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.

Two older red wines, Tancredi 2012 and Adanti Sagrantino di Montefalco 2008

Two older red wines from Italy. First is the wine Tancredi from the Sicilian producer Donnafugata. The vintage is 2012 and the ABV is 13,5%. It is made of several grapes such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Nero d'Avola, Tannat and several other varieties. It has been aged 14 months in a barrel before being bottled. The taste is deep and I get leather, oak, black currant and some dark cherry. This is a lovely wine that is very well structured and is complex and elegant. So far Donnafugata has not produced a wine which I have not loved.

The next wine is a Sagrantino di Montefalco from the producer Adanti in Umbria. It is made of 100% Sagrantino grapes. The ABV is 14,5% and the vintage is 2008. It has been aged in casks for two years before being bottled and then it has been aged in the bottle for 10 years before being opened. But still after 12 years of ageing this wine is very strong. A lot of cherry, plum, black currants and some leather tones with strong but balanced tannins at the end. Excellent wine from Adanti

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Castello Banfi vs Lungarotti

Castello Banfi is the biggest producer of Brunello di Montalcino wines in Tuscany while Lungarotti is a big producer in Umbria. So here I will try a Brunello versus a cheap normal Umbrian wine from Lungarotti.

I read that Castello Banfi produces 10% of all Brunello di Montalcino in Tuscany. The Brunello that I have is from 2008. So nine years of age at this date in 2017. The colour is a bit darker than previous Brunellos that I have had before. The taste is powerful but I am lacking an elegance. Dark cherries and red currants but a lot of tannins and oak. Not yet structured and feels like it would need six to seven more years of ageing. But will it bring elegance? Don't know. Feels like a wine that has been made to please Parker.

The Cadetto from Lungarotti is from 2014 and it only says that it contains traditional Umbrian grapes. Which probably means anything that grows in Umbria and a big possibility that a big part is Sangiovese. This is a much lighter red wine than the Brunello. Easy drinking and a taste of red berries and liquorice. Enjoyable and nice.

In this contest Lungarotti wins a clear victory. The Castello Banfis Brunello is to much tannins and oak for me. I have had much better Brunellos than Castellos Banfis.

Brunello di Montalcino and Lagrein from Alto Adige

Brunello di Montalcino is a red wine from Tuscany produced around the village of Montalcino. This wine has to be produced of 100% Sangiovese grapes. The town of Montalcino is very beautiful and so is the surrounding land.

I found a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino which I did not know that I had. The producer is Villa Poggio Salvi and the vintage is of 2008. The smell is very nice and the colour is reddish as Sangiovese wine should be. This wine has soft tannins and is very elegant and has a lot of depth. I can taste red berries and herbs. I like this wine very much.

Going up north to the border of Austria we find beautidul Alto Adige in Italy. There is a local grape called Lagrein which makes a very good wine. The producer Terlan has a wine called Lagrein 2014. The colour of this wine is dark red. It has more tannins and the taste is of black berries. Very good wine also.

Two very good wines from Italy. Both of the highly recommended.

Sardina and sparkling wines

Sardinia is not the place when I think of sparkling wines but they have some sparkling wine production. I got to try the wine Akenta which is a Vino Spumante by producer Cantina Santa Maria La Palma. It is from the DOC Vermentino di Sardegna which means that it is made of Vermentino grapes. This wine is good. It has the freshness of a Vermentino and is quite light to drink but with a good flavour. Very good wine to enjoy. Could give Prosecco a challenge.

Next wine is a Ferrari Perle from 2008. I found this wine a bit non descriptive when I tasted it. Was it a bad bottle or where I a bit off that day? Because all other Ferrari wines I have tasted have been very good. Will have to try another bottle one day to see.

Sparkling wine from new year

A tradition on new year is to drink sparkling wine. But the best idea is to start with the best wine first before ones taste buds have become numb.

A bottle which has been lying in my cellar for a couple of years now is a Ruinart brut Millésimé from 2000. It is dry and has a taste of apples, bread, some citrus and blood oranges. Very good and a perfect start of the evening. Very elegant sparkling wine.

A sparkling wine producing region that I have never tasted anything from before is Franciacorta in Lombardy in Italy. But this were to change after tasting the wine Lo Sparviero brut of vintage 2008 by the producer of the same name, Lo Sparviero. It is very nice, taste of citrus and bread. Lot of bubbles to start with so I had to let it rest a half a minute before drinking it.

Sciacchetrà Wine: A taste of heaven

Cinque Terre, one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Also Cinque Terre is home to one of the best wines that I have ever tasted. Namely the sweet Sciacchetrà wine. Sciacchetrà is a passito wine which is made from dried grapes. This drying process I could see when I visited Manarola in Cinque Terre.

The grapes hang from the roof and walls in this building slowly drying out until they are ready to be used for the winemaking. I have tried many passito wines and this Sciacchetrà by producer Cheo, is probably the best I have ever tried. The grapes is grown in the hills above Vernazza. The wine is from 2008 and it has been stored in chestnut barrels before being bottled.The colour is deep amber and looks very good. The nose is intense and by just smelling I know that it will taste good. The taste is of apricots, dried raisins and honey. It is very strong and intense and leaves a long aftertaste. Wonderful, unfortunately I cannot buy this at Systembolaget so the next visit to Cinque Terre I have to buy several bottles of Sciacchetrà.

