Brunato il Cocco, 2005

Brunato il Cocco is a red wine from Tuscany in Italy. It was made by the producer Bindi Giacamo at Azienda Agraria Il Cocco. It is made of 100% Sangiovese grapes and the vintage that I have tried is 2005. So it is 15 years old and that is quite an age for a wine. It was stored for six months in Acacia woodbefore being bottled. The colour is a lovely reddish brown. This is the colour that Sangiovese gets when ageing for many years. I get a taste of red currant and black currants with some spicy notes in the back. Holds very well together after 15 years in the bottle. A nice example of a well aged Sangiovese.

Balblair vintage 2005 and Tomatin 12 years

Let us leave Italy and wine and go to Scotland for whisky. I will look into two releases from two less known distilleries Balblair and Tomatin.

First up is Balblair and the Balblair 2005, Balblair is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland and was founded in 1790. Balblair is owned by Inver House and is located in the northern Highlands north of Inverness. Bablair differs from other distilleries in that they only bottle vintages. So the vintage that I have tried is their 2005 and it was bottled in 2015, so it is approximately 10 years old. It is natural colour and is non chill-filtered. I have to say that the box is very beautiful and that the bottle shape is a delight to see as it show the contents very well and one can see the natural colour of the whisky very well.
The colour of this whisky is a bit lighter and one can see that bourbon barrels have been used for maturing the whisky.
The nose of the Balblair 2005 is some oak and vanilla with green apples and almost some toffee.
The taste is a delight. One gets a citrus with toffee and some spices. A medium finish that lingers.
I like this whisky very much and I have to try other vintages. Because one can find old vintages and not become ruined as both the 1999 and the 1990 are reasonably priced.

Next up is the Tomatin 12 years. Tomatin is owned by japanese owners Takara Shuzo and Tomatin is situated south east of Inverness. Tomatin is also the one of the highest situated distillery in Scotland. they are also very open with their whiskies and have a wide range available. They call themselves the softer side of the highlands.
The 12 year old whisky is matured in ex bourbon barrels and sherry casks. The nose has a fruity aroma. The taste has a definitive taste of apples which seem to be the distillery character followed by oranges and oak. This is a smooth whisky and has a very good price, definately softer side of the Highlands.

If you have the chance, visit the Highlands in Scotland, it is such a beautiful place and if you have the time, visit a distillery.

Rubesco and Ferrari

For my birthday I always serve wines that I have never tasted before. As an aperitif was the sparkling wine Riserva Lunelli from producer Ferrari in Trento. The vintage is 2006 and it consists of only Chardonnay grapes. It has spent seven years on the yeast. The alcohol level is 12,5%. The taste is deep and one can feel apples and bread. A powerful vintage, I think that this one will be better if stored for a couple of years more. A long aftertaste. An excellent vintage.

The next wine were the Rubesco Vigna Monticchio from 2005 by producer Lungarotti in Umbria in Italy. The grape is primarily Sangiovese with up to 30% of the grape Canaiolo. It is from the DOGC Torgiano Rosso Riserva. I have heard that this wine is made for storing and can be stored for a long time. The smell is nice but the big surprise is the taste. I had expected a strong wine with a lot of tannins. But I got a very elegant wine which were surprisingly very easy to drink but with a great character. Yet another excellent wine from Italy.

Back to France and then Italy again

It has been a while since I drank French wine and when going through some wine in the corner of the cellar I found a bottle of Rochemorin from 2005, which I had totally forgotten about. It had been there for almost five years. Chateau De Rochemorin is in the region of Pessac-Leognan in Bordeaux and is a Grand Vin de Bordeaux. The colour is very dark straw yellow. It has a big taste of gooseberries. I had it with lentil soup and it overpowered the soup and also were to strong for pork schnitzel. However, it went well with breasola with Parmigana cheese.

The Italian wine Michele Chiaro from DOCG Gavi is a bit similar to the Rochemorin but lighter. But this wine is younger, from 2011. The colour is light straw yellow with some hint of green. It also has a taste of gooseberries but with stronger notes of citrus and a very dry aftertaste. A good wine.

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.

Villa Russiz Chardonnay 2005

Villa Russiz fom 2005 made by Chardonnay from the area Collio in Italy, it has a alcoholic strength of 14,5%. I drank it together with a Tagliatell al ragu and it went very well together. Strong dry taste and very nice. Will see if I can find more when I go back to Italy next time.