blog posts I will look at some older wine that I have tasted. First up is the Dr F. Weins-Prüm Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese 2006. It is made with 100% Riesling and Spätlese means that the grapes are picked at least seven days after normal harvest. This means that the grapes will have a higher sugar content and probably that the wine will be a bit sweet. The ABv is 8,5%. This wine is from Mosel in Germany and this area is famous for their Riesling wines. Graacher Dompropst steeply rises directly above the village of Graach. Dompropst is an enclave of Graacher Himmelreich, and is thus the core part of the Graach sites.

The wine has a lovely light amber colour which shows  that this wine has been aged for over a decade. The nose is very nice. The taste is of minerals, honey and some sugar with a high acidity. It is an excellent wine which were a bit sweeter than I expected but it goes wonderful together with salmon. It can also be drank as a meditation wine.