But one will always find reasons to visit Cinque Terre. Salute!

Two dessert wines and one strong Taurasi

I love dessert wines but over the last couple of years dry wines have dominated. The last couple of weeks I have had the chance to enjoy two very different dessert wines both from Italy. The first wine is a Marsala wine from Sicily and it is more than a dessert wine. It is from producer Florio and is called Terre Arse from 2000 with an alcohol level of 19%. It is not your normal fortified Marsala wine as it is quite powerful with a burned character. Interesting taste and the producer recommends it with Parmesan cheese or fish dishes or as a dessert wine. Worked very well as a dessert wine especially with chocolate ice cream. It is not sweet as the cheaper Marsala wine but quite dry taste. I find this wine to be very interesting, unfortunately good Marsala wines are hard to find in Sweden.

Next dessert wine is something I don't drink that much. Namely a sweet red wine from producer Azienda Agricola Villa Medici in the Veneto region. The wine is called La Valle Del Re and is from 2009. It is a passito wine with IGT Rosso Veneto with alcohol level of 14%. The colour is very deep red and the taste is sweet with dark cherries. It went down very well with chocolate. Definitely a wine to relax with. Hard to find information about this wine but I discovered that the grapes are Corvina 60% and Rondinella 40%.

The first Taurasi wine I had were good so now it was time to try another producer. It is from producer Terredora in the district of Campania in Italy from 2008. As it is a Taurasi, the grape is Aglianico. Compared to the earlier Taurasi wine this is very strong. The colour is ruby red and and the taste is of dark cherries, plums and cacao with some strong tannins. Definitely a wine for strong food such as roast meat or game. This wine is also called Taurasi Fatica Contadina Terredora. Yet another nice acquaintance. 

Taurasi and the Aglianico grape

I watched Youtube and saw an episode called Discover the wines of southern Italy. It is made by a television companyfrom Ontario Canada and it is very nice and informative. In this episode they go through the wines of southern Italy starting with Sicily and going up into Campania and Puglia.

The good thing about this series is that when they go through the different regions they take time to go through the grape specialties of each region. When talking about Campania the program talked about the grape aglianico which produce red wines of high quality. That gave me the inspiration to try it out.

Taurasi is a DOGC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) area in Campania where the red wines are made aglianico grape. For a normal Taurasi wine it has to be stored at least three years of which one year is in a wooden barrel. For the Taurasi wines I looked at were all from 2008 so they are stored even longer before being sold. It has a very good storage capability.

I got my hands on a Taurasi by producer Feudi Di San Gregorio from 2008. Here the wine had been stored in wooden barrels for 18 months before being bottled. Everything is written in Italian on the label which means it is not made for the Swedish import market. The smell is very nice, cherries and dark berries. The colour is dark almost ruby red and looks pleasing to the eye The taste of dark berrmies and liquorice and an aftertaste that stays in the mouth. A very rich wine with nice tannins and would taste even better if stored for a couple of more years. Definitely need food with this wine. Why not a lamb roast or a red wine risotto?

I will buy several more bottles of this wine for storage and also will try out some more of the other brands. Unfortunately only four at Systembolaget here in Sweden. 

Sicily and Verona

I stay with Italy when trying out new wines and this time it is two new red wines and one old acquaintance.

Sicily should be more famous for it wines which are of good quality as well for the nature and food.

Above picture is from Mozia near Marsala and in Marsala the wine producer Donnafugata has their historical cellars. This time I tasted their wine Tancredi again but now the vintage 2009. The colour is dark ruby. Strong taste of cherries with strong notes of cacao and liquorice. The same strong taste as last time. Goes very well with strong food. Very nice.

A new acquaintance is the wine 6 Sesta by producer Cantina Valle Dell'Acate in Sicily. It is made by Frappato and Nero d'Avola grapes. The colour is not as deep red as the Tancredi wine but lighter. The taste is of black berried with some chocolate. Very good and after tasting these two wines I should explore Sicilian reds more.

The last wine tasted is the wine La Grola by producer Allegrini near Verona in the Veneto area of Italy. It is strong and could have probably been stored for another year or two. The vintage is 2008. It tastes of black currants and with some cherries. Definately a wine for strong food such as red meats or pasta dishes.

Summer of wine continues

Three more Italian wines I have that has been excellent during this warm summer. First up is a Sauvignon wine from producer Winkl in Alto Adige. It is strong nice food wine. Very good.

Next is an older red wine from 2006 and from the heel of Italy the region of Puglia, namely Vigna Pedale from Castel Del Monte. It is strong and has a taste of cherries. A nice and good wine.

Chianti wines I don't drink that often but the Chianto Classico from 2008  from producer Castellani is very good. It has a strong peppery taste with cherries. Good wine.

Passito, Prosecco and two good white wines

I love passito wines from Pantelleria and I drink them way to seldom. The producer Nun is a new experience. This passito from 2008 has a dark amber as usual these wines have. The taste is like burned candy. Strong and good. But still the Donnafugatas passito wine is still my favorite. When I visit Siciliy I have to see if I can drink many different passito wines there.

Staying in Italy I have tried two different wines from the north of Italy. The first is from producer Gregoletto from Colli Trevigiani. It is a Chardonnay from 2012. The taste is very strong and goes very well with food. They make very good Chardonnay wines in the north of Italy. The second wine is a Prosecco by producer Castelforte. It is dry and have strong notes of apple, pear and citrus. Very nice as an aperitif.

Going even further north is a riesling wine from Germany by producer Gustav Adolf Schmitt. It is from 2012 and is trocken (dry). Good drinking wine for the sauna.

Birthday celebrations with Rotari and two strong Italian reds

For birthday it is good to have good food and wine and this time the food consisted of three different parmesans, a four year old, a three year old and a Modena bianco 30+ months and two different Pecorino, one stored in a grotta. Extras were parma ham and three different salamis.

The wines served for this food delight were all Italians. The first wine served were a sparkling wine from Trentino made by producer Mezzacorona and it is an old Rotari from 1996 which were sboccatura in 2013. The taste is very good. Strong citrus notes with some apples followed by bread notes. Excellent wine and it is fun to taste an older Italian sparkling wine. I have to admit that this wine were all drank before the food as it was such an easy drinking.

The first wine together with the food were something new for me. A Brunello di Montalcino by producer Castiglion del Bosco from 2008. Very strong wine that goes very well together with the food. Tastes of cherries, dark berries with a hint of tobacco. Very interesting.

The next wine is an amarone, Castelforte Amarone della Valpolicella from 2007. Now this wine is very complex and also has very strong flavous and it also goes very well with the food. Wonderful wine. Both of these red wines need food or they will be to strong.

Four Italians

I have had the choice to test a couple of different wines the last month. First up is La Vis Gewürztraminer. I didn't have much expectations for this wine as it was very cheap but to my suprise it were very nice. Very light and tastes of elderberries and spices. Perfect as an aperitif wine.

Next wine is from the beautiful medieval town of San Gimignano, a so called vernaccia San Gimignano by producer I Mocali and from 2008. Very good and a bit stronger than the Vernaccia I had in Sam Gimignano. Not as much bitter almond in the finish but a very strong clear flavour. Unfortunately it is very hard to find this wine in Sweden.

The third wine is an older wine from Valpolicella from the year 2000. It is by producer Vigneti di Torbe and is a ripasso wine. This bottle has the label Domini Veneti, aka the golden era which is  a label for good wines by Cantina Valpolicella Negrar. Now this Vigneti di Torbe is very strong and it took at least half an hour for the wine to open up in the glass. When it did it was majestic. Strong black currant taste and a long finish. Would go really well together with red meat.

When eating an Italian dessert, panatone from Siena, what better wine to go with it then an Italian sweet wine and this time it was a Recioto Di Soave. Good taste and worked very well together with the dolci.

Two different wines and countries

Time to go to two different places in Europe. First one is a wine from Malta. Totally unknown wine country for me and almost impossible to find any wines from Malta in Sweden. It is called Emmanuel Delicata Pjazza Regina and has an alcohol level of 12 %. The taste is sharp and not that much more. An easy drinking wine. Drink it now and don't let it lie on the shelf.

The next wine I go back to Italy and my favourite wine producing region in Italy, namely Alto Adige. It is a sweet red wine from producer Franz Haas called Schweizer from 2008 made by Moscato Rosa grapes. When drinking it reminded me somewhat of Madiera wines but with a much lower alcohol level 12%. Very nice and not that sweet and worked well together with Strawberries. Will see if I can find more wines by this producer next week when I will be visiting Alto Adige.

Battle of the metal wines

One recent trend in wines have been the heavy metal wines. Several wines released with the name of a famous heavy metal band. Motorhead was first out but now there are any wines like AC/DC, Slayer and Kiss. And of course Kiss has at least three wines out. I had the chance to sample two of these wines and see how the quality is.

First up is the AC/DC wine Highway to hell from 2008 consisting of cabernet Sauvignon grapes. The label promises it would be like a world tour taking the centre stage. Yes, there is a lot of crap written on these bottles. The taste is of black currents and I felt that it was very sour, way to much tannins. Not in my taste and not that good. Maybe it will be better in the future with some storage, but today no.

The money loving band Kiss has released three different wines and I had the chance to taste Zin Fire made with Zinfadel grapes from 2011. It says that it is a true rock'n'roll wine and made to lick it up. So anyone knows what a rock'n'roll wine is? This wine is drinkable. A bit peppary and blackberrys. It is decent Zinfadel wine.

And the winner of this contest is Kiss with Zin Fire.

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.

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.

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.

Lenz Moser 2008 Trockenbeerenauslese

Trockenbeerenauslese is a sweet wine also shortened to TBA and is made by individually selected grapes affected by noble rot. It is a wine with a lot of flavour. A good strong taste of apricots and botrytis. Very nice. Think it would taste even better if stored a couple of more years.